What stereo amp up to £1,000

Hey guys

Thanks again for input - very helpful and very insightful. This thread gets very interesting imo and I hope it will be resourceful for people like me in the future.

That DSpeaker Anti mode 2.0 looks mega. It has built in DAC and XLR inputs and outputs so I could hook up V20UP this way and my laptop via USB to it. This way, I would get:
-Abrahmasen quality sound
-Abrahamsen beautiful looks with glass front (it really looks like a piece of art)
-Abrahamsen quality build (in Sweden )and nothing cheap, chinese made poor build - especially when I want to buy an amp which will 'stay with me' for years (if not decades)
but also at the same time:
-room correction (how does it correct the sound though? do you connect microphone to it or something?)
-tone controls (I suppose it provides bass/treble/Loudness controls? or not really and it's a purely a 'room correction device'?)
-so much desired DAC with USB as all of my music is in MP3 (I know, I know ;) ) and FLAC on my laptop so I have to be able to connect my laptop.
If only DSpeaker had Bluetooth with AptX then that would be a complete solution (although I suppose that good quality Bluetooth dongles are out there to be bought for that use any way?)
But the price of 900 euro? That's just too much. Maybe I could find a good alternative out there? Something that provides 90% of DSpeaker performance at 30% of the price? :)

Great thing with DSpeaker is that it has XLR out so I could hook it up to V20UP via XLRs. Why? I just received from a guy from a forum that back in the past listened to Abrahamsen and told the other guy on the forum the following (which he told me just now):
"V20UP is not a particularly strong amp (and therefore suited to rather very efficient speakers i.e. with high Efficiency above 90dB) and is really designed to fed signal via XLRs as they supply signal at +4dBu (and can peak 15dBu and equals 6.90Vrms - 19.52Vp-p). RCA standard on the other hand works on -10 dBu and cannot 'peak' above it".
Maybe this will be helpful for people before they buy.
It's like V20UP was meant to be used with v10 and V60 - too bad that v60 is no longer in production. Besides one has to remember that V20UP, unlike most amps on the market, is fully balanced amp which makes it expensive and complicated to build. So I suppose it would make sense to use this to the advantage and supply signal which will be balanced i.e. via XLRs?

I just wish that they made now V60 DAC with Bluetooth with AptX built in (and maybe room correction and a display?) while not deleting XLRs - that would be perfect addition to the V20UP. In that case I would buy the V20UP although I don't have the money yet for that kind of new DAC but I would know that in the future I can buy matching Abrahamsen unit like that and use my music from my laptop via USB and/or Bluetooth with AptX quality (near CD quality if I understand correctly?).
Also, I think that Abrahamsen should offer a color version where all gold elements can be made silver as not all people like gold color and consider it tacky/gypsy like.

I just also noticed Yamaha amps - have you seen how they implemented Loudness functionality? There is a knob (not a on off button) and you can regulate the strength Loudness effect/filter entirely to your liking. This is superb solution imo.

I just realized now too - if I chose to buy V20UP and feed it with signal via analog mini jack - RCA cable (i.e. using my laptop built in DAC) then.....I can always use software tone controls (full equalizer) and also simulate Loudness functionality to the great effect and achieve almost the same result as it would be 'hardware built in the amp' am I right?

Am I so excited about the V20UP - if it had just a touch more functionality (either DAC with USB or at least Bluetooth) then that would seal it for me and I would buy without even listening to it. But in this case I have reservations.
As it is now, it's between V20UP and Advance Acoustic X-i125 which is: astonishing to look at (+ that awesome VU meters), has everything (DAC with USB, Bluetooth, Tone controls) but.......it's made in China and there have been some negative feedback with AA other units from X line of products.

Electro58 - have you seen the private message I sent you here please?

ps. that Quad......is ugly as hell unfo :)
 
At that money a second hand Lejonklou Tundra stereo would destroy anything else anyone cares to mention. That little black box is so musical and enjoyable and punches far above its weight. No contest, seriously.
 
To the OP
If you're buying new take your existing hifi and a budget to a shop with a demo room and try some amps.
I only buy used because the savings can be huge, after much trial and error I've arrived at my end point for little more than your amp budget
Naim UnitiQute
Spendor S6e Speakers
Marantz CD94
Rega Planar 3
I'd trial some naim if anything is in budget , I had a marantz PM6006UK before this UnitiQute really suits the spendors
 
Last edited by a moderator:

The latest video from AVForums

Is Home Theater DEAD in 2024?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom