Amp recommendation
Discussion
It depends on what you class as budget. Onkyo do a very well regarded amp, the A-9010 which is about £200. It doesn't have a load of features but reviews well.
I went for a Yamaha RN-602. They were about £500 but you can pick them up for circa £380 now which is peanuts for what you get. It has MusicCast if you want to build up multi-room. It's a full network receiver and has Spotify connect, Bluetooth, airplay, USB, all the main streaming services on board including internet radio and it's all controlled on a nice little app. It sounds pretty neutral too although I spent a lot more on my speakers.
Onkyo also do an equivalent amp/network receiver which was the TX-8150 but now superseded I think. I've not heard it so can't comment on the sound but I think the price was about the same.
Speakers wise, i'd definitely go to your hi-fi shop and audition a few. I went with Monitor Audio and they have a cheaper range. The Dali's impressed too. It all depends on price. There's plenty of good speakers out there but you need to hear them with whatever amp you audition. Don't blindly follow What Hi-Fi as my speakers only rated 4 stars but were a lot better (to me) than a lot of the 5 star speakers in the same price/spec range.
Edited to add, the Yamaha has a phono stage for your turntable.
I went for a Yamaha RN-602. They were about £500 but you can pick them up for circa £380 now which is peanuts for what you get. It has MusicCast if you want to build up multi-room. It's a full network receiver and has Spotify connect, Bluetooth, airplay, USB, all the main streaming services on board including internet radio and it's all controlled on a nice little app. It sounds pretty neutral too although I spent a lot more on my speakers.
Onkyo also do an equivalent amp/network receiver which was the TX-8150 but now superseded I think. I've not heard it so can't comment on the sound but I think the price was about the same.
Speakers wise, i'd definitely go to your hi-fi shop and audition a few. I went with Monitor Audio and they have a cheaper range. The Dali's impressed too. It all depends on price. There's plenty of good speakers out there but you need to hear them with whatever amp you audition. Don't blindly follow What Hi-Fi as my speakers only rated 4 stars but were a lot better (to me) than a lot of the 5 star speakers in the same price/spec range.
Edited to add, the Yamaha has a phono stage for your turntable.
Edited by toon10 on Monday 30th April 15:21
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