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college kid needs help with budget amps

I'm wanting to move to seperates and i'm on a limited budget. Which would be a better choice: a older-model, used adcom amp and pre amp, such as the GFA 535 and the GTP- 400, or a used/new but late model integrades models from NAD, cambridge audio, or marantz. Or give me your own suggestions for under $500. Also i have klipsch speakers and listen to mostly rock. I'm considering new speakers too, which amp will give me a good start. thanks
128x128yamski
photon46
1,008 posts
 
Another good budget preamp that is worth considering is the Cambridge Audio C500. Audio Advisor has them as demo units often. I used one for about a year and was very favorably impressed with it's price/performance ratio. Very musical sounding. If you are interested, go to AudioReview.com and look this one up in the preamp section. The Parasound p/hp 850 is another budget pre worth investigating.
trelja
3,215 posts
 
Lots of good suggestions here. NAD, Creek, Cambridge. I would also add that you should investigate a used(pre Y2K) Musical Fidelity integrated, and consider David99's Jolida suggestion. Either the 502 or 302 would be fantastic. And your friends will be stunned by the great sound and cool retro tubes. I like the 302 series better, due to my love for the EL34 sound. But, I am sure you can find something to fall in love with
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
I also use to own a Cambridge C500 Preamp with the added phono. For $259 brand new ($319 with phono) it is hard to beat at that price. I did not find anything better until I went over a $1000.
macdonj's avatar
macdonj
116 posts
 
The vintage NAD gear and Klipsch speakers made great matches when I was in college. I've never been that big a fan of Adcom- too polite. A friend in OK uses Carver's "The Receiver" with Heresy II's and loves the combination (he switched from Adcom). One of Parasound's smaller amps and a CD player with a volume control would also be a good option.

Remember, with Klipsch, you won't need much power to get loud. Look for good watts, not many watts.
abstract7
541 posts
 
I had Klipsch Heresey's in college. I had a 35 watt receiver--more than enough with those Klipsch. Tubes aren't the most practical thing in a college environment--but if you can use tubes I like David suggestion. Another similar possiblity is Antique Sound Lab MGSI 15 DT. It's a 15 watt single ended integrated amp. This would really sound dynamite with the Klipsh (Heresey's anyway--don't know which model you have). The only downside to going this way, is that if you do change your speakers you are going to want to continue to have ones that are easy to drive and efficient.
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