Looking for new stereo power amp

Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 11:22 pm

My old POOGE-II power amp (modded Hafler DH-200) lost the right channel the other day. I haven't gotten it on the bench to determine the cause (no visible kablamo's) but, if the Hitachi power mosfets puked, I'm probably SOL.

What's a good quality, neutral-sounding, 200 WPC amp these days? I can't put multi-K$ into this, either (got a kid starting college next month...)

Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 12:28 am

Look at the high-current Rotel amplifiers. Great bang-for-the-buck in a fairly 'serious' amp.

Moderator Joined: Sep 12, 2002 Posts: 1880 Location: NYC

There are so many amps out now... Last time I went amp shopping, I think it took me 8 months to finally pick one. I picked a really obscure amp in the end but lots sounded good.

Not knowing your taste, it's hard to recommend one. So i'll just say that there are a ton of reasonably priced amps on the market.

Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 7:15 am

@John - I look into the Rotel - forgot about them last night when I started looking.

@Michael - I'd appreciate a quick list if you wouldn't mind. As long as it's solid state and reasonably neutral, I'll take a look. I've been out of that part of things for so long, I can't remember the last time I read a good stereo mag (Absolute Sound, Stereophile, etc).

Audiogon didn't seem to have much, nor eBay on the used side. Haven't searched here or over at GearSlutz yet. Any other places to look if I go for something used?

Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 3:44 pm

You're not too far (maybe)... I just saw a used Rotel 1080 at SoundForum (SoundForum.net - A store - not a forum) in Lake in the Hills, IL this afternoon.

Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 10:21 pm

any thoughts on these?

NAD C272 (seems to have a good supply - output keeps going up as the load drops)

Emotiva XPA-2

ADCOM GFA 5500

Parasound Halo A23

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