People who own multiple amps either additional surplus amps sitting somewhere in the house, rotated in the main system or used in the second or third systems, I would be interested to know if they get a lot of use. Do you have plans to sell them in the future considering there are “maintenance costs” involved in servicing the amps, and they can get pretty high with certain brands.
Back to the question, I would be interested to know how many amps do you own (if you have more than one) and your future plans especially if some of the amps don’t get much use. Cost of amp is ideally around £5k or more, actual price paid. I will need to decide whether to keep or let go some of these amps which I may not use too frequently.
Total amps in the house (ideally around £5k or more each). I should have omitted “1” and started with “2”. Anyway, I’ll just leave it as is. “1” is one amp period, only 1 in the house.
So the GBP 5k would mean that someone would count their 282/250 but not their SN3 or Nait50. Is that correct? Or not counting an old 82/CB250 because it isn’t worth GBP 5K?
Why the GBP 5K limit? And should we be looking up the cost of the amps on the UK market?
Yes correct. Well, ideally 5k but it can be lower, no issue. I didn’t include the Sonneteer Orton which I own in the poll since I paid less than £2k for it. I just thought that cheap amps might not be a big issue to keep, and their cost of servicing might be low. In other words “low maintenance” amps. Just an assumption on my part.
I have two amps. One has just been serviced, the other one is about a year and a half old. Both are nice, but none is perfect, which isn’t that unusual. My plan is to sell one, perhaps both, of them and to continue with a single amp.
The main system ND555/552/300 is used almost every day in the music room. The Nova, in the lounge with the TV is used a lot, everyday for family TV, and Mrs Mike has it on during the day with YouTube music screensavers on. They are all stayers, with the Nova a potential down-sizer in the future.
I also have a Star in the garage/games room, but that gets little use. I’ve thought about moving in on, but it was used a lot when my 552 and ND555 both needed repairs, so it seems better to hang on to it.
I’ve listed 3 in the poll, though I have several other lower cost amps too not included in that.
Of those three
Naim 282/SCdr/250dr : Used for a few hours on the weekend but for serous all my attention listening. This has cost me nothing in maintenance since I bought it in 2014 unless you count a DR upgrade. It’s due for a recap in a few more years though.
Luxman SQ-N150 : Used several times during the week and all day Fridays in the office and sometimes a serious listening session when other family members are using the living room. Cost me about GBP500 in servicing cost in the first 4 years.
Denon AVC-6800H: Not sure if you mean AV amps but yeah, it’s a serious bit of kit and gets near constant use.
In terms of cost per minute, the AV amps always come out ahead. By that rationale I should spend the most on them. But I don’t. Probably my UQ2 and TEAC amp, which are by far the cheapest and not included, get the most usage with several hours a day each 7 days a week. Mostly background music.
Good to know. My 282/HCDR/250DR has not been used for more than a year. I’ll likely switch to that sometime this year when I swap speakers. The Naim don’t sound good with the Marten speakers but they excel when matched with Graham LS5/9.
The Luxman L-590AXII is used on every weekends. The Sonneteer Orton is a spare and has not been used for more than 2 years, I sent it for a service about 3 years ago but have not touched it since then as it doesn’t sound as good as my other amps.
I recently got another amp, the Gryphon Diablo 300 and it should be with me by end of the month or early next month. There is no more place on the rack for another amp so the Luxman will likely need to make way for the Gryphon when it lands. I’ll then compare all the amps and decide whether to sell some, or keep them all.
Probably far too many amps here, although admittedly none cost in excess of 5k and most were under 1/10th of that amount. They do get used from time to time, and some will be sold on at some point, and others may arrive to replace them…
£5k will severely limit old amps from inclusion! Also what about bought secondhand for under £5k but far more than that new?
And out of curiosity, how does what other people do affect your personal choice? Some are collectors or hoarders, some have multiple systems, some keep as backup, etc etc…
It’s not a strict rule. You may include old secondhand amps bought under £5k. I am just curious to know if there are people as mad as me, hoarding not-so-cheap amps which do not see much use. Some statistics may influence my decision to keep or sell.
FWIW all the amps and speakers which I currently own appeal to me even though some may not be used for months or years perhaps for their special qualities. I still keep my only CD player, a Krell KPS-30i which has not been used for many years but cannot bring myself to sell it. Having said that, I have sold all surplus equipment which don’t appeal to me several years ago.
I have never paid even close to £5k for an amp, including my primary amp bought only 18 months ago and for which the current equivalent replacement new cost would be maybe 3x that. In fact, although my single streaming source system would cost over £50k to buy new today, only one of its components cost me more than £5k). Over my hifi career I have not generally kept old kit, instead using its sale to partly offset the cost of upgrades, but I have not yet decided what to do with the amps I had not long ago used for active driving
Anyway, I’ll base my response on amps with a current new or equivalent new price over £5k
My main system is in use every day, but not always for music. In addition I have four Unitiqutes, three of which are used every day with one in the guest bedroom. The UQs are below your threshold.
