Recommend me a cheap and cheerful amp

[b0redom]

Hi All,
I'm after a cheap and cheerful stereo amp. I'd like to cable up my iMac, PC and Xbox in my office to a single set of speakers (and headphone output).

Most of the time the sound will go via headphones, but I would like to be able to drive a set of speakers for when the family/neighbours are out.

Can anyone recommend something? Cheap is good.....

[b0redom]

Really, does no one know of a decent cheapish amp?

[99Flake]

What about something like this if you want new:

Tangent Amp

Or if you want something better but second hand how about this?:

Fleabay Rotel

[TheReaFireblade]

I think one of the reasons you may not have received as many replies as you'd hoped b0redom, is the potentially huge difference in what each of us consider "cheap"?

For instance... I reckon this Yamaha RX-V363 is an excellent 'budget' amp - and "cheap" at its asking price of £149.01

But I know for a fact, that £150 won't be considered 'budget'/"cheap" by very many, so I'd suggest you need to mention a budget, rather than just saying "cheap"

[b0redom]

Well cheap for this purpose - ie basically input switching with the capacity to add some stereo speakers would be circa £50. I don't need any 5.1 decoding etc. 3 inputs, 1 output and a headphone socket would do nicely.

[menthel]

Well cheap for this purpose - ie basically input switching with the capacity to add some stereo speakers would be circa £50. I don't need any 5.1 decoding etc. 3 inputs, 1 output and a headphone socket would do nicely.

Just get yourself down to richer sounds- I am sure you could secure a perfectly decent stereo amp and a set of speakers for not much money.

Either the tangent or the cambridge audio A1 would suit nicely.

[bigblue]

I'd definitely go second hand. Stereo amps are somewhat out of fashion nowadays, due to the majority of the general public wanting surround.

On eBay and AVForums there's often second hand Denon/Rotel/Sony/etc amps for about £50. Warranty-less obviously but worth a go!

[Alex]

God, I haven't posted on here in ages. Oh well.

If you're looking to buy new you'd do a lot worse for the money than a Cambridge Audio A1 Mk 3. If you wanted to buy second hand, and there's any chance of wanting to try 5.1, then I'd definitely look at the Cambridge Audio 540R second hand - they often go for under £90. If not the A1 mk3 often goes for under £50 - i picked one up for my brother for last Christmas, with a pair of Eltax speakers, for £45!

I'm a bit of a fan of Cambridge Audio budget gear - they don't have the bells and whistles technological stuff on their amps - they're just really good sound for not silly money.