Cheap power amplifier recommendations?

January 30, 2010 2:33 PM

Based on their good reviews and cheap price, I bought a pair of JBL Control 1 Pros for my DJ setup at home without realizing they were passive speakers. Any recommendations for a cheap amplifier? I just need some basic reference monitors for my turntables/mixer so I'm a little out of my depth when it comes to wading though reviews on audiophile websites.
posted by cosmic osmo to Shopping (4 answers total)

Grab a T Amp. They're simple and have great sound quality for the price.
posted by thebigdeadwaltz at 2:36 PM on January 30, 2010

I love my two Parasound Zamps (an original model and a v3). I bought the v3 refurbished from Audio Advisor and paid about $250 for it last summer. Not the cheapest solution but it has powered properly all the desktop/bookshelf speakers I have used with it.

Relatedly, I have it paired with a zpre that I also love and recommend.
posted by fief at 5:35 PM on January 30, 2010

The Control 1s are rated for 150 W. A 15 W t-amp would drive them fine, but something more powerful would allow them to get louder (perceptually, 150 W would be around twice as loud as 15 W). One problem here is that the these are 4 ohms speakers; many consumer amplifier are only rated at 8 ohms. So you may go with a consumer "stereo" (2 channels) receiver, like this 100 W Sony (but the spec sheet says nothing about 4 ohm operation), or with one of the cheap pro amplifier, like this 200 W Crown (absolutely rated for 4 ohms; in fact, you'll get 300 W per channel, so you'll have to be careful not to turn it up too much, lest you burn your speakers).
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 10:15 PM on January 30, 2010

If you're trying to do this as cheaply as possible, your best bet might be to get a secondhand receiver from a pawnshop or thrift store or garage sale or something.
posted by box at 11:36 AM on January 31, 2010 [1 favorite]