Marantz PM 40 SE

I bought this amplifier from ebay for £35 plus £15 p&p. It has a decent enough build quality and all the knobs and buttons move nice and smoothly and there's no crackles or other unwanted noise from them, the casing could be a bit better because there is a bit of a dip in the top panel, in the middle just behind the front panel, however this is not too much of a concern as it wont let in any dust and doesn't interfere with the operation of the amp.
...and though i'm not the biggest audiophile in the world i can quite happily say that it has a tight and punchy bass but sounds a bit dry and lacking in treble, this is more obvious with vocals and instruments such as violins and guitars, for serious listening i would advise auditioning other amplifiers as well as this one first if you can. On the other hand if you're looking for a second amplifier to use to bi-amp speakers then using one of these ... more

I bought this amplifier from ebay for £35 plus £15 p&p. It has a decent enough build quality and all the knobs and buttons move nice and smoothly and there's no crackles or other unwanted noise from them, the casing could be a bit better because there is a bit of a dip in the top panel, in the middle just behind the front panel, however this is not too much of a concern as it wont let in any dust and doesn't interfere with the operation of the amp.
I have listened to a few other decent amplifiers and though i'm not the biggest audiophile in the world i can quite happily say that it has a tight and punchy bass but sounds a bit dry and lacking in treble, this is more obvious with vocals and instruments such as violins and guitars, for serious listening i would advise auditioning other amplifiers as well as this one first if you can. On the other hand if you're looking for a second amplifier to use to bi-amp speakers then using one of these to drive the bass units would work pretty well.
As for the person who just wants a decent amp to drive a set of speakers this one has a fair few features that offer good value for money when bought second hand.
Two sets of speaker terminals so you can bi-wire should you wish or put another set of speakers in a different room, CD, phono, tuner, auxillary and two tape inputs. balance control as you would expect and a source direct switch so you can bypass circuitry that isn't necessary to the operation of the amp and eliminate unnecessary noise.
Finally a 1/4" headphone socket as every good amp should have.
The looks aren't anything to write home about, black, fairly plain design with a good logical layout.
All around a good integrated amplifier which should perform well enough for most people with a decent sound and plenty of power  

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