[kpierce123]

I have a pair of aperion verus grand bookshelf speakers as mains and a marantz 1403 receiver and am looking to run an external amp from the main preouts. I would like something around 200-250ish dollars used and have seen a lot of amps that look decent. Any thoughts on brands? I have been looking at nad, rotel, adcom, parasound, etc… I do use them for home theater but would love something for 2 channel music (jazz, acousti, some rock and electronic.) Also I've read that different amps affect soundstage? If so my speakers are closer together than I would like just because of room layout so anything that could help soundstage would be good. Thanks, Keith

 

[rnatalli]

Since the 1403 only has 2.1 preouts, I assume you're looking for a stereo amp. As for affecting soundstage, some believe amps sound differently; I'm not one of them as sounding differently would mean the introduction of coloration and I would not buy any amp that colors the sound. Depending on your speakers, you may not need an amp. That said, Emotiva has stereo amps in your price range.