The 11 Best Stereo Amplifier Under 1000$ in 2023: Expert's Top Choices

Music production is a complicated process, and after that process, the music has been tuned for the majority of people’s ears. The resulting music would be likely to fit about 80% of people; however, if you’re not in that 80%, you probably need to change the music a little. That’s why we need an amplifier. In this article, we’ll introduce how a good stereo amplifier looks like and the best stereo amplifier under 1000$ you can order online.

1. The control

Amplifiers enable you to change the music output in the way that no one can imagine. The simplest form of an amplifier is the kind that allows you to increase or decrease the bass, and the most advanced kind would allow you to tune up or tune down any frequency you want. Therefore, refer to the guide below for the definition of frequency and control of a stereo amplifier:

Firstly, a music contains a series of frequencies, each of which is played at a different volume, contributing into making a song. The definition of the frequencies is as below:

• The bass: A frequency is called bass when it falls in the range of 1Hz to 250/500Hz. The examples for the bass frequency are the drums, the electronic drums, or things like that. The higher the frequency, the softer the sound. A pair of headphones or an amplifier which produces a good bass sound is not enough to consider it a high-quality device; however, the bass is the must for any device to become high-quality.

• The mid: The mid is probably the most important frequency range in a song. It denotes the frequencies between 500Hz and about 4kHz. The lower range of 500Hz to 2kHz is called low-mid, and the other half is called high-mid. We usually see low-mid in male’s voices and high-mid in guitar, violin and women’s voices. Tuning for a good mid is probably the hardest thing for an amplifier or a pair of headphones. Therefore, a high-quality amplifier is a device with beautiful mid output.

• The treble: The treble ranges from 4kHz, 8kHz, 16kHz up until 20kHz. The treble is the widest range of highest frequencies produced by audio devices, and is usually found in electric guitar’s sound, or intense engine sound. Most treble sounds are unpleasant to humans’ ears, so to this range, brands usually try to make it sound better instead of portraying exactly what the treble sounds.

The stereo amplifiers fall into three major types:

• Allows you to adjust bass only: Bass is the most important thing to a lot of people, so adjusting bass only might be the only thing they need. This type of amplifier is cheap and not even considered an amplifier when the mid and the treble are untouched.

• Allows you to adjust bass, mid, and treble separately: The most popular type of amplifiers that support the most essential features of an amplifier. Apart from the bass, mid and treble adjustments, the amplifiers can also enable you to adjust volumes, ear balance, etc.

• Allows you to adjust lots of frequencies: This often refers to some professional amplifiers in studios when users need to adjust frequencies separately. The most popular configuration is 64Hz and below, 128Hz, 250Hz, 500Hz, 1kHz, 2kHz, 4kHz, 8kHz, 16kHz and above. These settings should be enough for you to change the song completely, but some amplifiers might support more.

This factor is probably the most basic thing about an amplifier, so to choose yourself the best stereo amplifier under 1000, you need to take a deep dive into the river of knowledge and most importantly, know what you want.

2. The output quality

There are various kinds of outputs that you can choose from. These types of output correspond with the types of input, so the best stereo amplifier under 1000 would support at least one of these below:

• 3.5mm jack: 3.5mm jack is the type of connector you often see in your smartphones; therefore, the range of speakers that go with it is wide. You should expect to see 99% of the speakers on the market support this type of connector.

• 2.5mm jack: This is the slightly less popular type of connector, featured in small speakers or headphones that doesn’t require lots of power.

• 6.5mm jack: This is the type you usually see in your microphone or high-end headphones. It uses high power to deliver high-quality music; therefore, normal speakers would be able to handle.

The last thing about connectors only apply to the input side of them: The amplifiers can also take input from a phone, for that it can be connected to a phone by Bluetooth signal, lightning ports, micro USB ports - both type B and type C. This kind of amplifier is super convenient and popular to phone’s users; however, it is not always the case because phones could not produce the desired quality to a proportion of people.

In conclusion, you have to keep in mind that the output connectors of your amplifiers, so as to make the best out of the speakers you have. 

3. The battery

Having a battery is the unlikely feature you would see in an amplifier; however, it’s not rare. A battery can support the amplifier to play up to about 30 or 40 hours, depending on the motor type and built-in speakers. Typically, your amplifier should work with a 9V or 16V electricity source, which makes the amplifier in need of an adapter but secures it from unwanted electricity charges. It’s less convenient to use an adapter but safer for the device and your body.

4. Design of the product

People don’t think the design, especially the materials that made the product, affect the way it sounds; however, it does. Metal made amplifiers would look much better than plastic or wooden items, but they are the worst kind of amplifier in terms preventing effects from electrostatic charges that would degrade your music or even damage your headphones and your ears:

• Wood: Wooden amplifiers are beautiful, luxury, but expensive and heavy. They would give your room the sense of traditions, and you would be considered a real professional listener or collector. 

• Plastic: Plastic record players are simple, cheap, and light. They don’t satisfy the requirements of making your look cool, but they still sound pretty good in your room.

• Metal - Steel or Aluminum: Metal amplifiers often look modern, not as luxurious as wooden ones, but cheaper. Metal amplifiers are the toughest of them all, being able to handle external physical forces. However, there is an undeniable downside about metal amplifiers that we have mentioned above.

5. Additional features

Lastly, some additional features you should know before buying a stereo amplifier include:

• High-quality music: high-quality music is usually defined to be music that has the sampling rate and the bit rate higher than usual. The FLAC/AAC, DSD256 and lots of other formats are considered high-quality.

• Wi-Fi streaming: Wi-Fi streaming enables you to the whole world of music streaming from Spotify, Tidal, or Apple Music. However, it is recommended to use Tidal or other high-quality music streaming provider because the highest quality produced by Spotify is only 320kbps and by Apple Music is 250kbps.

1. Marantz PM7000N Integrated Stereo Hi-Fi Amplifier

Marantz PM7000N Integrated Stereo Hi-Fi Amplifier is defined to be a Hi-Fi amplifier with supports for both digital and analog sources. The high-performance discrete 2-channel integrated amplifiers deliver true music with high resolution. Each of the channels can produce a 60-watt rate of signal which is massive. 

The amplifier can accept sources from lots of inputs, including USB-A, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, analog output, coaxial and optical digital inputs, and each of them can  be enabled and disabled individually. 

The amplifier also supports voice control with Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Siri, and Josh.ai engine.Finally, the supported formats are high-resolution ALAC, FLAC, WAV and DSD formats.

• Hi-Fi amplifier

• 60-watt rate each channel

• Bluetooth and Wi-Fi input

• Various wired inputs

• Voice control with Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri and Josh.ai

2. Cambridge Audio CXA61 Stereo Two-Channel Amplifier

Cambridge Audio CXA61 Stereo Two-Channel Amplifier is another good choice for audiophiles when it is designed to be unmatched with sonic ability, features and finish quality. The amplifier sounds good in all terms of bass, mid, and treble ranges, creating the most authentic sound possible by an amplifier. 

The design is simple, looks like a grey box with one big button that controls volume and many small buttons that control tracks, input sources or formats. On the inside of the amplifier, the brand equipped the item with a high-quality ESS Sabre SE9010K2M DAC chip, which is capable of decoding 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD256 formats. 

Finally, the stereo amplifier takes input from TOSLINK or Coaxial connections, Bluetooth with the advanced codec of aptX HD.

• High resolution music

• DSD256 and PCM 32-bit/384kHz decoding capability

• Bluetooth connections + Coaxial connections

3. BoyuuRange A50 MKIII 300B HiFi Integrated Tube Amplifier

The next item we want to introduce is the BoyuuRange A50 MKIII 300B HiFi Integrated Tube Amplifier. The reason to love this one is that it falls into the family of Tube Amp Pro amplifiers. 

It would take hours to explain what it means by a Tube Amplifier, so what you need to know is that the Tube Amplifiers produce a soft timbre sound with pleasant feelings. 

Personally, I don’t like the way a Tube Amp sounds, but it is favorable by many people. The amplifier is designed for you to see the tubes for you to understand what’s really going on inside your amplifier. It comes with a Tube Cage, which we mentioned before, and a VU meter. 

The power of the output tube measures to be 300B x 2 tubes. It doesn’t take traditional inputs and outputs, but it is a great choice for people who want to learn about audio and audio quality.

• Tube Amplifier

• 300B x 2 tubes

• Great choice for audiophiles, especially Tube Amp lovers

1. How do I configure my amplifier?

When you receive your amplifier, follow this guide to set it up:

• Open the box and carefully take the amplifier out

• Clean the inputs and outputs if you need anything strange

• Plug in the amplifier

• Plug in the input and output of your amplifier

• Plug in the speaker and the player

• Set the knob level to normal

• Set the volume to around 60 percent.

• Then you’re all set to go.

• Turn on the music, slowly adjust the frequencies and volumes towards your likings.

2. Do I need extra things to play music?

To play music, an amplifier is not sufficient. The amplifier plays the role of adjusting your music, not decoding or sounding. Therefore, here’s the list of things you need to complete your music set:

• A player, or also known as a decoder which reads and decodes your music

• A pair of stereo speakers: Play your music out to the world

• Some power cords, transfer cables and other hanging equipments

• A remote if you need one

• Bluetooth-enabled devices or Wi-Fi network if you need

3. What do the FLAC, DSD, AAC mean?

FLAC, DSD and AAC are the audio formats that are usually used to describe high-quality music. A format is defined by a sampling rate, a bit rate and how it is encoded. The higher the bit rate and the sampling rate are, the harder and more processing power it requires to be decoded. DSD is said to be the hardest format to decode nowadays, so you would expect a DSD-compatible amplifier to work with other formats.

4. How do I maintain a good amplifier?

To maintain a good quality of your amplifier, there are do’s and don’ts.

Do’s are:

• Move your amplifier around gently

• Use good-quality inputs and outputs

• Use appropriate power sources. Make sure the official power adapter is used.

Don’ts are:

• Don’t drop your amplifier or let an external force affect it some ways

• Don’t try to disassemble your amplifier

• Don’t overcharge your device

5. Can I replace parts of my amplifier?

No. An amplifier is well designed to be one item and is not meant to be taken apart. Even if you can take apart your amplifier, it would never sound the same when it is assembled again. Therefore, do not ever try to disassemble your device, even for the cover. If your amplifier is broken, take it to the warranty store or professional repair centers to get it fixed in a few days.

An amplifier, just as a pair of stereo speakers and the player, is crucial when it comes to playing music. Buying an amplifier would make you a professional collector or player, and learning it to use is a fun ride. We have talked about the best stereo amplifier under 1000, and here are our final picks:

• The best stereo amplifier under 1000: Marantz PM7000N Integrated Stereo Hi-Fi Amplifier

• The runner-up: Cambridge Audio CXA61 Stereo Two-Channel Amplifier

• The best tube amplifier: BoyuuRange A50 MKIII 300B HiFi Integrated Tube Amplifier

• The best stereo amplifier under 1000 for budget: Yamaha A-S801BL Natural Sound Integrated Stereo Amplifier

That has wrapped up our article about the best stereo amplifier under 1000. We hope you had a great time reading about amplifiers, how to choose the best of them, and the reviews of the best picks we have selected from online stores. Thank you for reading our article, and see you in the next recommendations for other products.