Advice for a new receiver/amplifier?

one of the channels on my old amplifier has gone kaput and as it has various other small problems i'm thinking it'd need substantial refurbishment, so i've decided it's time for a change. i've got tannoy mercury v1 speakers, a pro-ject debut turntable, and play digital stuff from my laptop via a 3.5mm to phono cable*, and i'll be using it for music alone so don't need anything too fancy - perhaps this means a bit of ebaying for older equipment will be my best bet. any suggestions on a budget of ~£150?

*via a focusrite interface to compensate for my laptop's bad soundcard, though this admittedly is still probably a stupid, quality-destroying way to listen to music

Onkyo or Yamaha make really great low priced 2 channel receivers, with phono input

I always input digital sources via line-level aux/cd/tape inputs (3.5mm to RCA plugs) and use the actual phono inputs only for turntables.

Quality DAC is key -- consider a used Dragonfly.

New 2-channel Onkyo and Yamaha units get a second vote from me and probably cost about the same as it would to fix your old amp (depending on the particulars).

seconding the Yamaha recommendations - what's your budget? the Yamaha A-S801 has both USB input and a great built in RIAA, meaning you won't need an external sound card for your computer

I've a weak spot for the NAD D3020, will get you a USB input but you'll have to use an external phono amp. A fantastic little digital amp, more contemporary in its design/construction than the Yamahas, not saying it's future proof, but I think it's a good bet.

thanks, these yamaha and onkyo options look promising. what do you like about the nad, niels?

I used to work for a company with a close connection to NAD so I'm biased, but I really think it is the coolest little digital amplifier you can get. Reasonably priced, takes up very little space, sounds awesome and packs a surprising amount of power - will drive almost any speaker! Built-in bluetooth and USB input is very practical, and although I love analog amps I think the future is digital, so (though I'm not an engineer) the digital amp design makes sense to me.

It was very well received at the time https://www.whathifi.com/nad/d-3020/review but it's possible there are more quality digital amps on the market now

Bought one for my younger brother, matched with a set of Dali Zensor 3's - he loves it

I didn't know the NAD was in your price range; if so, i'd go for that. Clean, honest power by reputation -- the on-board DAC is likely the Burr-Brown set-up... looks GREAT!

i've been loving the second-hand NAD i bought a handful of years ago but one of the channels seems to be crapping out. this is a vague question, but does anyone think this is worth taking in to a shop to be looked at versus trying to find a inexpensive replacement? am in school right now so am on a poor student budget. i think this thing is >20 years old

my guess...is unlikely that it's worth fixing

NAD products are not as disposable as most big-box electronics... ...i suppose it depends mostly if you have a decent repair shop in your area (because shipping costs can take a big bite out of any repair budget). Also, the repair shop does not necessarily have to be an Authorized NAD outlet to get good work. I would google the NAD model number and symptoms and look through the myriad discussion forums to try and narrow the possible repair schemes.