Best Integrated amp under $10K
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1999 - 2011 NextScreen. All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
What speakers will the amplifier be asked to drive? How big is your room? How loudly do you listen? What kind of music do you most like?
Hi Robert,
My current system consists of Primare cd-31, Primare I-30 Int Amp; B & W 805S Standmount speakers. I will be upgrading from the cd 31 to the Ayre C-5exMP universal player for which I have already placed an order. We don't have a high end hi fi dealer in the country where I live and I buy my components through reviews and advice from others.
Due to budget constraint, I intend to continue to use my Primare I-30 Int Amp and B & W speakers for now. But I am planning on upgrading my amp next in order to match the Ayre C-5exMp. So I am doing some homework now. I will only upgrade the speakers after the amp upgrade. Frankly I am not sure what speakers I will upgrade to at the moment - but toying with idea of Sonus Faber- either Cremona M or Guarneri. I listen to mostly light jazz (especially vocals), folk and light classical. My room is small -about 3.2m by 5m.
I would welcome any suggestions you or anyone else can give me on my options for the future upgrades for my amp and speakers to match the Ayre C-5exMP. Thanks
Where do you live if you don't mind my asking? If $10k is the ceiling of your budget might I suggest perhaps taking a holiday to a country that does have high-end dealers and do some demos? It could be a very nice adventure. If you spent $5k on a trip and bought a $5k integrated amp based on your own hearing I bet you would have spent your money more wisely than buying a $10k amp based on reviews alone. What do you think?
The integrated from Pass has to be on the short list of anyone looking for a reference caliber integrated, as should the Simaudio i-7. I use the Mark Levinson 383 integrated to drive my B&W 805 Signatures. This combo works quite well, so you might consider a used ML 383...they're built like tanks.
Hi dunstansim,
I appreciate your dilemma as it relates to not having any hifi dealers around you. May i ask what you are unhappy about in your existing system? While upgrading each component in your system based on reviews may ultimately make sense, I would venture that a more focused approach of identifying what aspects of your current playback system you are unhappy with may lead you towards identifying what part of the system you may want to change first. The problem may be with the speakers, etc...Furthermore, I would not necessarily buy the integrated amp without having an idea of what speaker you are going to mate that with. Again I understand that you may not have the luxury of auditioning equipment (let alone pieces of equipment you are thinking of buying together) but you may want to pay special attention to the reviews you are relying on to see what speakers for example worked well with a particular integrated amp that you may be considering. Finally, I would second naijeru's recommendation of visiting a city (or country) that has a number of hifi dealers that carry your short-list of integrated amps/speakers that you are considering. Having said all that, a good starting place is The Absolute Sound's 2009 Buyer's Guide and Stereophile Class A recommended list. From TAS Buyer's Guide: Plinius 9200, Conrad Johnson CA200, Pass Labs INT-150, and Simaudio i-7. From Stereophile Class A list ($5K-$10K range): LFD NCSE, Naim Supernait, and Simaudio i-7. I did not include any sub-$5K integrateds in this list of which there are many. Hope this helps.
Thanks for all your suggestions and input. I must admit that what naijeru said makes sense. The only thing is that I will still not be able to hear the particular component together with the rest of my equipement. I have been thinking about the pass labs and the simaudio. cmalak, my current system has to much glare and grit for my liking and I am looking for a smoother and warmer sound without sacrificing the detail. From what I have read of the reviews, I think the pass labs or simaudio coupled with the sonus faber speakers might do the trick . But then again, I have yet to hear these components. I have just found out that there are dealers for pass labs and simaudio in singapore, so that helps. Has anyone auditioned the Pass Labs and Simaudio ? How do they sound and compare ? JLeeMD, could you describe the sound of the Mark Levinson 383 with the B& W s ? What cd source do you use ? And how much is the Mark Levinson ?
I have auditioned the Simaudio i-7 at length and would characterize its character as being very neutral. I auditioned it with moderately sensitive speakers (Thiel 2.4s, Rockport Miras) and it had a very strong grip over these speakers, with very solid, fast, and impactful bass. It had very resolved midrange and top-end performance. I thought it was an excellent integrated amp but again a very neutral, highly resolved and engaging solid-state amp. I would not rely on it to impart any warmth to the signal downstream to associated speakers. I have heard Sonus Faber Elipsas and Cremona Ms (but not with the Simaudio gear) and I agree that these speakers have a very nice, seductive midrange and a warmish character to them, so that may be the way to go first and see whether that mates well with your Primare amp. Perhaps a good replacement for your B&W 805s would be Cremona Auditor Ms? The only other option I will suggest for you to consider is the Pathos Logos integrated amp which may mate very well with your B&W805s. It's a hybrid tube input and solid state output integrated amp with 100wpc, which ought to be more than enough to drive your 805s in your listening room. The Pathos has great, warm midrange performance. Good bass slam. May be a litte rolled off in the highs but still all the detail is there for you to absorb across the frequency spectrum. It's just not thrust at you as with some solid state integrateds. I had a friend who owned the amp and I spent many a night listening to it (with JM Focal Labs speakers) and thought it was wonderful. In any case, there is no substitute to listening for yourself, so good luck with your search and I hope this has been helpful.
I would put the Pass INT-150 and Simaudio Moon i-7 on your short list. I agree with "cmalak" about the sound of the Simaudio and its neutrality. The Pass will sound more "bloomy" in the midrange the way tubes to (but not in any artificial or colored way) and have richer density of tone color. The Simaudio has better low-level resolution and better portrayal of soundstage depth. Still, you can't go wrong with either of these outstanding integrateds.
The ML 383 / B&W 805 Signature is pretty neutral as far as I can tell. My source is the Sony SCD-777ES (single-ended version of the SCD-1). Every change I make to cables, vibration control products, power conditioning products changes the sound- from analytical and lean to and warm and full-bodied. You've got good gear! If you're hearing to much glare and grit, I would suggest you invest in the "foundations." I recentlt added Shunyata's new CX power cords and Stillpoint cones and component stands and the overall improvement in sound FAR exceeded my expectations. BTW, my Sony is in need of upgrading soon...I'm thinking Esoteric X-05 or Ayre's SACD player...
Thanks guys all your suggestions. Looks like I have narrowed down the amps for my shortlist. The only additionaI amp I might also consider is the Ayre K-1xe/V-1xe preamp/stereo amp combo. So if anyone has auditioned these Ayre amps, I would also welcome your views. cmalak, I will certainly consider the pathos. JLeeMD, for your information there is a short follow-up review by Wes Philips in this July's Stereophile on the recently upgraded Ayre C-5xeMP sacd player. The review is all positive so the Minimum Phase filter upgrade must be working. Now to wait for the arrival of the Ayre C-5xe before plotting my amp upgrade (in the not too distant future, I hope) !!
I have heard the Ayre. It is good, but there is better stuff for my taste. V1 is good, but theCJ Premier 350 and Pass 350.5 are MUCH better. The K1 is good, but the BAT is MUCH better - it has that tube naturalness. What will you like?
I agree with other posters that you will be making your choices blindly without hearing the equipment in your system. Also, it doesn't quite make sense to purchase the amp before the speakers.
My advice to you: Buy several pieces used on audiogon. Listen to them. Sell what you don't want.
The new Magnum Dynalab 309 -a hybrid (tubed preamp section with transistors for the power) integrated with a superb built-in DAC. It won me over -even compared to separates up to 15,000$Cdn. I believe it will sell for about 8,000$.
It really does combine the best of both technologies. See their www-site (magnumdynalab.com) for a full description. The first review of this approach can be found on the positive feedback site -its on their new 209 Receiver.
An incredible bargain, well, in fact the best I have heard so far, believe it or not, is melody 2a3 integrated. The things it can do is simply beyond comprehension. Very transparent, very detailed, very musical. And the bottom end is to be heard to be believed. Read 6 moons review for an in depth analysis. I sold my ten year old antique sound 1009 after a week of at home trial( and it did not complete its burn in, only around 50 hours a most). By the way the a/b comparison at home also included Tom Evans Linear B, Audiomat Opera Reference which are nearly 4-5 times it cost. A true miracle. Any serious listener should absolutely listen to these champs before looking for anything else (if of course its power rating is ok with your speakers)
Regards,