A really great sounding inexpensive integrated is a Tandberg TIA3012. It’ll set you back $300-350 and is heavily biased into class A as it runs very warm to the touch. I had one for a few years and loved it. Kept it on all the time with about 4-5” of ventilation on top. 100 wpc, MOSFET outputs, very warm and tubey sounding. I would take one anyway over NAD or many others mentioned. Only sold it to go to separates.
- ...
- 52 posts total
@krell_fan1 Interesting to contrast your "take" with opinions recently expressed here: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/new-krell-k-300i-class-a-ibias-integrated-changes?highlight=300i%2Bkrell |
Looks like I'm a little late to the party, but might I suggest trying to find a Yamaha R-9 receiver? It has a front-panel button for 'Auto Class A', which gives you about 30 watts of beautiful, pure Class A power (about 15 w/ch), beyond which it seamlessly transitions into Class A/B mode up to full rated power (conservatively rated 125 w/ch into 8 ohms, 20-20kHz @ .015 THD). I've had an R-9 since new, bought back around 1985. The R-9 was Yamaha's flagship receiver, and I've never had the slightest problem with it - built well, and still looks and works like the day I bought it. Currently, my main system's preamp feeds the R-9 to power four sets of indoor and outdoor speakers around the house. The R-9 is especially great if you have speakers efficient enough to keep the amp running in Class A mode most of the time - even those who aren't big Yamaha 'Natural Sound' fans say that the R-9 in Class A mode is a totally different animal. (Just be sure you have good ventilation, or even a small fan - 'Auto Class A' kicks off enough heat to fry eggs on the top of the receiver!) From my experience, the R-9 was a very good, solidly built receiver that just never seemed to get enough respect, especially given its fairly unique Class A capabilities. A quick check on eBay shows several fully functional R-9s going for prices between $75 and $200, although one described as "fully restored" was priced around $1300. A decent R-9 might be a good way to get your feet wet in the "Class A waters" without a mid four-figure outlay. If desired, you could then make a more confident investment into one of the more expensive alternatives, and easily resell the R-9 for whatever you paid for it. |
This may be a very nice integrated to buy used later, linear class-A A/B said to have class-A sounding upper frequencies. And comes with a DAC inside. " I was struck by this combo's shimmering, translucent, finely detailed upper midrange to treble frequencies." https://www.stereophile.com/content/cambridge-audio-edge-integrated-amplifier Cheers George |
- 52 posts total