I got so sick of the merry-go-round that I bought a Accuphase E600 years ago. It's pleasant to listen to and I don't crank tunes loud any longer. My dog is old, my wife and I are in our mid 50's. I lost the ambition to chase the perfect sound, I like my Accuphase integrated, CDP and tuner and I'm just rolling with it. When I got into the hobby at the age of 14, I never imagined I'd have what I have now. That said, I'm surprised at how good some of the gear I had sounded early on. Most notably, NAD. There was also a time when I had to recover from Rotel separates with a Rogue Cronus Magnum that was like being cured from a disease. If I could cure the audio world of a disease, it would be Rotel.
After years of separates, I'm going integrated. Anyone else do the same?
I'm rethinking my listening room. I want my audio rack to be more minimalist vs lots of boxes, wires, and clutter. I know separates, in general, will sound better. However, at the level of my system, I'm not certain the difference would be as apparent. In the grand scheme of things of Audiophilia, my level of components are mid-fi at best (BHK Pre, First Watt J2, Elac PPA-2 phono, Pro-ject s2 Dac, ZU Omen Defs)
I'm favoring one of the Luxman Class A's (I know Luxman is getting out of the Class A business. The only way I would favor a built-in Dac is if it were upgradable like McIntosh or Accuphase. I'm guessing a Luxman or Mac built-in phono would sound just as good as to what I have now (Elac PPA-2).
So the question is, who else has gone to integrated? Do you regret the move or are you glad you did?