any current integrated amps in market have great dacs?


I know built in dacs have historically have been a bit of an afterthought, currently looking at the Rotel Michi X3 series 2 as it has a nice chip set

any other integrated amps around the same price point  with a good dac built in?

 

 

 

audiocanada

Showing 4 responses by tiagocarneiro

Has anyone tried the Aavik U-180, U-280, or U-580.
Outstanding gear, specially the latest.
Neverthless i opted to buy the respective separates: Aavik I-580 and Aavik D-580.
Amazing human, organic, natural and lifelike sound.

@arafiq i had the U-180 and loved it. When I had the chance to upgrade, I did it and zero regrets. Honestly, and after a bunch of bought gear through the time, probably this is the best DAC+Amp I had. I appreciate more the music instead of the gear. This is a “clichet” but in my case suits perfectly !

Never tried the U-150 but an authorized dealer (that have all gear available, New, Demo, and Used) told me that the U-180 is sonically better than the U-150 (loosing the Phono stage - that I don’t use), and the U-280  a big step above the U-180, putting the U-580 in a even higher league. This lead me to buy the I-580 and D-580, upgrading form the U-180. 
I advise anyone to audition the Aavik gear with an open mind and you will very fast be surprised. 
Not cheap but very very good 👍🏼 

Even not in the same high level of some several gear referred above, one other option with outstanding ratio price/quality is the hybrid "Advance Paris A10 Classic Integrated Amplifier"

Really really good sound in a very complete amplifier.

For less than USD 2.000 is an almost unbeatable option of a All-in-One solution. Great looks (specially the meters) and a sound that is way above its specs.

Worth a audition even with some more demanding speakers.

I think the performance (Integrated Amp with DAC inside) is about the synergy between the DAC implementation and amplifier section. Although having myself separates (DAC and Integrated Amp), I truly believe this.

Another gear I'm curious to test is the Daniel Hertz system or just the Daniel Hertz Maria Integrated Amps. This is the Mark Levinson' brand and it's a new market approach (proposing a complete system - Amp and Speakers). It's expensive but above some point we know that a step up is not a proportional investment but rather an exponential one (a "lot" more money for a "small" step in quality improvement). It's just a matter of deciding if we want to downsize or not, even if it do not mean spending less 😁 - sometimes less is more.

This is a subject matter and all opinions are right, at least for that person.