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Anyone else heard the new Plinius 8200 Mk II?

I admit it: I'm a fan of Plinius. I have their CD-LAD preamp and their Jarrah phono stage. I've long wanted to replace my two Adcom GFA 555IIs with Plinius Amps, but the budget has kept the Adcoms in place.

So I've been considering their integrated 8200 -- 175 very powerful watts per channel, built-in phono stage, and Plinius build quality throughout. But I've also heard systems with their separates, and while it was subtle, I couldn't deny the separates sounded better -- and for the price difference between them and then 8200 integrated (what ... some $4,000 or more), they should.

Well, the other day I had an opportunity to hear the new Plinius Integrated 8200 MkII, and I was blown away! This unit is a quantum leap forward over the 8200, which is no slouch to begin with ... and I think it approaches, if not quite reaches, the sound of the Plinius separates.

I was wondering if anyone has had the opportunity to hear the new Plinius 8200 MkII integrated, and if so, what their thoughts were. Thanks for your input!
paul_frumkin
3 responses Add your response
nakolawala
42 posts
 
I was a very happy owner of 8200 mkI for 1 year until I heard about the mkII version. About 1 month back I sold my mkI and purchased the new 8200 mkII.
The new version has a completely redesigned line and phono section, bigger transformer and better powersupply.
The improvements over the mkI version are ten fold time. After burn-in for 1 week the sound has opened up tremendously. There are 2 areas in which the mkII is better are in transperency and dynamics. There is also improvements in bass , midrange and highs.
In a nutshell, the mkII will either surpass or equal any combination twice or three times its price. It is that good.
matt8268
92 posts
 
This post was one that convinced me to buy a mkII. It's now in my system and broken in, and I totally agree with your glowing recommendations. I haven't had enough experience with different amp combo's to know why or how I like it, but now I just want to play music. Everything just sounds so pleasing in a visceral way that's hard to describe. I'm sold.
adamslaw
10 posts
 
Paul, I've had mine for about 4 mos. I did a lot of research before choosing the Plinius over some other fine integrateds. John Marks has some great things to say about the Plinius integrateds in both the Absolute Sound and Stereophile and he convinced me that the Plinius is at or near the top of the integrated heap and is a great buy. The Mk II also won an Absolute Sound Golden Ear Award. I'm so impressed with mine that I don't miss my Stereophile Class A tubed preamp and amp (FWIW). Happy listening.

Adam
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