Best inexpensive integrated for PSB Gold speakers.

Well, going from 80 to 120 watts is not going to make much difference. As I recall, the PSBs are quite sensitive, so an 80-watt amp with plenty of headroom (a la NAD) should drive them pretty well, unless you've got a big room or a thing for ear-splitting volumes. I haven't scoped this market, but I'd guess that an integrated that's both inexpensive and substantially more powerful than what you've got will be hard to come by.

Patriot, the PSB's are quite insensitive, and will require a powerful amp in order to open up. They feature a difficult 4 ohm load(dipping even lower in some regions), with a phase angle equally as daunting.

While PSB lists their sensitivity as something like 90 dB/2.83 V, I always argued this. Measurement by Stereophile's John Atkinson confirmed my suspicions. The values he observed were closer to 83 dB/2.83 V. With the aforementioned impedence/phase angle.

I have personally spent a lot of time with these speakers. Coupled with electronics by Sony, Adcom, and Carver. Of the myriad amps I mated to these speakers, I only saw the true beauty of this speaker with the now defunct Carver Lightstar. Everything else, including the behemoth Adcoms never allowed this speaker to come to life.

In those times when I drove these speakers by the Lightstar, it was absolute magic. No, they aren't perfect. No speaker is. They can be a bit bright, and the sound is not the most refined. But, at their price, with the right amplification, you have a wonderful speaker. Dynamic, deep, fast, and open. In fact, at times, I was even awestruck. Build quality is very good, as are their looks/WAF. I would caution you to keep a keen eye on making sure the driver's bolts are tight. Rigorous exercise loosens them up faster than one might expect.

I would suggest that if these speakers are keepers(and they SHOULD be), please look into a Carver Lightstar or Sunfire power amplifier. Otherwise, you are selling yourself, and, especially, these speakers short. I cannot think of an integrated(and I am a huge fan of integrateds) which will do these speakers justice, so I am recommending you rethink your choice in amplification

Good luck!

Both Bomarc and Trelja offer good advice. To expand on Bomarc's comments, bear in mind that doubling the amplifier power only results in a 3db increase in SPL, which is not a major increase in volume. If 80 wpc isn't enough for your PSB Golds, you should be thinking in terms of a 300 wpc power amp. But power isn't the only issue: quality is the other factor. The PSB Golds are pretty damn good speakers, although they are inefficient (their published efficiency rating is incorrect), and they deserve to be powered by a high quality preamp/power amp combo.

A NAD 218THX will work well with those speakers if you are on a tight budget. You can use the 317 as a preamp.

I have been extremely impressed with the Nad 370. I am using the 370 to drive the new Audio Physic Virgo 3's ($5500) and have been astounded by this amp. I bought it to tide me over until the new Bel Canto eVo integrated comes out later this month ($3200). I have been using it with a modified 9000es with a lot of SACD's the resolution power and control of this amp is amazing. In the latest Stereophile the measurements show it at 178W per Channel at 8ohms. If you need more power you can biamp with the NAD 270 power amp giving you 300W per channel The 270 can be had for a street price of around $500 and Qaudio.com has the 370 for $549 unbelievable.
For an inexpensive powerful integrated this is hands down the way to go ! This new Nad is so much better than the 317 and other previous Nad gear I have heard including pre-pow combos

Chelillingworth, have you had the chance to compare the NAD to similarly priced Rotel RB 1070(120W) or 1080(200W)? Reason I am asking is I'm in market for an inexpensive SS myself. I have been impressed w/ the Rotel but have not listened to the new NAD.

Thanks
I remain,

No I haven't I have been using Rogue Audio Madnum gear but sold it off because I needed some that I could leave on all the time and wouldn't create so much heat and for that I am waiting for the Bel Canto eVo integrated. I got a good deal on the NAD and am using to fill the time before the evo is released. I am just stunned out how good it is, I haven't done dircet comparisons and I know rotel makes good stuff but I don't think anyone can touch the 370 at this price, I paid $550 ym Satori speaker cables are $600 this is nuts !

...and you wouldn't catch me trying to power these boys with something under 100watts. My current SS amp is an EAD PowerMaster 2000, which dynamically steers power to the necessary channels. So, according to the manual, I'm delivering 2x3500 watts into the 4ohm speakers. They sound pretty good. Not GREAT, but in terms of price:performance, you'd be pretty impressed.

Before this, I've tried an Adcom 350x2 watt amp (cant remember the name), a 5x125watt multichannel amp i borrowed for a while (cant remember the name), a Denon AVR3600 and another Sony receiver. I've also heard the Golds through Brystons, Parasounds, and other EAD amps. In all cases, the speakers would not open up. Period. The Golds demand high levels of power, and really, really are not suitable for integrated or SS amps with power ratings below 150/channel. Even then, these guys need tons of power to really shine.

If you're interested in tubes, I'd suggest you first purchase a pair of speakers that can support both your tube and SS needs.

This is a great discussion! I am quite surprised that several people have chimed in that the Golds don't really open up until you mate them with massive amounts of power. I don't know the speaker well, but I'm very curious about this phenomenon. What exactly changes when you go to big power? I'm driving my Proac 2.5's w/ 150 watts/side, and I wonder if I would hear the same magic you describe for the Golds if I upped the power ante with the Proacs. --Dan

I want to thank everyone for their comments this has been very helpful and I am definetly in the market for more power. I am also going to try and understand the difference between bridging and biamping. That may be a short term solution. For the record I was in a high end store yesterday looking for alternatives and while I was there they recieved a call from one of their reps who brought up the whole current and impedence issue -- the rep said this is currently the hot topic among everyone in the industry. Again, you all have been very informative and I appreciate your all's time. Thanks, Dan.

There is a great discussion about biamping at Sound.au.com which is Rod Elliot's site (click on the audio articles link). Bi-amping is far supperior to bridging, period. To my knowledge the "current/impedence issue" is hardly a hot topic. It's been fundamental for years. If a rep thinks it's "hot" then he's not.

Sincerely, I remain