Best Integrated Amp for Confidence 5 speakers


I found a great deal on a pair of Dynaudio Confidence 5 speakers and now I'm looking to match them up with an integrated amp under 5K used. My listening area is 12.5' by 16.25'. I listen to all kinds of music and rarely above medium volume levels. I love the sound of quality tubes but also appreciate the control of solid state. I'd appreciate feedback from Confidence 5 owners or anyone who is familiar with these specific speakers. Thanks.
ericaudio
The Confidence 5's require POWER, lots of it. My best results were with VTL MB450 monoblocks. 2nd was a Levinson 336. Smaller amps just can't awaken them. The 5's are a great speaker if set up correctly.
I'm a big Dynaudio fan, I have the Special 25's right now, the Confidence 5 is a wonderful speaker as well. I have found that Dyn's love power and volts comming down the line. I currently use the Musical Fidelity Trivista 300 integrated and LOVE it. It's a tube preamp and a solid state 350 watt at 8 ohms (700 @ 4 ohms) powerhouse that will drive anything IMHO. The power source is an outboard unit.
I have used the Rowland Concentra 1 and 2 with very good success and the Sim Audio Moon I-5, which is equally smooth as well.
My room is not much bigger than yours I'm at ~16x~19x 9. Dyns also need first reflection control in a big way. I have used the GIK 2" (2' x 4' x 2") with great success.
Hope this helps, all three of these integrated amps are in your price range, I don't think you will be disapointed with either, but if you can get a hold of a Trivista you may end up with the best of both worlds (tube and solid state).
Good luck and enjoy the amp hunt.
Mjw55, thanks for the feedback. I've been looking at the Trivista but haven't had a chance to audition yet. How would you characterize the sound and is the Trivista your preference of the integrateds you mentioned? I've been looking at the Rowland Concentras as well.
Sound wise, the Trivista is my preference by a long shot, of the three. The other two are very fine amps and it should not be concidered that I'm 'dissin them in any way shape or form, but for me the Trivista has proven to be the ticket.
Looks wise (WAF) the Rowland or the Moon are MUCH more attractive. Although the looks of the Trivista grow on you and the blue feet are super cool at night.
Robbyg is on the same wave length as I am, POWER is the key to this speaker and the Trivista delivers POWER is spades. It's also VERY warm sounding to me. I have not grown tired of it and I've had it for well over a year now. I usually find it takes that long for the faults to come out. To my ear it is very smooth and the sound stage is wide, bass extention is superb and the mid's (what Dyn's excel at) are just a thing to behold. I like female volcals, blues, world music and good 'ole rock'n roll. I listen to classical but usually only as background music. I'm not a big fan of loud either, I don't think I have ever turned up the Trivista past 11 o'clock on the volume knob. I like a well defined amp/speaker set up at low to mid range volumes. This being the case every time I go to a stereo store to demo something I end up asking the salesperson to "turn it down please". The C-5s will sing in my humble opinion with the power of a Trivista 300 at low to mid volumes. They will shake the house if you turn it up.
Hope this helps.
Ericaudio- I am curious as to why you are opposed to separates. I believe you would have more options at comparable cost.
2nd the TriVista. I have not owned the TriVista, but have owned the NuVista and it was a wonderful amp for power hungry speakers like Dyn C5.

But given NuVista or TriVista are two boxes, why not go with separate? You can get an excellent tube pre with monster solid state power for the price of a TriVista, your choices are endless.
The only problem with seperates and the 2 box approach (which granted does give you infinite choices) is to have the quality of power conditioning that the Trivista gives you, you will have a 3 box system and probably add 2 to 3 thousand to the cost. The power conditioning unit t'aint no slouch $200 plug in bar, it's a dedicated 3 channel (one channel for each monoblock amp and one channel for the pre-amp) conditioner.
Now if you're going to match the quality of the monoblock units in the Trivista 300 you will actually be up to a 5 box unit. The hydra grows! Things that make you say HMMM!
I'm primarily looking for an integrated because of my apartment space but I'm open to looking at separates. Camadeco, do you have something particular in mind with the separates suggestion?
McIntosh 6900! I love it with Dynaudios. Phenomenal musicality, tons of power, gorgeous looks to match the Dynaudios.