Best Integrated Amp (for me)

Consider a used Bryston B60.  It drives my LS50 fine.  

I'll second the Rogue Audio sphinx, or the Musical Fidelity a3.2 !

I suggest a retail store that has a listening room. Marantz and Yamaha integrated amps seem to have a good following with happy customers. Listen to the Parasound new classic too if you have a chance. Compare on the LS 50's also if you can. Different product matches different speakers.

bottom line, integrated amps as a category are probably the most popular and ubiquitous form of hi end stereo component, for obvious reasons

so there is no lack of choice

key for the op is to know what he wants ’integrated’ into the unit... if it is a good mm phono stage, then it narrows the field a good bit

500 bucks will be close to impossible ... maybe 1000 for a used unit

maybe

I also recommend the Rogue Audio Sphinx V3 (definitely the V3) with a pair NOS Mullards. Shockingly good sound with the better vintage tubes, and an excellent phono stage to boot. I own one and can attest to just how good it sounds. It’s a no-brainer!

Go for the Canor 2.10

@mdodgeknee any luck? 
Wondering how your journey is going.

There are definitely a ton of great options listed above! I was bidding on the Vincent V-60 amp that someone mentioned, but lost the auction. I'm going to take my time and wait until I find something that I really fall in love with. It seems that I might need to wait until I have some more money saved up to get myself something really special. (I'm also realizing that I want to hold out for something really cool-looking... TBH, I don't necessarily have the most sophisticated audiophile ear, and so some of the more subtle sound-related nuances are probably lost on me anyways...)

I'm happy with my Musical Fidelity A300. Powering a similarly inefficient B&W 805 Matrix (87db) with a reputation for being a tad bright. The A300 does a great job with sound staging, great depth while still sounding smooth.  The A300 leans slightly warm, but still has good detail and manages to sound exciting. Vocals are especially good.

I also think the phono preamp for MM is under-rated.  I have compared the A300 phono with the well regarded Adcom GFP-565 phono and there is not a clear winner (I got the Adcom, thinking it would be a great improvement over the built-in phono on the A300).  Adcom has the quieter background, but the the A300 is more lively and engaging. The A300 can be difficult to find, but I have seen them go for less than 700.00. It can be a good sleeper with ample power (150 watts, Dual Mono, lots of inputs, pre-amp out, MM/MC phono).

mdodgeknee OP


Because they are quite hard to drive in the bass as Stereophile says, you need an amp with good current drive at 4ohms to get the very best out of them.

A used Parasound Hint would do the job very nicely, and the early ones should be around the $1k mark, and you get remote and ESS Saber dac in it also https://parasound.com/hint.php

The electrical phase angle is generally mild, but the combination of 5.3 ohms and –41° at 135Hz, a frequency where music often has high energy, will make the speaker work at its best with a good, 4 ohm–rated amplifier.

Cheers George

I have Kef R300s a very similar speaker to the LS50s. I chose them after listening to both side by side for hours. The R300 had better bass and was more aesthetically pleasing to my SO.  I drive mine with Marantz PM8005 now the 8006 for the last 5 years quite effectively and with very music results. You can get one for $1000 from many dealers. It is made in the Marantz Japan Reference factory and comes with a 3 year warranty and very conservative power ratings. It is a Class AB and has a slightly warmish sound. You can bypass the preamp and listen direct to the power amp which I do very often on good recordings. It also has excellent tone controls for not so good ones. I also really like the Rega Brio which is a bit smller and simpler but can also be found for a grand and has excellent sound. 

I ended up getting a Marantz 140 amp on ebay for $800. Now I'm going to start looking for a decent but not-super-expensive pre-amp to accompany it (until I can save up more $ to get myself something better... maybe the Marantz 3200?). If anyone can recommend any inexpensive pre-amps, I'd be curious to hear!

Mine,

Take a look at Peachtree Audio.  They have a reputation for good products, reasonable  prices, and some of their amps have wood finishes, giving a vintage look.  

In your price range most of the stuff mentioned here is pretty boring.

I'd just go for the little Rega which has some actual life to it and be done.

gubaface,

 I was just talking to someone at Music Direct and he recommended the Rotel a12 with the LS50 Meta.  I’m sure it’s about the same as the 11, so what about the combination do you find shocking?

Thanks in advance.

JD

gubaface,

 I was just talking to someone at Music Direct and he recommended the Rotel a12 with the LS50 Meta.  I’m sure it’s about the same as the 11, so what about the combination do you find shocking?

Thanks in advance.

JD

I concur with the Parasound, almost bought one but settled on a NAD C368, which is about a grand, because reasons.
The 40W/channel (at least) NAD C316BEE V2 mentioned above is an excellent value. I have the older version, now in storage, and it is an exceptional product for the money. Few if any pro reviewers would disagree.