Best Integrated Amp, Price no obstacle?

The Musical Fidelity kW 500 has considerable virtues, but it is not a one-box integrated. No space saving there; it comes with a massive outboard power supply.

I second Budrew's request for a comparison of the YBA Passion Integre with the Lavardin IS Reference, (or IT), by anyone who's had the chance to hear both.

While we're at it, there are some strong reviews out there for the Unison Unico SE and several of the Audiomat models, including the Opera. Anyone had a chance to compare these?

The VAC Avatar seems to be a strong contender. Much buzz about the new DK Design Group hybrid, I'd love to hear from folk who've actually heard and compared.

This weekend, I will attend the intro of the new SimAudio I-7 at a local dealer. I'll be interested to see how it compares with the I-5, which I liked very much in my small room. Some have suggested the Plinius 9200 is similar in some respects to the I-5, but considerably better; I haven't been able to hear the latter.

Will the I-7 simply add power, or significantly enhance refinement as well? I'll report back if anyone is interested.

I'd actually like to hear more about that Blue Circle integrated from Philnyc; what price bracket, what attributes, what comparisons made etc.

Well guys, disappointment, because the I-7 was a no-show. More precisely, the SimAudio rep showed up with a non-working prototype of the 1-7; the chassis and terminals anyhow. Said they'd decided at the last minute it wasn't quite ready; e.t.a. now October. The rep says it will fulfil the promise of more power than the 1-3, more refinement than the I-5, a better pre than the P-3 separate. I'm salivating...
He did demo the new CDP from the same Evolution series, and it sounded fine indeed, driven by Moon W5 separates through some big Maggies.

Meanwhile, I finally got a listen to the new Bryston B100 SST integrated. I should issue a disclaimer; not being personally familiar with the Bryston sound, I'm not the best guy to say how generous a scoop of Bryston you are getting. Secondly, I was listening to it in the store with other components I haven't spent a lot of time with; the MF A5 CDP, and JMLab Profile 918 speakers. I've had a fair amount of time with other members of the MF and JMLab families though.

That out of the way, it sounded very good, very competent, lots of detail, generally sweet highs, rich mids, bass to spare, etc. I didn't get a first impression that I was listening to a break-out product-at-the-price, such as my Nait 5i, but the Bryston is no slouch. At one point a vocal crescendo got a little screechy and started to break up; but I cannot say without more time whether that was one component or another, or the recording. Definitely worth a listen in its niche...around $3K Canadian, prob'ly about $2400 USd, give or take.

Thanks Philnyc; I spent some time on Blue Circle's website, and will read that review you linked for us.

Ellery 911; I note that a coming issue of HiFi+, #41, promises a review of the Bryston B-100 SST Integrated. I generally find that mag's reviews very worthwhile.

No, according to my local dealer there was a further production delay, now expected within another month or so.

In the meantime I took another listen to the I-5 with my new speakers, Reference 3a Veenas. The I-5 sounded better than ever, and more than sufficiently powerful for these moderately sensitive speakers, rated 89db. For me therefore, the I-7 will be of more interest for the prospect of refinement of the preamp stage than for the increased wattage.