Best integrated/power amplifier under $6000

So many choices!!  Krell Vanguard is my fave, but maybe Parasound too...can get deals and try them out from online vendors too.

Music Direct is great to work with and they have an amazing amount of choices...try for 60 days!  Can’t beat that or the experience of listening to something in your home.

Rogue Pharaoh, 185 Watts/ch. hybrid integrated. $3500. Agree with Dave. Tons of choices.

Lotta tasty tubes also at MD

Parasound Halo Hint 6 Integrated at 3K is probably your best bet. 160 a channel into 8 and 240 into 4. I believe the circuit was designed by John Curl.. Other than that, there is a used Gryphon on here for 6.5K.  There are a lot of great choices if you go used, depends on what you are looking for besides 150wpc.

Coda sounds sweet!

REGA OSIRIS integrated (pre-owned)

highly recommended ...

http://audiofi.net/2012/08/rega-osiris-punching-heavy/
https://www.techradar.com/reviews/audio-visual/hi-fi-and-audio/amplifiers/rega-isis-and-osiris-66135...
http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/rega-isis-cd-player-osiris-integrated-amplifier-tas-213/
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/rega-isis-osiris-hifi-plus-72/

Akg the Rega is a very nlce product.

Please note 0 units for sale used.

Vs

Coda available now also how do you know it would sound better then the Coda?

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor Coda dealers

Safest bet is Music Direct 60 day trial !

Knowing your Speakers might help with recommendations.

Quicksilver V4s. Tons of power, stellar build quality, and can tailor the sound with different tubes. Once you do tubes you'll never do transistors again. 

Db2 the Op is looking for an integrated amp. 

@audiotroy 
Looking for either a power amp or integrated amplifier with at least 150 watts in 8 ohms for under $6000- new or slightly used.

Gato 150, BAT VK-3000SE Integrateds 

What is the rest of your system

Some people love Boulder others find the sound too sterile. May want to check out this unit.

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9d497-boulder-865-integrated-solid-state

Im going to be using the RAAL SR1a headphones that need a minimum of 100w into 8 ohms to shine. they were tuned on the Benchmark AHB2 so that would seem like an obvious choice but considering other options as well (and a bit more power/headroom so I mentioned 150WPC - but I could also run Benchmark AHB2 monoblocks)

Having heard the Parasound A21, I don't really like the sound by Parasound  much. Other amps that Im considering are:

-Chord CPM2650
-Anthem STR

Bryston 3B3 & 4B3

Luxman beats Parasound and Pass by a wide margin IMHO.

There is a used Levinson 585 out there now at usam for 6k.

Killer DAC built in, I’m currently using the 585 myself (not mine for sale), would be fun to compare yours to it.

It’s awesome, 12k MSRP. Doesn’t have a phono section (that’s the 585.5).

It’s universally praised in reviews, and my 2 weeks with one I’ve been very, very pleased.

Pretty flexible also, all sorts of ways to configure it.

Edit - just saw you are using headphones (I'm not a headphones listener).  It does not have a headphone jack.

Hegel H360.  I own it and love it.  250W per channel into 8 ohms.  I can't attest to the DAC as I don't use it.  Maybe wait for the H390??  Phenomenal integrated amp.  Drives my Raidho's so well.  Can't imagine another integrated that will do better.

Levinson 585  is an excellent integrated. Loved it demoing Magico A3's.

Generally amps that would pair well with the Raidho amps should be good - as the Rhaidos have raal tweeters and the RAAL SR1A headphones are also ribbon headphones.

Ayre isn't mentioned above.....

Try NAD M32
I like it a lot

Okay lets get some input data. 

We know you have headphones, what is the source you are using?

You mentioned just a power amp so what would the rest of the components be?

If you like Ribbons you lean towards cleaner clearer sound correct?

Which dac with volume are use using and what speakers would you also be interested in?


Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ 

I second the M32. I own one too. 
Read the Stereophile review. 

Lots of choices available. Are you flexible on new or used? What do you most want in an integrated? Dac? Balanced inputs? I like like Pass Labs, Plinius, Simaudio, Krell and Classe depending on what your going for. It's nice to have lots of reserve power for better bass definition.  

If you can push your budget a bit Mark Levinson just released the 8502 for about 7k. I have not heard them but have heard some earlier models and they were very good and usually gets good reviews.

What speakers are you going to use, How big is your Room ?

Bryston B135 cubed.

All good reco's ....I own a musical fidelity m6si.  Great design and build.  It's solid state.  Basically 2 mono blocks in one chassis connected to same board.  Best of both worlds.

If I had to got tube I would go prima luna dialogue
Good luck.

The Krell K-300i is without question an integrated amp in a class of its own. I can attest to that as I heard it in a demo and it prompted me to purchase the 2 channel Duo 300 Krell as they share the same architecture. It is SUBLIME. Now, it’s a grand over your budget but you CAN get deals. In hi Hi-Fi Heaven is great to work with and accepts trade ins. 

The older Proceed HPA-2 is nice.

Used Pass x250.5

Plinius Huatonga is a fantastic amp.  Sound is more open than many in its price range.  Almost tube like in its spaciousness with great bass.  Neither dark nor sterile, so it works well with many other components.  Retail is $6K but you could likely find one for less.  Its big brother the Hiato is awesome.  They go used for around $6K but offer 300 wpc in a very clean delivery.  Check out the reviews.  

Check out the Audio Research VSI75.  https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9b279-audio-research-vsi-75-silver-unit-tube?creative=305983658...=

Musical Fidelity NuVista 800

I own both the Hegel H160 and after owning and loving the HD30 DAC, I opted to buy the H590. Superb amplifier, excellent DAC, and a streaming feature which works with Airplay as well as many streaming services. Many audiophiles poo poo Airplay, but the Hegel units work exceptionally well with Airplay, locking up in a few seconds and staying locked. Hegel also works with Aurdirvana, which is about as good as legacy 44.1/16 will sound. After decades of separates, Krell, McIntosh, Classe, etc, trade in all those expensive cables for one simple elegant box that does everything but phono inputs. Hegel is better known in other parts of the world, but is working hard to change that. It is a spectacular value. 

@dherring Your Hegel 590 is supposed to get ROON READY certification in late fall 2019. The new Hegel 390 integrated has ROON READY and this tech is supposed to be added to the 590. 

This was a big deal for me.

I second Hegel H360- fantastic! Great DAC too.

I just sold the Rega osiris integrated amplifier,  just sold the Luxman L-509X integrated amplifier,  just got the Krell k 300I integrated amplifier,  the Krell is a lot better than both with only 300 hrs of break in,  still getting better,  to me Luxman sxxxx!, hi fi sounding to say the least,  treble is exaggerated,  and is un realistically  to resessed in the sound stage! 

Audiolabyrinth,

Thank you for your post, we knew the K300i is special just didn't know that is better than the Luxman. 

The K300i is so musical and we love the new sound of Krell being so much more organic and flowing then their earlier products

It is really nice to know that other people are hearing what we are hearing. Did you get yours with the digital board?

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Krell dealers

@audiolabyrinth  Interesting comments on the Luxman 509x. I auditioned this integrated recently with a Luxman DAC + TAD ME1 speakers and I would not categorize the sound I heard as you described. I switched over to the Luxman separates and it was significantly better than the 509x but the 509x was rather good.
 
Your Krell 300i is getting some love at the Munich show. I might need to have a listen to this new Krell XD designs before I lay down the dollars for the Luxman m900u amp I plan on buying. 

https://www.stereophile.com/content/krell-k-300i-integrated-amplifier-sonus-faber-olympica-iii-loudspeakers-zensati-cabling

Parasound Halo JC 5 Stereo Power Amplifier around $6000

https://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PAHAJC5

Kinki Studio EX-B7 monoblocks around $3400

https://www.mikepowellaudio.com/shop/kinki-studio-ex-b7-solid-state-monoblock-power-amplifiers

NAD C 275BEE power amp around $1300

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-eRk8yhYMPti/p_745C275BEE/NAD-C-275BEE.html

audiotroy, I did not get the Krell with the digital board, I have a digital board in the ps audio direct stream memory dac and matching transport with up graded snow mass soft ware, the Krell and everything else  has dedicated lines with furutech gtx-Rhodium d outlets, and $8,000.00 a cord Tara Lab's cobalt reference power  cord's ,  all mated with Tara Lab's muse speaker cable's and balanced  interconnect's,  with magico q3 speaker's,  also jbl L1 book shelf speaker's,  I switch back and forth between the speaker's .

yyzsantabarbara, the Luxman L-509X integrated amplifier did not ever sound different from new out the box to 600 hrs, the Krell continues to get better from new to  300hrs and continues burn in , the Krell kills  the Luxman with uncanny clarity,  mid range,  sound stage size and depth, bass, and does not distort at loud volumes as the Luxman gave out at large volumes with distortion,  the k 300I best suit is clarity without losing musicality,  and the sound is not warm, rather in between warm and cold, the other mention here is I don't get listener fatigue with the Krell like I do with Luxman,  the Rega osiris was a nice sound but didn't have the treble detail or the clarity as the Krell, however,  the Rega sounded better than the Luxman,  reget selling the Rega,  didn't need two integrateds, cheers. 

@audiolabyrinth  Thanks for your feedback on the Krell vs Luxman. I have 12+ hours to kill in Los Angeles in the first week of June. You have now given me something worthwhile to do. I know where to hear the Luxman but need to find a Krell XD on demo somewhere.