Best integrated up to $6000

No offense to anyone on this thread or any amp I mention, YMMV and speaker selection matters immensely. I've owned some great integrateds, they were all terrific in their own right but....the VAC Avatar was really nice...a really fine el34 integrated with a decent phono stage. The 160 was also nice and ditto the phono stage. The suggestion of the McIntosh 2275, again, no offense intended, but that amp is troubling. It looks cool but it is NOT a great amp....just merely good. I'd take an Avatar 10 times out of 10. I like the Audio Research VSI75 better than all lf the aforementioned, even the VAC 160i. If you can live without the phono stage, I find the VSI75 to have significantly more snap and quite a bit more texture without any grain. Probably just the difference between kt88's and kt120's. The best integrated Ive ever owned, and I regret selling it, was the Nagra 300b integrated.

Dayglow, you are correct about the Audio Research VSI75 and VAC 160 being above the price point mentioned when new however I have seen both listed for sale here on Audiogon near $6,000 from time to time. The ARC VSI60 is probably the amp to consider as the VSI55 has been out of production for a while and was nowhere near the performance of the 60. Of course the VSI75 is extraordinary and frankly gets real close to the reference series performance. Now to the Mac....the retail was $6,500 when new if I recall but used is much lower....it would be a reasonable value at $2,500 used but it is sloppy and muddy in its presentation, no offense intended. The Mastersound amp are really cool and very tubey if you enjoy the euphonic presentation they so wonderfully reproduce.....love the Italians.

If you must buy the Mac 2275, do not expect the amp to perform like the 275 amp which is terrific. I have owned two 2275's because I totally loved the look, the sound just didnt live up to the look.