Classe Cap-101 vs. Plinius 8100

While I've heard very good things said about the Panache, I ended up going with the Plinius 8100. I had just sold my Krell KAV-300i because it was a little on the bright side and I thought it was very mechanical sounding.

My system is: EAD CD-1000 (which has really good detail and is not bright) and Klipsch speakers (re-worked cross-overs took out all the brightness).

The Krell with these two didn't work well at all. I bought a rebuilt and modded Eico hf-81 to see how tubes sounded. Really awesome! I'll be keeping the hf-81 for as long as I listen to music.

I wanted to have a SS integrated because I fear that my hf-81 might have issues now and then. I read alot of good things about Plinius and when the right deal came, I took it.

I listened to the Plinius 8100 for 4 hours straight yesterday. Just musically beautiful! I will say close to the tube sound of my hf-81. The Plinius is a keeper and just something you have to try.

I personally chose the Plinius for a few reasons over the Panache: remote capability, styling matched my overall system better and it was over $100 cheaper than the cheapest used Panache I could find.

I recieved my second Panache and the buzzing is about 100 times better than before, but still there. I can't hear it from my listening seat though, and the buzz can only be heard from about 1-1.5 feet from the speakers. It can be heard slightly through the headphones too. I will be keeping it this time though as it does not annoy me as the other one did. I tried a monster power conditioning unit and it did not help one bit.

I tried a cheater plug on my last unit with no fix, but I will try it again on this unit to see what happens.

As for the sound of the amp, I really love it. Smooth detailed and powerful, the seperation is really amazing. It is a pleasure to listen to.

I purchased a used Portal Panache on Ebay. It is a wonderful sounding amp that is being used in my bedroom system. I have had no problems with it however I use a 3 to 2 prong adaptor connected to the power cord & outlet to eliminate minor but annoying hum thru the speakers. Also, I thought the heat dissipating fins were quite warm but after contacting Joe at Portal he assured me everything was fine.

I'm not one who has a habit of comparing many different brands of integrated amps. The Panache replaced Rotel separates. I can't think of anything else I'd rather be listening to at this time. Hope your second one works better.

I have owned many integrateds. I am a poor r so I can't afford good separates. But I enjoyed the 8100. It was better than electrocompaniet e-c3, musical fidelity and linn amps i owned. Worked good with my maggies. I purchased an 8200 which had more midrange magic. you may be able to find an 8200 for not too much more money.