EAR 869 Integrated Amp....opinions please

I have the 859 and it is wonderful with the right speakers, as noted by Pubul57. The speakers have to be VERY sensitive I find (personally, I would say 98db or better).

The 859 is the precursor to the 869. There is an extra tube in the preamp section of the 869 which gives it a little more power (15W instead of 13.5W of the 859). Apparently the output transformer was slightly modified as well, and the 869 has the function of being able to bypass the pre-amp stage and use it only as a power amp (which the 859 cannot do).

Coolhand, I will perhaps try my EAR 859 again with my speakers. When I had it in with my Martin Logan ESLs (89db I think) the mids were great, and the bass was mushy. When I have the 859 hooked up to my current horns (which get their bass from dynamic woofers), again the midrange is magical and the bass is OK, until one listens to something which better matches the bass requirements (perhaps the impedance is lower than I think it is). Throwing a lot more power (and in my case, all I have now is A LOT more power), at them is far better, as if the right bass makes the mids and highs better.

However, none of this should take away from the fabulous qualities of EAR amplification as long as the amp/speaker pair match. I love the amp dearly, and think that used the 859 is one of the bargains out there; I can strongly recommend them IF the amp/speaker match is good.