Integrated Amp $1200 or less

@rayray7488
I have the Anthem i225 and really enjoy the sound from it. It is would have to be a wonderful amp at a great price to switch.

@rayray7488
Like b_limo (OP), if you have the same 2009+ version of the Anthem i225 amp (Sonic Frontiers - tube amp company) designed and built the amp for Anthem, now owned by Paradigm. One of the better designed integrated amps back then and still very competitive today in terms of pure sound. Some of the new amps under $3k are not built as well today. 

@b_limo 
With your new Fritz Carerra speakers coming, you might be surprised what your current amp will do WHEN paired with a really good DAC to go with your Bluesound Node2i.   

Old review, Anthem i225, awards:
https://www.goodsound.com/equipment/anthem_integrated_225.htm

And/Or, check 17 prior related threads about adding an external DAC to a Bluesound streamer

https://forum.audiogon.com/search/index?fields=titles&query=DAC+bluesound&sort=date

@b_limo,
yes, moving away from this $1200 amp thread to a DAC thread makes sense..Those other Node2i links above may only be helpful if you choose to add-on a DAC and bypass your internal DAC in the Bluesound Node2i.

FYI: In the Node2i, and other Gen2 products in that line, they moved from a Cirrus Logic DAC to a Burr Brown 24/192 DAC chipset. Fairly close to same level of what you’ll find in other $500-700 DACs you want to replace it with - likely more of a lateral move again.

Now if you step up to one of the better MHDT non-over-sampling (NOS) "R2R Ladder" Orchid dacs, or an upper Pagoda dac, or maybe an upper Schitt DAC, or go for it with a Denefrips R2R dac - maybe find one used or on sale, would be worth the jump. Some people are true audio nuts and upgrade DACS every year, buy their high $ hand me down. That’s why I keep my streamer separate from my DAC.

Some people will tell you moving to a super-upgraded DAC is, quote "the single best investment they ever made in their system", because it benefits all other downstream components, preamps, amps, speakers, final music result! Fasten your seatbelt for best-DAC feedback!

Various on this thread had some good ideas for ya too. Don’t forget, it all starts with the source and trickles downhill from there. Good Luck.

@djones51
I understand the upgrade itch, I used to have an Anthem 225i and it’s a great integrated some I’ve seen mentioned while they are good amps would be more of a sideways move than up. The weakest link in the Node2i is the dac.

Spot on.

@b_limo
Use that 2k elsewhere, for now. Looking over your i225, xformer, mosfets, volume control type, non-digital layout, your amp is decent. Bet it could begin to sing with a good digital DAC source and great speakers. IMO spending $1500-2k on another amp might even be a downgrade. Your amp is a different grade purist integrated, when fed good source.. If you stream a lot, the onboard DAC/chipset and implementation in the Node2i is okay, good for starters, but it’s not great. Its a solid streamer after you put a good DAC behind it. Using the stock onboard dac/chipset, sounds kinda grainy, more 2-dimesional, not as natural as it can be. In the past year helped three fairly skeptical buddies and a few others with N2I units who all added on a nice R2R Ladder TUBE DAC behind the N2i -or- Arcam rPlay streamer units. Follow up the DAC with a good Digital-coax or USB, install a really good small vintage input signal tube inside the tube DAC and begin to start hearing music in a new way. Fast forward, all three of those buddies are streaming basic CD quality (non-up sampled) lossless content and never looked back. They too did the skeptical A/B thing many times (obsessively) and all three of them did not return their DACs. One had a similar amp to yours. At year-2, one of them made the amp upgrade later on, but to this day swears the DAC upgrade was the single best change in the entire system but all had fairly revealing speakers too.

It all starts at the source. Here is a thought... maybe hold off on the other cables, cords. Truly, your i225 is awaiting you to feed it good stuff for a while. Maybe save up for a really good amp or speakers later. While I’m back to tube preamp and monos, I’m also a SS/Mosfet fan too past 30yrs. Just went through this same "upgradeitis" situation with more than a few colleagues for what it’s worth. Go with a super DAC first. Ask Hilde45. :)

@soix
...I’d take a hard look at an MHDT Orchid DAC. And I agree with your thought to wait until you have more $$$ to make a significant amp upgrade since your current amp is certainly no slouch. Again, best of luck.

Yep. Exactly. Sure like my Orchid. Turns a Node2i or Arcam rPlay into something worthy in combination. The stock coupling caps MHDT installs in the Orchid are not bad at all, fairly smooth, but just for grins I upgraded mine with really nice Mundorf Silver-Gold caps anyhow. Very nice, not necessary, but can be improved a little. Then, swapped out the nice stock GE Triple Mica 5-Star tube in the Orchid for an even better Tesla 6CC42 tube. Followed by an Analysis Plus Crystal Solo Digi Coax cable and wham! The guts of the Orchid are OEM’d over into some other DACs at 2x-3x the price. Those "metal box" manufacturers will deny it if you look to close or ask too much. Even in pure In stock form, it’s a real contender out of the box. Offered better clarity, more depth, enhanced soundstage, improved instrument separation, and the stock TDA1541a NOS chip is way more natural sounding than most mainstream high-volume onboard chips/dacs in most streamers under $2,500-3000