Integrated Amp Curiosity


This is triggered by a recent post by someone who is reportedly perpetually curious about amps, in general.

In the last several years, while shopping and auditioning integrated amps, speakers and TTs, I spent a fair amount of serious seat-time with several integrated amps in relatively well-controlled demoing conditions.  There were four in the price range I was looking at that really stood out and impressed the heck out of me:  Musical Fidelity M6si + McIntosh MA 5200 + Luxman (can't remember model but competitor to the MAC) + Simaudio Moon Neo 340 IX.  I actually bought one of these, but I won't say which one in order to encourage honest feedback, if there is any.  After that purchase, I spent a lot of serious seat time with one of these others auditioning speakers.  That one keeps haunting me and making me wonder if I would have purchased it, instead, had heard it before buying the one I did.  I'm sure you audiophiles out there will know exactly what I mean.  So, I guess my question for the peanut gallery is this:  Have any of you been able to do fair A/B comparisons of any of these amps and, if so, what did you think?

oldaudiophile

Showing 2 responses by hgeifman

@oldaudiophile 

I own the Musical Fidelity M6si integrated amplifier and am genuinely surprised by how good it sounds—I’m very happy with my decision. The M6si delivers excellent performance, facilities, and power. According to Musical Fidelity, “Internally, the M6si is configured as two independent monobloc power amps with a separate preamp. It is, in fact, a preamp with two monobloc power amps that just happen to share the same casework. The M6si has 220 watts per channel, very low distortion, outstanding noise ratio, and an extremely flat frequency response”.

My speakers are the PMC Twenty5.21 (the smaller version), and the M6si drives them perfectly. The combination of high power, high current, and stability means the M6si can drive virtually any loudspeaker with ease. In my system, the Musical Fidelity M6si integrated amp is a great fit for my PMC speakers, and I hope this helps you considering a similar setup.