Integrated Amps vs. Separates.

Jules, you sure are generalizing in this area. I have found most of the better tubed integrated I have heard(AR, Bel Canto, Bryston, CJ, Cary, Classe, Electrocompaniet, Jadis, MF, Rowland, VAC, YBA, etc.) to not be compromised in terms of soundstage/depth/whatever. We are entering a new golden age of integrateds. In my opinion, they surpass(overall) the separates of just of few years ago. I also feel that the Europeans are producing better sounding equipment than the American/Canadian faction. Producing lower power, but stellar sounding products. Perhaps, in response of the demand over there.

After much research, IMO, in the $3,000 price range, Integrated is definitely the way to go. Or else possibly used separates. My recent short list looked a LOT like Trelja's list above. I wound up getting a new Cary sli80 'signature'. There is no "compromise" when buying an integrated these days in that pricerange. All those amps mentioned above are wonderful pieces. No, you can't upgrade the pre, etc..., but the facts of perfectly matched impedance, 1 power cord, no interconnects,.. short signal path etc, are good things to remember. Also, these amp designers nowadays know how to arrange things, there's no reason a well designed integrated won't have as good of a soundstage etc as separates. These are old prejudices and they stem from the fact that for so many years, until recently, integrateds WERE 'budget'/compromised units. Not any more. There's actually a lot of positives to integrateds, and there are some negatives to separates. Now, I'm not going to make any sort of blanket statement in either direction, BUT, it is my opinion that separates actually have to cost more to sound as good as one of the integrateds listed above. In this 'golden age' of integrateds, if you go with separates, you just wind up paying more money for the luxury of swapping out your pre, fooling with expensive wires, etc.

take it easy guys I stated in My experience I prefer separates I did not mean to offend anyone this is all a matter of taste for convenience yes I think they are wonderful but to my ears they cannot beat separates but they are getting very close

Nobody is getting excited Jules, you are just not getting the point. Dollar for dollar a integrated can sound better, that is the point.

sorry but lokking at the classified ads I just noticed a pair of rowland model 3 mono apmps for 2k now match that with any number of used preamps an audible illusions for instance at well under 17oo leaving more than enough money for cables and interconnect and I don't believe a 4k integrated will be as good but then again that is just my opinion