Integrated Amps vs. Separates.

Now Jules, why would you compare used prices for the separates and new for the integrated, come on!!

I don't think anyone(at least on this end) is getting excited or offended. I could care less if someone disagrees with me or not. I don't take these discussions personally. It is all about personal pleasure, and my tates will be different than anothers. Some of us(believe it or NOT) have come to the conclusion that a nice integrated tube amp is where it's at. I absolutely LOVE Jeff Rowland products, but when the chips(and lights) are down, spinning a few of my CDs through one of these great tube integrated that have emerged in the past few years brings me a magic that I haven't found elsewhere. I'm not sure it get much better. Maybe my preference is not the most accurate, neutral, or whatever. Call it warm, euphonic, sweet, etc., but there is some kind of wonderful appearing in the room. I mean no disrepect to people who have other tastes, but I swear sometimes I can taste nirvana. And that is what it is all about.

I'm sorry but you stated a $4000.00 budget I simply went for what I thought to be the best I could get for that amount of money. I do tend to agree with trelja it is all a matter of taste and as long as you are happy with your choice that is all that matters I shall speak no more on this issue happy listening gentlemen.

Ok, then compare a $6000 dollar integrated at a $4000 used price. And yes, all that matters is that WE are happy with what we have.

it is somewhat of a grey area. Before I bought my Cary int., I was looking at used separates, ( BAT vk60, VAC pa100/100, VTL monoblocks, Music Reference RM200, and many other amps I've forgotten about, w/ possibly Blue Circle 21, VTL 2.5, BAT 3i, etc.) These used separates were in the same ballpark as the new integrateds I was looking into. I wound up getting what I did because of a great price break, but I decided in the end that there really is no black & white definitive 'better' option, although I do "lean" towards thinking that the great int.s ARE better in the same pricerange because of the positives that I and others have brought up earlier in this thread. Of course I'll never know until I go through some sort of rigorous time consuming A/B which is completely out of the question, unless one of you guys with nice separates in the $3K range wants to bring your equipment down here to St Thomas for a week or so.