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Lively, fast & open sounding integrated under 3k?

My speakers are 89db 2 way monitors with a very warm sound. Minimum impedance 3.5 ohm
large Room, low level listening 

My goals
no.1
excellent immediacy, speed & timing (dont recommend naim, very unnatural forced sound)

no2
forward soundstage (begins at the listening position and extends beyond the speakers)

No3.
Body without warmth

no4.
small in size if possible, but no class D, doubles into 4 ohms, Good at low volumes
new or used.

possible candidates from reading reviews

crayon cia-1
teac ai-2000
krell s300i
sugden a21se

zuio

Showing 7 responses by auxinput

auxinput
2,920 posts
 
I don't think I would recommend the Krell s300i integrated for this scenario.  The Krell really smooths the highs and it's not as open as others.

Music Fidelity would be a good candidate.  I would also look at Hegel integrateds and even Yamaha integrateds.  Those are both very fast and high resolution.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
Parasound Halo is voiced just slightly on the warm side of neutral, so it is not going to be as open or high resolution as stuff like Hegel, Music Fidelity, Yamaha.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
@nonoise - when are you going to get some Burson V6 Vivid op amps to put in your Kinki? lol
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
Not from what I’ve heard, that may apply to the Halo JC1’s etc, switched into high Class-A bias mode, but the standard a/b lower bias mode is definitely a cooler more etched sound.

I have owned the JC1 monoblocks as well as the A21 stereo amps.  Yes, when JC1 is switched into high bias mode, it becomes very warm.  However, the standard low-bias sound of the JC1, A21 as well as the A23 and Halo Integrated are all still slightly on the warm side of neutral.  It is not at all like Hegel, Music fidelity, Yamaha (and probably Kinki).

auxinput
2,920 posts
 
Not to me they become invisible like the speakers have left the room, and the music just washes over you in a 3D sound stage, that you swear you can get up and walk into.
And I've built many, some very big ones over the last 30 years, even a self contained 120w-8ohm pure class-A water cooled one that could double down to 2ohm, that was two man lift, the size of a coffee table. 

It must be a personal taste thing.  While I can appreciate the Parasound stuff and the Halo have an incredibly clean midrange, they just do not have the high frequency extension that other amps do.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
Sorry, but all amps pretty much have specs like this.  It comes down to listening.  It may seem to you that the high frequencies are not rolled off, but if you put the A21 side by side with something like a Krell Evolution amp, it becomes very apparent that the Parasound is lacking in high frequency detail.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
I don't pay attention to reviews much anymore because they really don't tell you anything.  I have owned three different JC1 amps, one of them was brand new (and burned in 500 hours).  The A21 was also brand new.  I have owned a variety of different amps and have compared these Parasound side-by-side with other amps.
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