Luxman L-550A II or Accuphase E-202?

Thanks! The Luxman is no longer available anyway, but I was leaning toward the Accuphase, so your comment only serves to reinforce that position.

Cheers!

I own the Luxman L-590ax integrated class A amplifier and it is excellent. The class A design makes the music sound very real to my ears. Yes, the class A amplifier runs warm (some people say hot) but is is not a problem as long as you keep it on an open shelf. Based on my positive experience with Luxman, I would encourage you to listen to one of their class A integrated amplifiers and not their class A/B designs. Based on my previous amplifier, the Ayre AX-7e integrated, the 590ax has more detail, the bass is much better, it is clearer and the overall sound quality is much improved over the Ayre unit. I like the 590ax very much and highly recommended it.

I read about the 590ax, and it does sound nice, but it is out of my price-range, unless I find a used one, which is what the 550a was. I will keep it and what you said in mind as I continue my search, though.

Another excellent choice is the Ayre AX-7e Integrated amplifier. Its list price is $3,500 and used less than $2,000. This unit sounds best when used with balanced inputs. See:
http://www.ayre.com/ax7e.htm

Thanks for the tip!