I had an Audio Research GSi75 a couple years ago. It was phenomenal with a superb DAC and phonostage. My large space and fairly inefficient Wilson Sophias simply needed more so I went back to separates. I then later dabbled again with the ML 5805 and 585.5. The 5805 impressed me a LOT! It was definitely stronger than the GSi75 and my Sophias were very happy. I knew that I would not be happy having a mid-line model so returned the B-stock item to Crutchfield and found a demo 585.5 from a dealer. A few weeks had passes but when I first listened I was disappointed. It didn't impress the way the 5805 did and there is no logical explanation for that. It also had a bad capacitor and was picking up a Spanish AM station. Nothing wrong with a little festive Spanish music but that wasn't going to work either. I did not want to have a newly purchased item serviced so thankfully the dealer took it back. Hope that little bit of experience helps and good luck in the search.
My last Integrated Amp: $5-10,000?
I would like to hear recommendations regarding integrated amplifiers costing between $5-10,000. This will be my last amplifier for quite a while. I prefer to buy used when I can but also prefer no older that 2-3 years. My speakers are likely to change every couple of years and I may keep more than one pair.
I like a detailed and transparent sound with air and the ability to easily to pick out the location of the instruments/singers. I have liked the class A that I’ve heard and I’ve liked the tubes that I’ve heard but I don’t want to mess with tubes. Also, I do not want a streaming device and I’d rather not have a built in DAC but I can live with it.
My music preferences are vocals and 70-90s rock.
So far I have identified the following possibilities that are available.
Mark Levinson: No 585 at $8400 and ML-5805 at $6550. The latter is a new model and I have read that there have been teething problems. I don’t know if ML have corrected this situation.
Luxman L-590AXII $7250 has a good reputation and longevity but is relatively low powered.
McIntosh MA5300, Coda CISB, and Gryphon Diablo 120 are also possibilities if available.