My last Integrated Amp: $5-10,000?

Any of the Pass Integrated amps, those that aren’t class A give you about the first 20 watts in Class A. They should give you the sound you want but as always audition at least what you think are your top three. Have fun happy listening.

+1 for the Aesthetix Mimas. Internal DAC card and phono card are optional though both are really good if you decide you want those. Good Luck

hmmm... well, the Marantz Ruby KI integrated can be had for $3k right now on Music Direct website... stellar reviews all around.  A valedictory "pet project" of Ken Ishitawa (KI) And, let me point out one advantage of a "big' company like Marantz: because of economies of scale, they can procure the parts more inexpensively than smaller manufacturers (or make them themselves as they do w some parts)... so while the Ruby msrp is 4k, some estimates suggest that equivalent build, parts, etc. from a smaller company would push it perhaps twice that, so it's in your "range" from that perspective.

Last amplifier for awhile?

This piece got 20 year warranty.

@kingsleuy , couldn't agree more.  Who hasn't bought x amount of amps? Nonetheless, has a main rig and a second rig or third system to listen to.  There is casual listening, and then sometimes high quality listening.  There's time I come after work and just want to listen to my radio station leaving my emotiva setup (pt100/A300) for 6+ hours.  It wouldn't make sense to turn on my Luxman.  cheers :)  

Belles "Aria Signature". I also have a Bel Canto C6i  in one room of my home but the latest purchase was the Aria Signature. I have been purchasing components from Dave Belles since 1984 being a very good value for my needs.

I have replaced my Naim Audio multiboxes (282+250.2) with the Luxman AX 590 II, and I am very happy with it. (driving Triangle Magellan Quatuor).

Ditto on the Luxman 

Preferably used, but only 2-3 years old.

Also check out the Esoteric integrateds. Not sure how many dealers they have here in the US now, Overture is one. I’ve listened to the F-07 (100 W/ch, 8 ohms) extensively at my dealer (Fidelis AV, they are no longer carrying Esoteric) and had the F-05 (120 W/ch, doubles to 240W into 4 ohms) in my system for about a year and a half before getting sucked back into the separates game. Speakers were Dynaudio Confidence 30. Either of those models are within your price range new and should be good deals if found used. There is also the F-03 which is more expensive and pure Class A at 30W/ch. And of course on top of that is the Grandioso integrated. Rock solid construction on all of these models, excellent performance. Very clean and dynamic. They also have tone controls and built-in phono stages (MM and MC) if that’s important to you. IMO their looks are exceptional, very much audio jewelry. Amazing feel to the controls. If you’d like more feedback on my experience with the F-05 shoot me a message.

Lyngdorf would be on my short list.

"This will be my last amplifier for quite a while"  

So, it may NOT be your Last amplifier.  We all have said this will be the last one.  Years later another.  Unless, heaven forbid, you have a year to live.  Maybe. 

I myself have said "I'm done with it".  Got rid of everything.  Climbed out of the rabbit hole.  20 years later, I jumped back in.

I didnt see speaker setup.  For Class A, Luxman L590 AXII will be your last integrated needed. Dealing with a company that been in business for over 70yrs. Build quailty is superb. Will be hard to find. 

In your price range, you could bump up to a McIntosh 8950 which has 200 watts and their autoformers. Great unit and you can’t beat the resale value. 

Have a month on my Coda Csib. The most affordable new amp among your choices. With the money saved you can buy a pair of Townshend Fractal F1 speaker cables. You will be all set. 
 

Sorry if I missed it…. Is this new only?

There are lots of great amps on the market. Review that are positive are good… but after that it is the character they talk about… detailed, fleshed out… The Absolute Sound, Strereophile and HiFi+ are really good a about describing the sound in generally accepted terminology that characterizes it… so you can figure out if it fits your preference. The trick is auditioning equipment they review… if you are calibrated  to the nomenclature… then you know what equipment you will like. 
 

I would buy an Audio Research VSI75 long before I would consider many others. The reviews and listening have shown me this brand shares my values in sound.

Pass, Rogue, Audio Research, McIntosh, Boulder are all very different. You need to find the company that speakers to your emotional center. Worth some auditioning.

you have to give the Cary AUDIO sl1-100 a shot. Have mine for a few months and you will get excellent sound

I’d put more emphasis on reviews/reviewers who take the time and effort to compare a review sample to another competitive piece, otherwise the reviewer could just be listening to the reviewed product in a bubble and relying on longer-term auditory memory — that is horribly unreliable — to form their opinions and judgements. Read pretty much any TAS review and you’ll see they don’t compare review equipment to anything else and usually just gush over what a product does well as throw in a lightly-worded sentence or two of where it falls short.  And in many of their reviews they don’t even disclose any of the associated equipment currently in their system, and if they do they conveniently omit only the piece in the category of the review sample — WHAT??? Bunch of cowards desperately trying to avoid accountability or being pinned down on anything.  Worst of all, after I read one of their reviews I can’t say with any confidence I have a good idea of how the product really sounds. Stereophile, Soundstage!, and some others usually include product comparisons as a matter of course (I know Soundstage! requires relevant comparisons to be part of every review and for good reason) so they’d be worth seeking out more than others. Just my $0.02 FWIW, and best of luck in your search.

Gryphon Diablo 300 if it's going to be your last integrated amp. I currently have one and it's a superb amp - will drive any speaker. The one on USAM will go soon if you don't jump on it.

Thank you to all of you who have made recommendations.  I have started reading reviews and checking to see what's available. 

The reading reviews part may be a bit easier than I thought.  I expect reviewers to say lots of nice things that don't generally help me, however, for a couple of these amps the reviewers just flat out state that its the best they ever heard.  It makes interpreting those reviews much easier.

Thanks again....but I expect I may be back asking for additional information.

Stick with,Mac or coda for longevity 

if I had the,coin, I would get a Mac, the ayre is nice also!

read a lot of reviews before the wallet opens!

i saved  up some good coin with family help, took me just over or under 4 1/2 years to save. Was not easy. I’m glad I had the strength to save, and for the nice lady going through a divorce , and helping me with total price for my monoblocs!

had 3 brands I was very interested in here on the gon, pass, McCormack and ……crap, forgot,…anyway, I think the one pair sold, so it was between the pass and McCormack’s, after luck that they didn’t sell, and reading the entire internet about pass and McCormack, I think the pass monos were 300 RMS, AND were in great shape, after many late nights reading, calling the factories, talking to two of my cousins, to get their thoughts, as this was a unheard purchase,  only the second time or maybe 3rd a blind purchase was made, so happy with the McCormack monos’ the,correct choice was made, as far as future upgrades. 
 

   I suppose I would have flaunted themPass amps more, but the correct decision was made!

as soon as I seen the truck pull to curb, I sprinted to help, as I’ve been disappointed on many occasions with the moron fed X and ups, bunch of disrespectful morons. Arrived in 3 boxes, so the lady was awesome at packing them! Unpacked, put on rug overnight as it was cold when they arrived.  
 

it was like Christmas when I woke up, put on the stands, wired everything up, double and triple checked all connections. After hum and static, it was fixed with better shielded cabling. 
she helped me so much, the LD-2 WAS IN my grasp, and scooped her up as well as the aging UDP-1. For a great price, ended up with a great system of top tier audio for an amazing price, all components are in like new cond. 

 damn, detailed it,,sorry.

  Mac, coda, is the way to go.

 Happy shopping!

Check out the Gold Note IS-1000 Deluxe (upgraded chip) at around $6,000 usd. 

Manley Stingray II

I've had three Gryphons.  You can't go wrong with them.

And then there's the Cambridge Audio Edge A.

The Michi X5 is $7500 and is described by a veteran audio technician of my acquaintance as a work of art from the viewpoint of engineering, parts quality and build.  It deserves consideration in this category.  There is also an X3 with (only) 200W/ch at $5300.00.

You’ve already got several excellent options here, so if I’m you I’m reading all the reviews I can to see which one(s) best provide the sound characteristics you’re looking for. If you know you like the Class-A, solid-state sound it’s hard to see you going wrong with the Gryphon if it provides the sound characteristics you’re looking for, but I’d also add Vitus as another excellent option in that category worth looking into. So get reading(!!!), and best of luck in your search.

Norma Revo IPA-140.

Canor AI 1.20 or 2.10.

There are quite a lot of good options in that budget range.  In addition to what has been suggested, there are also some Accuphase offerings (E-280, E-380), as well as the Cary Audio SI-300.2d.

I run a McIntosh MA5200 and its fantastic for me.  It does everything I need plus I love the way it looks.  I ran Krell's before and they were great too. 

Luxman!!!

There's a Gryphon Diablo 300 just listed (not by me, and no affiliation) on another popular high end website for $9750. In your price range, I'd probably jump all over that. The Boulder 866 is another good choice. I had one for a couple of years and thought it was excellent.

Some excellent SS ones

HEGEL H390

Krell Foundation 4k with box AND PAPERS

The tube I would get. Tube warmth/tone different than SS. This has plenty of power too.

Rogers High Fidelity EHF-200 MK2 Integrated Tube Amplifier LIFETIME WARRANTY SOLD DIRECTLY FROM ROGERS WITH CERTIFICATION

Also selling a KT88 if you call them decently you'll save the 13% ebay charges, Hint hint. The KT88 runs off iPad or iPhone too.

let me chime in add kudos for krell

over the years i have had excellent and then terrible experiences with krell amps and integrateds... recently, very good experiences again

as a general rule i think the ’ksa’ series, fpb, evo of class a/ab amps are excellent

if good sound (as well as awesome power) is the priority, i would steer clear of any ’kav’ series (there are many of them)... they sound hard and strident (maybe fine for sizzle boom home theater but not for natural 2 channel imo)

since the s series (s-300i s-550i) to the newer ’k’ series, i think the best of krell is back and these are absolutely in the same class as other top players in this class - nuanced sound, delicacy with power, natural timbres, a touch of warmth, ultra refined treble, excellent spatial re-creation...

among these, the s series are the best buys of the bunch, they were excellent designs but assembled in china, so some will poo-poo that (100% their loss if they feel this way) -- i picked up an s-550i locally and it is simply superb and a wonderful value in the used market... tremendously satisfying, simply lovely with my big maggies...

+1, AYre AX-5 Twenty Integrated amp or Ayre EX-8 2.0 integrated amp. 

You’ve got a great list and choices that have been presented.  So much will depend on your personal preference and set / speakers.  
 

Based on the list and comments that you like tubes but don’t want to fuss with them, the class A options are likely the best place to start.  I’ve had and compared the Coda CSiB, the Krell 300i, the PrimaLuna 400 integrated (tube).  Compared these to Krell 300xd and Parasound A21.  
 

All 3 are fantastic products, integrated amps.  If you really like tubes, Primaluna is about as fuss free as you can get, autobias, easier on tubes and you can tube roll a ton of tubes to tailor the sound.  Powerful for a Tube amp but if you have harder to drive speakers might run out of oomph if you need it.  Built like a tank.

Coda was simply awesome - built like a tank, you can reach the owners / designers who are really open about the build and comparison to other products they make.  
 

Krell - there is something magical about the Krell - too my ears we the best of the bunch and I wanted to like the Coda better…. If you read reviews on the Krell, there are a lot, there are plenty of people with a love affair with this unit.  You can find one used, saw one under 5 grand without the DAC.

Now - when I compared all the integrated amps to the stand alone Krell 300xd - well, ended up with the 300xd - was another level above the integrated amps.  BTW - CSiB had a great pre, worked well just as a pre.  
 

I’d stretch a bit if it was me, look for the Gryphon 300 Diablo - without a DAC used you might come close to 10 grand - there is one listed with the DAC for 13.5 grand.

i think everyone on your list is a great option - I’d add Krell for sure - talked to quite a few people that compared quite a few integrated amps and landed on the Krell.

Enjoy the journey! 

AYRE AX-5 Twenty Series.

Happy Listening!

+1 Aesthetix Mimas

@jtgofish I don’t see that model on the Bakoon website.

I had virtually the same requirement as you and I end-up with the Luxman L-509X. It is detailed and warm as the same time, truly amazing. You should auditioned it and see (or listen!) for yourself, your final choice would be improved independently of what you end-up selecting.

+2disc!!! The 866 is superb!

Tough to beat the McIntosh MA5300 for 6k.  Plenty of power, beautiful abs functional, great DAC.  Great resale 

Another vote for Simaudio, I have the 340 and i is fantastic!!

The next step up is the 600 which should be as well..

I love my Boulder 866 with built-in DAC.  It’s a bit above your price point but worth a listen if you can stretch. 

+1 Luxman 590AXII

So. Many. Choices. You cannot go wrong with Hegel, Pass, Gryphon, Simaudio, Luxman etc. Look for reviews for the amps that suit your listening palette. Then go from there. 

Gryphon!!! 

Jeff Rowland Continuum S2