I suggest you compare against a Primaluna. My experience in that price range nothing came close. I went integrated because of space. The 30wpc punched better than a 100w Shiit Vidar, got louder with less disortion. Better sound. At the showroom compared against a Hegel H390. I liked the accuracy on the Primaluna how the instuments and details in the sound. How the reed in the Sax vibrated, cymbal ring and decay. Primaluna Bass was not more deep but more defined to hear the strings in the Bass instrument more than the Hegel which was good. KT 77s made it even better.
NEED TO REPLACE OLD FAITHFUL- WHICH AMP. SHOUD I CHOOSE
27 Years ago I purchased a brand new Audio Research D400 Mk.2 Amplifier. 200 Watts per channel solid state. Last weekend the capacitors blew out. I talked to Greg at Audio Research and he told me they do not work on this model because of it's age and that parts are no longer available. I need to buy a new amp. I have an Audio Research Ref. 5 SE pre amp and use Dali Helicon 800 mk. 2 speakers that are 89.5 efficiency.
The list of amplifiers that I am considering are as follows.
Coda 16, McIntosh MC462, Aesthetix Atlas Stereo,
On the tube side I am considering,
Zesto Audio Bia120, VTL S120, Ayon Triton Evo Mono's and maybe Audio Research Reference 160S but that really stretches the budget.
Does anyone have any of these amps? I would really appreciate your suggestions. So far I kind of like the Coda 16