NEED TO REPLACE OLD FAITHFUL- WHICH AMP. SHOUD I CHOOSE

I’d look closely at the Atma-Sphere Class D. They are simply amazing. 

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.

Right now my D400 is in the shop, and I am waiting to rear back from them next week. They  said it sounded like output transistors, but said now might be a good time to re-cap too. He was confident that he could get all the parts needed to do the repair. The shop has been in business for over 40 years and I have used them before, and trust them. I will keep everyone posted on what happens.

In the meantime I am still shopping for a new amp. 

All of those amps you listed are middle of the road. Look into a 30 grand Pilium integrated since I don’t trust whatever preamp you are hooking it up to either since audio research is entry level hifi and the later preamps I heard sounded like kind of bad! It is called the Odysseus. You can hear them in NY. I would also suggest a pair of new speakers since Dali is kind of bright.

YG acoustics Carmel 2 is good and easy to place in a room. Magic A5 also a fine entry level speaker. Another good one is an Amphion Krypton3 that are easy to place in a room like YG. Magico needs a little more room. From what I am reading you need to start over.

paragon audio fixed mine after arc said they did not want to mess w/it!

@johnread57: How do you compare the Pass amps to the Krell in terms of differences and similarities? 

As a matter of self interest I have a AGD Tempo for sale at The Music Room for $3850,.

Otherwise you should really try the Carver Crimson 275 and switch the tubes to Psvane KT88s and 12AX7 (Chinese, I know) if you like it with the stock TungSol KT 120s.  Ignore the naysayers on this amp!  You owe yourself a listen.

Also, recently came across the very cheap Micca 14ga speaker wire.  It will surprise you also.  Liked a single set and doubled it up to get even better results.

Check out the BHK 250.  Great amp for the money, plenty of power, very quiet and nice expansive sound stage.  

I have a fully serviced Krell DUO XD 300 for sale here that would power your speakers easily and with the classic Krell linearity and headroom. Fyi, I’ve also had PassLabs, Luxman and currently have an ARC D240. But this Krell is a beauty. It’s with the tech who did the service in Philadelphia, if your interested, you are welcome to visit and listen.

BELLES......That's all you need to know !

@motorheadflash

Great combination isn’t it. I also have a REF 3 Phonostage and a REF 9se DAC / CD player. The DAC was a real game changer for me, making the digital end natural and musical like my analog end.

WOW Thanks for all the great input. I am still waiting to hear from the repair shop on what is actually wrong with my old amp. I know this service tech. and he will want to do a full repair. I know he will not overcharge me. I have had many pieces of ARC equipment over the years, and have loved them all. This is the first time any of it has broken down. After 27 years I'm not disappointed. Ref. 150SE sounds like a great idea. Although I love the looks of that Accuphase. I will keep you all posted

Also, consider a used ARC REF150SE for a lot less money than a 160S

@motorheadflash 

Within the past year I have upgraded from McIntosh monoblocks to the Audio Research 160S. I liked it so much I got the Ref6SE. To be honest, I was a bit nervous but have never looked back. In the future I will add the reference phono stage as well because that’s how happy I am with the tube sound. 
 

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!

While I am not saying the estimated repair is excessive as I do not know if they are just going to repair the problem or do a full recap of the amp, I recommend that even if you are going to upgrade that you should repair it, if for no other reason than to have a back-up. I have a full set of caps for my ML 23.5 just waiting to go in (amp is used almost daily). For no obvious problem, just age and got the caps (OEM) off eBay for under $200. I have a EE that I have been using recently who has performed magic with some components that I wanted to sell off and units I wanted to keep. If you are in the NY area (LI) can send his info, excellent work, fast turn-around (1-2 weeks) and more reasonable than other shops I had used in the past, including a guy that I used to repair shipping damage on my ARC 5se.

How about one of these:

Seattle Hifi has it for sale...

http://seattlehifi.com/demos/?hegel-h30-amplifier-open-box-demo

Yes power recab or a totally recab i do it 6 months ago with mine musical fidelity a5. And they put in a higher value i thought from 8000 to 12000 i dont regonize mine amp anymore what a differents. It cost me totally 550 euro the whole amp.

Benchmark AHB 2

Honestly… a newer Audio Research amp. I added one piece of ARC equipment after another over the last twenty years and each addition added another level of magic. Their tube amps are simply stunning. If I were you I would look for a ReF 75 or Ref 75se… these are amazing… I now have REF 160s And have a pair or REF160m monoblocks on long term loan. These things are simply stunning.

Thanks guys, I have taken the D400 to a very reputable repair shop,and they are trying to find some caps to do the repair. I would like to get it fixed so I can sell it and purchase a new amp or use it as a trade in. Jason, you are right. Looks like the repair has been ball parked at $1000.00 to $1200.00 dollars. It is still 27 years old and I think I would like to upgrade. Juan, we have an Atma-Sphere dealer near me. I like the hand wiring and quality they offer. Will plan on being there later this week

Totally agree with @soix, if I were in your shoes and going to stay the course with your configuration, I would look at the Atma-Sphere and AGD offerings. 

I think you should consider giving a listen to some of the better GaN amps out there from the likes of AGD and Atma-Sphere.  By all accounts they are outstanding amps that do an excellent job of combining many of the virtues of tubes and solid state and are much more efficient than either, and I’ve read the term “end-game amp” used in reference to them more than once.  Just another option to explore FWIW, and best of luck in your search. 

@spatialking +1! Power supply cap replacement is an easy repair. Why spend thousands on a new amp?

You might like the Circle Labs M200 (https://www.circlelabs.eu/m200_en). Great amp.

Here is an out of box thought.  Since you said the "caps blew out" which tells me they are power supply filters, as those are the ones most likely to blow.   If the capacitors you mentioned are indeed in the power supply, you can put in capacitors of the same capacitance and voltage rating.  You can also put in a higher voltage rating, say an extra 10 or25% but they will be bigger.   I'd stay with the same size capacitance, or at least, a small amount more, say 20% max.  Again, they will be bigger.   They may not fit exactly, but they will work just fine.   Choose capacitors which can handle very high ripple currents - they will be more expensive but you want that, it will be one of the specifications listed.  If it isn't listed, keep looking.  Low ESR and ESL are an advantage as well assuming they don't come with reduced ripple current capacity.  Try searching DigiKey.com for capacitors.  You will need aluminum electrolytics, polarized.  

I owned the CODA #8 and own the CODA 07x preamp. I demoed the CODA #16 with the 07x at my CODA dealer. It was very easy to hear the difference between the #8 and #16. I was primed to get the #16 but then I took a chance and upgraded my Krell K-300i integrated to the Krell Dou 175XD amp.

Both the CODA #16 and 175XD are Class A amps, though they get there in a different ways. I thought the Krell 175XD was better than the CODA #8 and more like the CODA #16. I am very happy with the 175XD though I am using it as a headphone amp.

I need a 2-channel amp for my Livingroom much into the future. I am looking at the CODA #16, the soon to be released Krell KSA i400, or a used Krell Dou 300XD.