Recommend Affordable Integrated Amps (Solid State or Tube)
Looking for an affordable, good sounding integrated amp costing no more than $3500. It must be able to play CDs and Vinyls as well as digital music from iTunes (some 30,000 songs) stored in AIFF format. Currently have an Accuphase E 307 integrated amp using Kimber Kable interconnects and speakers cables with jumpers. Current speakers are KEF Q700. Analog is Linn Basic with an Akito tone arm and Rega Exact 2 Cartridge. CD player id a Marantz 5004. I listen mainly to jazz, R&B, Pop, world, etc. at moderate listening volumes. Room size is about 17 x 24 feet with 8 foot ceiling. Would love to have suggestions.
A Tube integrated + sep phono and DAC would be my choice as well. Besides Jolida, there are many other good ones coming out of China like Antique Sound Labs and Audio Space that are well below your budget and I think you'd be pleasantly surprised just how good they sound. Check out some EL34 amps in push pull.
You open up so many more possibilities if you don't insist on a built-in DAC. Plus, that part is what's most likely to be outstripped in a few years. Hard to know what direction you want to go in from the Accuphase. More "accurate" (Kinki perhaps) or more "tubey" (Rogue, PrimaLuna, etc.).
Tsugury You are the second person to offer the suggestion of changing speakers, CD player or a new separate phono stage. What speakers / and or CD players would you recommend considering. Don't want to go over the top since I am now retired. looking Value for the money. Thanks
I got an LFD LE V Plus from Gene Rubin Audio for about the top end of your price range (it was on sale). (the 2018 version is $4,995). Get on their mailing list, there are specials occasionally. This amplifier is (very) long on punch and musicality and very short on features (no remote). Build quality is good but looks (and is) handmade. I'm driving B&W Nautilus 805's and I think it sounds every bit as good as my other system, which is AR VSi75 driving big Thiel's. Different, of course, but I don't think it suffers in comparison at all. Very highly recommended.
There is also the LFD Mistral Plus with phono stage ($3995), that I don't personally know anything about. The LE Plus does not come with a phono stage.
I also have a Linn Basik/Akito and use a Sumiko Pearl...highly recommended assuming they still make ’em (Sumiko has recently released a pile of new cartridges ). I keep thinking I should replace the Basik with some fancy new table, but it works so well I just keep the using damn thing. Also, I suggest a Jolida tube integrated and whatever phono gizmo you need...Jolida makes bulletproof amps that give you loads of tube mojo which many feel is better for your listening health than SS amps...I agree.
The Hint 6 and E-560 will sound fairly similar - both very neutral but I imagine the Accuphase is a little warmer, which would be my choice with your speakers. It will hold its value well and is more of an heirloom piece as it has higher grade parts, and is hand-built in Japan, in small quantities, vs mass produced in Taiwan.
I had the original Halo and it had some transformer hum along with an issue with the volume pot. It began to distort and Parasound replaced the pot under warranty. Excellent customer service to their credit - best I’ve experienced in this hobby. The Hint 6 uses a resistor ladder volume control - superior to any Alps pot, so at least they addressed the problem in the redesign. The Accuphase very likely uses a similar volume control, as do Yamahas. The Yamaha amps have greater channel separation than the original Halo, so I wouldn’t doubt Parasound’s claim that the Hint 6 benefits in that regard.
Sounds like you are maybe looking for 1 box to fill your needs. If not, I'd look to get something with tubes with a separate phono stage and DAC which I believe would be much superior to any SS integrated listed above. Just my opinion. BTW, I also have a Linn Basik/Akito with an AT95E cartridge. Great table for the money. Previously had a Thorens TD125 mkII/Rega RB303/Grado Red and can very happily live with the Linn...
Hi guys! I'm considering purchasing a used E-560 for USD 4000 to drive my Elac Adante AS-61. Im quite new to this hobby, so I'm hoping to be able to get some advice from more experienced listeners here. Do share your thoughts. Thank you 🙏
Just some background, before I saw the E-560 on the used market, I was planning to go for Parasound Hint 6 or Parasound P6 pre and perhaps A21 / A21+ (that's apparently coming out in a couple of months). Right now I'm just using a Yamaha Aventage rx-a1060 AVR so it's not ideal for music listening.
My speakers are Tyler Acoustics Highland H3's and the room is 24 X 28 with 10' ceilings. The Hint 6 drives these with ease. If you need more power just biamp with a Halo 21. Other components are an Oppo BDP 105 and a Harmon Kardon T65C turntable. The Hint 6 can be bought for less than retail if you shop around. I also owned two of the original Hints and liked them very much as well. I never could afford the most expensive components but always tried to find the best value for my money. Obviously we all perceive sound differently and all rooms are different in the way they react with speakers and components. If you can, try what you can at home not just in a show room.
I currently have the original Parasound Halo, which replaced a Peachtree Nova 100W. The Halo to me sounds much better. Also, about six months after the warranty expired, the Peachtree started to self destruct. When unplugging some cables, two of the sleeves for the RCA connectors broke off the unit, and the digital inputs started to act up. My unit, obviously was a lemon, and may (or may not) be indicative of poor quality control.
Check out the Musical Fidelity M6si...its a powerhouse with a great design. Its solid state but has a smooth punchy delivery that I enjoy. Its design is basically two mono blocks inside one chassis. Havent tried the phono stage but also use Musical Fidelity NU Vista Vinyl phone pre....also a great unit.
Really loving the Belles Aria Integrated that I just picked up. No bells or whistles but *great* sound quality, particularly for the price. Haven't listened to it yet but the phono stage is supposed to be excellent as well.
Would need a DAC for digital sources but I don't think that built-in DAC's in Integrated Amps age well so best to keep them separate anyways imo. You would have plenty of cash left over for a great DAC and still stay under $3500. (I am using a Schiit gumby for example).
Halo H6, pretty hard to beat for the money. Has all the features you are looking for. I have one in my system that replaced a really good tube line stage and separate phono also tube with an excellent solid state power amp. I have been in this hobby since 1969 and have owned just about everything. Even sold high end audio in Europe as well as the States.
Hi Tsugury, I love this equipment. It is a great integrated for the music that I like as well the manner in which I use it. I have been following audio equipment since 1969 and have had many different systems, speakers, pre amps, amps, turntables, cassette decks, reel to reel, you name it. Prior to retirement I changed the components on a somewhat frequent basis. Most of the equipment has been very good and some quite expensive. I guess the bottom line is I want to try something different and if I find it unacceptable I will move on to something else. As you stated, this is a nice integrated amp; very nice. Obviously I don't want to step down and change is not always the best. I hope that I don't regret it.
From what I read the Accuphase E 307 is a nice integrated. What is it you don't like about it? alot of the above suggestions may be a step down or sideways.
I had a Parasound Halo Integrated (not the new Hint6). I found that I liked the DAC and the preamp section, but the power amp section was no good. I don't know if they're all like the one I had (I bought it new).
Yamaha A-S2100. Has the best performing built-in phono stage I’ve encountered - better than that of the Halo Integrated by a considerable margin. I haven’t heard it’s built-in headphone amp but by most accounts, it’s stellar. Meters are icing on the cake. They can be found for $3K. Spend the remainder on a Yamaha - MusicCast WXC-50 with Apple Airplay and you’re golden.
I’m assuming you would need a built-in DAC in the integrated amp since you mentioned above that you have digital files. For around $3500 price range I would highly recommend the following stereo integrated amps with DAC : * Hegel H160 new retail price of $3500 but often times can be found used in used after markets for around $1600 to $2k. * Rotel RA-1592. new retail price of $2500 and is a current model. *Parasound Halo Integrated (HINT) the new latest version retails for $3k and the recently discontinued or previous model did retail for $2500 when it was in production but today can be had for around $1500 or possibly less.
And you can stream your digital music files via USB to one of these integrated amps. You can connect your Marantz 5004 CD player via coax digital (spdif) to any of these integrated amps as the DAC in these integrated amps will be way superior sounding than the DAC in your Marantz 5004 CD player. So, you can use your Marantz 5004 as CD transport.
As for phonostage pre for your turntable, the Rotel RA-1592 & the Parasound Halo Integrated do have built-in phonostage but I’m afraid the Hegel H160 does not have phonostage. I would recommend getting a good quality external standalone dedicated phonostage preamp for your turntable as it will perform and sound better than the ones built in the integrated amps if you want to achieve optimal sound quality of your turntable.
I second the recommendation for the Peachtree Nova 300. The Creek Evolution 100A is also very good in your price range. Get it with the Ruby digital add on and it will take care of all of your needs. I haven't heard it, but a lot people also like the Parasound Hint 6 in your price range.
Find something good on eBay from the 70's for a few hundred dollars and have the old capacitors replaced. Spend the rest of your thousands of dollars on your wife.
I have a Parasound Halo A21 amp and P3 preamp. I don’ consider that budget, but if one’s speakers are not hard to drive look at LIne Magnetic Audio for the $2k to $3k range for really great tube sound. I have the LM audio 216 integrated in a 2nd system that I really like and listen too a lot.
Look at the Peachtree Nova300. I have one and it is a quality sounding amp for the money. My room is approximately the same size, and I can easily go into volumes that are far too loud to enjoy with no distortion. My main use is feeding a bunch of FLAC/ALAC and AIFF files into the amp via USB through Swinsian on my mac mini, and it sounds great. I plan to upgrade speakers at some point, but I am currently running a set of Motion 40's that double as my fronts in a 7.1 home theater system. The Nova300 does double duty in my HT setup via home theater bypass, but I could easily live without this if I had a second set of speakers for the fronts.
Call Dave Thomson from Raven Audio. Check out the website. Dave has some of the sweetest sounding tube amps available. He also has some of the oldest and rare tubes around. He is a wealth of knowledge.
Call Dave Thomson from Raven Audio. Check out the website. Dave has some of the sweetest sounding tube amps available. He also has some of the oldest and rare tubes around. He is a wealth of knowledge.
Based on your listening preferences and speakers (89db/8ohms) and budget for an integrated with a built-in phono stage, the LSA Statement comes to mind, as does just about any Luxman integrated.
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