2. amps-preamps
  3. 190682-7079

Recommend me a tube integrated amplifier

I'm at a point where I'd like to try a tube integrated amplifier.

I currently have a Luxman L-509x driving a pair of Audio Note AN-K/SPx SEs.

I use a Marantz SA-KI Ruby CD/SACD player and a Technics SL1200Mk2 and AT-33SA LOMC for sources.

I also use a Rythmik E15HP/PEQ3 subwoofer to fill in the bottom end.

I listen mostly to jazz, classic rock at low to mid-level volumes, and my budget would be around $4k-ish used or new.

So, I'd like to get some recommendations for an integrated that would pair well with the AN-Ks.  Subwoofer connection mandatory either pre-outs or compatible for speaker level connection.  Phono pre inputs for MC desired, but optional.

No hybrids, high power not needed. No headphones either.  A remote would be nice, but I could suffer without one.

TIA

erikt
gbmcleod
451 posts
 

@ghdprentice

I believe the Audio Research I-50 is a hybrid, not an all-tube integrated. I sold a Vsi60 a while back, and what I disliked  about it - despite its other sterling qualities - was that the sound was a bit "washed out" in the same way that Audio Research SP-11 preamplifier was back in the late '80, when I owned it. It certainly didn’t have the accurate tonal color of instruments the way they sound in any of the halls I frequented (Carnegie, The Metropolitan Opera, David B. Geffen (Avery Fisher at the time!) or the Baltimore Symphony Hall (Meyerhoff), and, if I’m on the West Coast, Davies Hall in San Francisco. The Vsi60 had some great qualities, to be sure, but tonal accuracy? I’m afraid not.

Maybe a Vsi 75 is a better candidate for an "integrated tube amp," perhaps?

rooze's avatar
rooze
628 posts
 

Heard Synthesis amps with Audio Note, Harbeth, and ProAc speakers up at Deja Vu audio near DC and fell in love with the sound. I can't recall the model amps I heard that day but I was fortunate enough to get a good deal on a Synthesis A100 Titan from my local shop and it's a great sounding integrated amp, as I've mentioned elsewhere. 

gbmcleod
451 posts
 

@freediver

I had a Music Fidelity A1 for 10 years before i gave it to my sister. It’s a great little amp, but it doesn’t do what tubes do, which is to present a much more holographic presentation (assuming that that is what’s on the record). It is, however, very clear.

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