Reliable Used int. amp for $1200? Plinius? Classe?

I have had a CLasse CAP 150 for 12 yeaars or so. In my main system for 10 years and now in my second system. Just a great amp. Quite frankly, the big expensive Classe monos that replaced it have been only a slight improvement.

I neglected to take into account your weight preference, so the Denon would be out - it weighs in at 54lbs.

Naim is an answer for you. A Naim 5i or used Naim XS would fill the bill nicely. You need to listen to Naim at a dealer first, s the sound will be different from the CJ equipment.

Jim

Classe 151 fits your bill. Not to heavy and quite compact in size, quite powerful, reliable and def on the warm side.

It is a risk of going with a SS integrated when you are already used to the sound of Conrad Johnson amps. Bear in mind you may or may not get the same level of performance or enjoyment with another amp and your greatest fear might come true when the new amp proves to be a downgrade from your current C-J amps. If you find enjoyment in your current system I would advise sticking with it.

If you really want to simplify your system by getting an integrated and want to be sure it isn't inferior sounding to your C-J amps, the only way is to listen to it in your system and find out yourself. I have owned the Classe CAP 100 and Plinius SA-100Mk3 and both are nice sounding amps with a tube-like character and liquid midrange. With your Spendor S3/5, you are better off with a higher current amp due to the low sensitivity of the speakers. If you listen to music at moderate to fairly high volume levels I would avoid the Classe integrateds. The Plinius 8200 is more powerful and may be a more appropriate match to the Spendors. The Mac is at another level compared to Classe and Plinius IMO, and so is the price. There are many other candidates out there that you may or may not like since you are already loving your C-J amps.

Good luck.

You might want to consider a Denon PMA2000 Mark-IV. Used ones cost around $600-700. In my opinion, at its price point, nothing else comes close.

You should consider the Unico or Unico SE. The former is generally available for less than $1000 used on Audiogon. I had one driving my Spendor S3/5se to great effect using Cardas neutral reference cabling. This combo was one of the more musical systems I ever enjoyed at a modest price point. Interestingly, the same Unico was later paired to my Harbeth M30's - again a very nice combo with a similar sonic signature.

Regarding power requirements, the Unico (rated at 80w/channel) easily drove the Spendors (I rarely had to move the volume dial too far to fill my modestly sized living room). Finally, I would not consider the S3/5se's to be particularly power hungry nor do i think they need high powered SS amplification to drive them.

Just my observations.

good luck!

I've loved the Simaudio integrated amps I've owned. They have great sonics, exceptional build quality and the ergonomics are very well thought out. You might be able to find an I-5 within your price range and the I-3 is definitely within your budget.

I've never needed any repairs so don't have any experience with their customer service.

Yeah, I've read about the Bryston B60, for years, always wanted to try one. I left something out in my post tho--the Spendor S3/5 SE's seem to like at least 100 watts of SS power. The MF2250 has 125 wpc, & sounds beautiful w/the C-J PF-R pre-amp.

Maybe my question should have been: "What integrated would sound as nice as the C-J amp & pre-amp, w/plenty of SS power"? I might have to go to a Mac integrated say, very pricy for recent ones, & as I recall they're fairly huge & heavy.

I guess I'm kind of hooked on the C-J PF-R pre-amp.....& possibly going to "most" SS integrateds would be a downgrade? Of course there's only one way to find out....

The Bryston B60 fits your criteria perfectly IMO. Bryston's warranty and service/support are world class. It's an excellent sounding integrated (I own one) that'll drive any realistic speaker load to just below rock concert levels. It's also a slim integrated - 1/2 rack height. It ain't lightweight by any means, but it shouldn't hurt anyone's back when lifting it.

There's a few currently for sale now. They have differing amounts of warranty left (20 years from manufacture date), hence bit of a price range.

I can't recommend this integrated highly enough.