Retirement integrated amp for a “fiscal conservative”

@ezstreams, thank you for the kind words. However, don't be distracted by equipment in regards to audio nirvana.

I also have a mid-fi rig that I've put less than $1k into getting it off the ground this last year. I have it set up using all that I've learned regarding speaker placement, listening position, component matching, isolation, etc. I really enjoy that rig almost as much as the main rig! It's crazy but true! The rig definitely shows its limitations as the volume increases but as long as I keep it within its limitations the sonics are very enjoyable!

The other benefit is that I can put any pressing quality album on the turntable and it sounds good. With the main rig, a bad or average pressing sounds terrible so I have to take care to obtain the best sounding pressings for the main rig. That can be a real pain instead of just going to a record store and buying an album without thinking of pressing quality.

I believe that setting up the stereo properly and addressing the room may account for 50% of the sonics quality! Addressing these issues can make you fall in love with your rig all over again!

@vuch  i couldn't agree more with your observations.  My secondary systems are all capable of providing a large portion of musical enjoyment to be certain.  Do they do everything my primary system can do?  Certainly not. But in some regards, with the right music, they can do things I might enjoy as well or even more than my primary system.  

With attention to detail (and especially component matching), you do not need to spend a fortune to obtain a wealth of musical satisfaction.  In many ways, working with a budget and trying to max out performance at a price point is a heck of a lot of fun!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

@vuch and @corelli thank you for those words of wisdom. I know my system placement and room treatment is far far from what would help get the most out of my current equipment. Unfortunately, I don’t have the opportunity for a dedicated listening space much less room. It’s in a large shared recroom that includes a pool table and play area for my now 6 grandchildren (wildest is 7 and youngest born 5 days ago).   Keeping it protected from the grandkids is a primary objective of placement.  

Excellent selections are offered herein.  I'd suggest having a look at the Kinki EM-1X integrated amp, which would use about half of your budgeted funds.  

I’m currently using a Primaluna Dialogue HP Premium integrated amp which I’ve enjoyed for many years. Here’s where the “fiscal conservative” part comes in; this amp has 8 power tubes. Even with Primaluna’s great low tube stress design concept, I’m not looking forward to replacing power tubes every couple years with my retirement bonus listening time. Also, I’d like to get additional damping factor bass control than my current amp provides. I love the tube midrange and treble range sound, but would like an upright bass to sound more like a wood instrument (hard to describe in words) and hear more natural note attack and decay

The Yamaha A-S2200 ($4500) or the A-S3200 ($8000) are both tubey sounding SS (no tubes) amps with the higher damping factor, tubey midrange, etc, a nice step up from that primaluna. The Yamaha sound guys take a long time to try and make sure their stuff sounds as close as possible to the instruments they make. The sound of these amps changes significantly after about 120 to 150 hrs of burn-in (They don't ship from the factory burnt-in).