There is a used Primare A20 Mk II listed at $1000. You don't hear a lot about them, but I've been using one for about a year and have been very impressed. I have to qualify my opinion since I moved up to it from an old Luxman receiver and just recently did a substantial upgrade. On the other hand, I listened to a number of amplifiers in the $3-6 thousand range that I didn't like as well as the Primare. Unfortunately, I only got to listen to four of them at home.
Two sounded better than the Primare and two didn't. I ended up with Clayton M70's. |
*-Don't mean to be repetitive but there is an Audiomat for $1250 here. Don't get much cheaper as far as I've seen, as you say, "beautiful" sounding amp.
I remain, |
Thanks to all for their suggestions... I went and listened to the Audiomat Arpege at a dealer today. Beautiful amp, I will keep my eye open for a used one.
I also checked out the Bryston which didnt do much for me after the Audiomat, but I will also try and check out the Audio Refinement.
As for the Linn... I used to have one of these without the tuner, but my wife hated the controls. Sonically it was great.
Thanks to all for your suggestions, I feel closer to a decision now. |
Another suggestion would be a Naim Nait 2. This model is a couple of years old but can be picked up for around 600$. It's a very musical amplifier with a simple yet functional no-nonsens design (3 inputs + phono, volume and balance control) housed in a small box. Uses DIN outputs, though. |
The Audio Refinement keeps coming up and that is a very nice unit. Might also look at the Luxman 491 hybrid with tube preamp and solid state amp. 90 wpc. Some coming through Canada. Hawthorne Stereo in Seattle brings them in and places them on Ebay for around $500. |
I'm surprised no one suggested Musical Fidelity A300. Bought one used for $1000 about a year ago, wonderful sound, sweet yet detail. Drives Thiel cs1.5 with plenty of power to spare. |
As mentioned above, the Audio Refinement Complete and the Audio Analogue Puccini SE are two of the finest integrated's avaiable. Especially if you tend to like a smoother, warmer, more laid back sound, both of these amps provide very tube-like sound, even though they are completely solid state. In my opinion, either one of these would outperform the likes of Creek, entry level Musical Fidelity, etc. The only concern might be that both are only ~50 wpc.
I also agree with Drewfidelity... there seem to be a lot of Anthem integrated's at great prices these days. I just saw an INT 2 here on AudiogoN last week go for $550 (retail used to be $1800). The INT 2 is a hybrid, 90wpc, and if you can find one at around that price used, I think it is a steal.
Happy listening! |
As others have previously mentioned, the Bryston BP-60 is an excellent choice that will mate well with many speakers and comes with a 20 year transferrable warranty. I personally have always been impressed with Creek integrated amplifiers, their phono sections are unbelieveable for the price, and their are many available on Audiogon for less than your budget. There are some great deals available from a number of retailers on Anthem integrated amplifiers that may be the best bang for the buck out there now. Good luck. |
I hate to introduce budget tilt but there is an Audiomat Arpege (integrated tube EL34) for sale here for $1250 and it's a wonderful amp. Might buy it myself. Take a look
Sincerely, I remain |
Cyrus makes a bunch of different integrateds. Cyrus 3
with PSX power supply should be within $1000 used.
Audiolab 8000S would go quite well.
Densen B100 (I own) is a great little amp, slightly less
powerful than the previous two, but perhaps a bit more
detailed.
Newer Arcam models seem to get glowing reviews, but I haven't heard them myself.
Of the above I think there's a few currently for sale on
Agon. |
Definitely YBA Integre DT. Don't bother with the single transform version even though it is cheaper. It won't be enough power for the Concertinos. I've seen 3 DTs go in the 1100-1200 range in the last 4 months on audiogon and ebay so there are sellers.
And the bonus is if you get an Integre you will be so far up the hi-fi ladder you might find you don't need anything else. |
I agree the AR "The Complete" is a nice amp, as well as the Bryston. You could also look for a used YBA Integre for $1K or the Integre DT for slightly more. YBA is who makes The Complete. Also around $1K used is the Creek 5350R and 5350SE. |
Highly recommend the Bryston B-60, with or without remote. Simply the best all-around integrated at the $1K used level. Very musical, will work very well with the SF's, extremely classy appearance, and will last forever. |
For what it's worth...I recently bought a Bryston B60 for 825 incl shipping. I'm using B&W cdm1nt's & although I am a newbie, I'm happy with the sound compared with my old NAD. Just my opinion though. Other more seasoned audiophiles on this site seem to like the Classe integrateds. |
look at
www.sigsound.com
audio aero integrated there, very simple, elegant, great sound. also there's a kora integrated for sale on this site. both i believe are hybrid (tube input stage/solid state output stage) designs which are reliable and sound very good. |
Audio Refinement Complete is a fine choice, can be found used for ~$600 here on the 'Gon. |
Linn Majik integrated amp or Linn Classik integrated amp with integrated CD player. $550 used for the Majik, $1000-ish for the Classik with tuner (older models are sans tuner). -Kirk |
