What Integrated Amps have the sonics of Separates?


I want to get off the $$$ bandwagon. I'm tired of spending money, and then in a year, the equipment has dropped in used value substantially, since the fickle audiophile community has moved on to new favorites.

There must be very good sounding integrateds, or more modestly priced separates that perform as well. I'm still looking for quality, weight and finish, so it doesn't have to be just modest priced gear.

Thoughts: Rowland, Plinius, Simaudio, Vincent, or others. Don't want cheap, plastic, light stuff with limited power either.

There must be audiophiles who have felt the same way, and found things that satisfied them as well, or nearly as well, because they were tired of spending and spending.
audiosoul
The Luxman integrateds are very nice and I've heard them often at my local dealer. If I was looking today, I'd seriously consider one.
I know you said you werent into tubes, b/c you "want to crank it up", but I would second and third the BAT 300SE integrated which I have in my own system. 6h30 tube preamp with SS amp = 150 powerfull watts. I am running 4 ohm Dali Helicon 400s with them to be giddily surprised. The bass is actually full and deep with very little if any distortion or roll off.

The new ones retail for $6-7 grand, but are used on Agon for $3000-3500. I would only advise the SE version with BAT PAK power back up and the 6h30 tubes which are more linear than, say, EL34s; such that rock and roll sounds quite good, and I listening to a broad musical spectrum. I cannot, however, suggest the pre-out performance of this unit to an auxillary amp. This seems to be one of the quirks of the system.
Its a bomb-ass integrated built with technological wizardry by BAT, but the extra options are limited. I believe this to be a quite natural consequence of integrateds; b/c, well, we cant have it all. That said, I am so satisfied with the 300SE, that I have no desire to go back to separates at this time. Good luck in your search. Gary
Hi,

My first post. I have the following setup and am extremely pleased with the sound I have.

Ascendo system F loudspeakers
Perreaux 150i integrated amp
Weiss DAC 2 balanced connection to amp
Mac mini serving FLAC and high res FLAC through
Squeezebox duet ( bypassing onboard DAC) OR direct via
PureMusic s/w
Using Mogami 3104 bi-wire

I am curious though to get feedback on what I might expect in terms of improvements if I were to consider a different/"better" amplifier configuration? I prefer to stay with solid state.
I'm very happy with my ATC SIA2-150. I went from tubes to this integrated and feel that I haven't missed a beat. There are some great reviews out there. Do a search and read for yourself. They are all true.