Which integrated for Wilson Sabrina's

t+a pa3100 or the less expensive 2500r are the best performing integratedamplifiers we have tested the 3100 is t+as A3000 power amplifier and P3000 preamplifier in one chassis for half the price of the seperates which are 44k the integrated is 24k

we have sold krell luxman coda electrosompaniet chord and others

Dave and Troy

Audio intellect nj

T+a dealers

Boulder, Rowland, Pass.

Lots of power and current!

What you have should be pretty good though.

What are you missing?

Ever heard Octave?

cshadow

D'Agostino is a top contender. Plenty of current, finesse and power.

Merry Christmas!

DarTZeel

BAT VK3500 is excellent, but the Wilson's deserve the D'Agostino...though will certainly sound fine with many of the others mentioned...

Rowland Contnuum 500 at tmraudio

Under $3800 - cam't be touched

I agree the dagastino, Ch precision, soulutions, DarTZeel are amazing and would be awesome with the Wilsons's; however, I should have specified I do not want to spend over 9k for an integrated.  There is a gryphon that seems like it would work as well, but I have had feedback from others that wilson and grython are not ideal.

My current system sounds really good, but it lacks refinement in the top end and needs more weight and body in the midrange for my taste.  The LTA has a lot of air for a tube pre, but can be a shade bright at times.

Here are few to consider, Gryphon Diablo, T+A PA3100HV, Accuphase E-5000 and darTZeel CTH-8550 MKII. I would seek an audition from your local dealer to see which one of these offers the best synergy with Sabrina’s.

I know a dealer in Florida who carries ~ Wilson, Gryphon and Dan Agostino, Nagra and he often demo Wilson with Gryphon. As I pointed out, synergy and your personal preferences will be the ultimate determining factor over everything else.

I hate to point out but when you own 87dB efficiency speakers, your choices are limited to high current amps / Integrated’s.

If you can afford it . As I have recommended for years ,and my brother now owns one the Gryphon Diablo integrated Amplifier .myself being into modding for years 

can say without reservations the Gryphon is the Gold standard in build and sound quality ,retail now around $18 k but getting 15%+ off should not be of a problem 

a very good power cord is a Must. Just see the Many great accolades on this 

work of art. Some times integrated amps are better then separates due to 

the Synergy, my brother sold his excellent Sabrina X ,for the Shasha Daw 

a fantastic match for any Wilson speaker or many other great speakers !!

No recommendation on amps but if you like very tight bass go for solid state. If you want fuller sound then tubes my be a better choice.

All mentioned are excellent amps. Problem is, they all have different characteristics that may, or may not, be to your liking. I found Gryphon to be a little too lively for my tastes. Overall very good, but edgy for me. Pass makes some great stuff, but just didn’t quite have the bottom grunt for me. One not mentioned is the Hegel H590. Excellent integrated. At this point I have settled on the Simaudio Moon 700i. Hits all my buttons, stellar build quality and a 10yr warranty. So many to choose from, gotta listen to a few (if you can) to really nail it down. Good luck!

+1 Hegel Had one but much prefer tube integrated.

Rogers High Fidelity EHF-200 MK2 Integrated Tube Amplifier LIFETIME WARRANTY Call direct. No need to ebay and better price wiggle room. Also has the KWM-88 Integrated Tube.. The could be bought right. (I have an 88)

I would get a KRELL K-300i integrated for those Wilson’s. One unit, plug in your Ethernet and done. The internal DAC is as good as all internal DACs (so not the top tier) but the sonics of the KRELL are great. It also has the very best ROON READY integration with adjustable volume from the ROON Client. No one else I have tried has that feature.

I sold the KRELL K-300i to buy the KRELL DUO 175XD amp. I sold that to most likely buy the just released KRELL KSA-i400 amp. I am wavering on the size of the amp. The K-300i integrated is also a little big in the depth department. Though not too big. These 3 amps I listed are all based on the latest iBias and XD tech they have. Super smooth Class A with no heat. I am a sonic details guy, and I am very surprised at how much I like the new KRELL gear. It is warmer and smoother than what I normally like.

I used the Benchmark LA4 preamp with the 175XD and will do so with the KSA-i400.

I have an MC312 driving my Sabrinas. Very clean and clear. The 312 is hooked up to an MA8900 second output. The 8900 run my KLH Model 5 in another room. Two distinct rooms that are perfect for my different tastes in music.

a very good power cord is a Must. 
 

@audioman58 Which pc’s have your brother tried with the Diablo? Looking for a great power cord for my D300.

 

 

cshadow OP

20 posts

12-25-2022 at 01:16pm

…

My current system sounds really good, but it lacks refinement in the top end and needs more weight and body in the midrange for my taste. The LTA has a lot of air for a tube pre, but can be a shade bright at times.

I have the Wilson Sabrina and drive them with Pass Labs XA30.8 Class A amp / Pass Labs XP12 linestage combo. The sound is exactly what you describe as your goal - luscious mids, refined top end, full deep bass. If you have a large room, the XA60.8 mono block amps should be more than enough. Pass Labs gear (especially their Class A amps) and Wilson speakers have excellent synergy.
Your preamp is fine.

IMO going from separates to integrated in a $9000 budget range is a big mistake.

One other note - the Sabrinas are picky when it comes to placement and room acoustics. It took me several weeks to fine tune.
A rug or carpeted floor is a must. The first reflection points and the front wall (the wall behind the speakers) must be treated as a bare minimum. Use furniture, acoustic panels, etc.

The Mark Levison 5805 250 W/ch 4 Ohms dual mono intrgrated. Impeccably designed and built, fully specced analog, mm/mc phono, and digital including 32/384, 11.2 mbits/sec DSD and MQA. At 62 lbs it lacks for nothing on the front end or power amp and sounds terrific. Listing for $10,500 it's a bit over your $9,000 budget, but every dollar is accounted for, and deals have been known to be made. It is a fantastic match for your Sabrinas in every way.

My brother has  Shunyata power cords and their line conditioner.

@panzrwagn 

The Mark Levison 5805 250 W/ch 4 Ohms dual mono intrgrated. Impeccably designed and built, fully specced analog, mm/mc phono, and digital including 32/384, 11.2 mbits/sec DSD and MQA. At 62 lbs it lacks for nothing on the front end or power amp and sounds terrific.
…

62lbs with all that 💩 in it? Lacks for nothing? 
 

It is a fantastic match for your Sabrinas in every way.

And you know this how? Let me guess…by looking at specs…

@audphile 1

1) People buy integrated amps specifically for the simplicity and integration, and to avoid having piles of boxes and cables. The 5805 has a full feature set of rather uncompromised design including analog, digital, linestage, headphone, and power amp. What would you add, change, or delete?

2) No, by listening to a very similar setup, a 5805 driving a pair of Non-X Sabrinas. The analog front end was a VPI HRX and Koetsu Rosewood. We didn’t use any CDs or streaming. The amplifier demands of all Wilson speakers all center around stability into low impedance loads and high current capability - which the 5805 has in abundance.

3) The OP specified a budget of $9,000. The Pass XA60.8 alone is $14,250, The entry level XP-12 line stage is $6,100, the XP-15 Phono preamp $3,800, and the HPA-1 Headphone amp another $3,675. Plus 3 cable sets and a DAC, at least another $5,000 there. That’s a total of $32,825. Not only have you ignored the budget, but you have ignored the fundamental user requirement of an integrated amp.

You may not be a fan of Integrated amps, however many people are, for the reasons stated - simplicity and value. Many integrated amps are compromised for various reasons. The 5805 is not.

I provided a solution to the OP requirements. You apparently are seeking some kind of validation for your equipment. It’s fine. I get it. I’ve been a fan of Nelson Pass since the Adcom GFA-series high-bias MOSFET amps in the mid-80s, and still use GFA-5800s as subwoofer amps in my dedicated home theatre, and a GFA-535 in my office system. But the current Pass Labs offerings, irrespective of quality, offer no solution in this case.

You apparently are seeking some kind of validation for your equipment. It’s fine. I get it.

@panzrwagn where did that come from? I don’t need anyone to validate my system.

Also, a pair of used XA60.8 are within the OP’s budget and there’s already a fine preamp there in the system.
 

But the current Pass Labs offerings, irrespective of quality, offer no solution in this case.

The above statement couldn’t possibly be further from the truth.
Class A amplification, and Pass Labs in particular, checks all of the boxes for the sound qualities OP is seeking. May be I missed the requirement for the phono stage and a DAC? But the solution I provided kicks the ML integrated down a flight of stairs.

@cshadow 

And if you are set on an integrated, once again, Pass Int250 will be close to what you are looking for sound wise and will provide plenty of power and control. Used can be had in your price range. Another excellent choice would be a used Luxman 595 Class A integrated that you can find now for under $10k but again if you have a very large room and looking for concert levels it might not be the right choice. 
Gryphon and D’Agostino are unlikely to be found in your price range used but you can stumble upon a Gryphon without the DAC module in or around your price range if you wait. 

+1 on Krell.  Read the stereophile review by Jason Serinus.  I heard that set up on his system, and it was very impressive.

I realize this Vitus integrated is more than your desired price, but it’s about half its list price and may be a bit negotiable and should deliver just what you’re looking for. 
https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisai451-vitus-audio-sia-025-receivers
I also heard BAT with an older pair of Watt Puppy 8s (I think) at a show it it also sounded really good, but that was obviously a long time ago but always left me with a feeling there was some good chemistry there.  Best of luck. 

Tweeters on the older Wilson models and on the Sabrinas are very different.
The W/P 8s that date back to mid/late 2000s used inverted titanium tweeter. Hotter sounding than the silk dome tweeter Wilson Audio implemented on the Sabrinas. With BAT you may end up taming a bit more than you intended.

Ultimately, home audition is a must. And unless it is possible or a decent return policy is in place, go used. You don’t want to drop this kind of dough blind buying a new component, end up not liking it and getting hosed on a resale.

I own a Gryphon Diablo 300 with Rockport speakers.  It is not edgy in any way and I can absolutely say it is worth finding somewhere to audition one if possible.   On the other hand a good friend has recently changed his system to a pair of Wilson Sabrina X and the Krell300i.  This is an excellent combination and I have really enjoyed my time listening to his system.

I second wsrrsw’s recommendation. Rogers High Fidelity EHF 200 Mark II. Quite powerful, great sound, very high build quality. I really enjoy mine. I believe you can try one & see if you like it. Call Roger & see..

Boulder 866!

I’m shocked that Esoteric hasn’t been mentioned in this discussion, especially within his price range. The Japanese sound comes with no compromises for what most ‘like’ to hear. The Mark Levinson 585 (way better build quality and components than the 5805) Michi. I only own one of these so not much confirmation bias! Kinki Studios. Lots of choices other than the obscure gear that people own and think is the best thing since sliced bread!!…lol

Tweeters on the older Wilson models and on the Sabrinas are very different.  The W/P 8s that date back to mid/late 2000s used inverted titanium tweeter. Hotter sounding than the silk dome tweeter Wilson Audio implemented on the Sabrinas. With BAT you may end up taming a bit more than you intended.

+1 @audphile1 I was no fan of those inverted metal-dome tweets Wilson used to use, and agree the BAT was probably taming them enough that I could finally enjoy listening to them but may well make the Sabrinas sound too rolled off up top, unless that’s what you’re looking for of course. 

Upon reflection I think @audphile1 has a point about moving from a pre and power to an integrated.  Having said that,@panzrwagn comments are fair re validation for equipment.  If I was to add 15k to my current kit it would not be with PASS gear as I already have a power amp by Coda that I feel is excellent.   

The LTA pre is a great pre to be sure, however if i was to upgrade I think this might be the place...

thank you to all the comments and suggestions.  

Back to the drawing board

If you want to keep your amp, CAT and Luxman pre's are some I'd highly recommend.