1: Class One, is a lifestyle oriented integrated amplifier these tend to have built in dacs and streamers: Naim’s Uniti products, Nad’s M10 and C368 are good examples of this class amplfiers tend to run in price from $899-$3,300.00
2: Class Two: More expensive more ambitious versions of the above, these are more expensive higher performing units, the more expensive Naim Uniti Star and Nova, the Micromega M100, the Anthem Str, the new Krell K300i these units go up to $8,000.00
3: Class Three: Uber intergrated amplifiers in our store the T+A 3100HV a $23k integrated amplifier and their less expensive 2500R a $12,500.00 integrated amplfiers would be in this class.
The arguement that an integrated amplifier is a compromise is a falicy, the simple fact that you don’t need interconnects and have everything built into a single box means that signal paths are shorter and you lose nothing going from one part of the circuit board to another many of the above integrated amplifiers sound fantastic.
The real arguement is cost does integrated amplfier for X dollars beat a pile of separate components for the same money?
Also another wrinkle in the integrated amplfiers vs separates is the concept of the Dac/preamp and a separate amplifier here at least you only need perhaps one interconnect if the box is a also a streamer or you may need a digital cable if you add a streamer. The new Anthem STR amp and preamp are a great represenation of this concept the STR preamp includes a built in dac and therefore you only need one high end interconnect to the amp.
The Naim Uniti Nova sounds fantastic, at $7,500.00 however, the more expensive separate Naim NAC 272 preamp/dac and a Nap 250dr does sound dramatically better however that package costs $15,000.00 with an interconnect. This is a really amazing sounding two box solution so nearly an intergrated.
So we would comment that a good integrated amplifer may easily do battle with a pile of separates and may beat them, the Micromega M100 includes a great dac, a streamer, a built in phono stage, and a powerful Class A/B power amplifier for $4,500.00
If you compare that product to a pile of many less expensive products that now you have an amplifier like a Parasound which we also sell you are going to be spending $1,500 for an amplifier $1,500.00 for a preamp/dac $400 on an interconnect add in a Blue sound Node for a streamer $500 and a $200 digital cable and you have a combined price tag of $4,100.00 in three separate boxes vs $4,500.00 for the Micromega.
You do now have more flexibilty but does that combo sound better and now you have three boxes power cords interconnects vs one single box which just requires a set of speaker cables.
The high end intergrated amplifier makes using and assembling a good system much easier and sometimes at lower costs.
The new Krell K300i sounds absolutely fantastic for an $8k price point including a good dac and streamer.
The concept of the uber integrated amplifier from T+A shows just how advanced these products have come this $23k reference intergrated amplifier is basically the company’s separate $19k power amplifier and $16k preamplifier put into one chassis the only difference is a simplified preamplifier stage, vs the separates.
So $23k and no interconnect vs $19k + $16k + $3k inteconnect = $38k for an improved sound but you are not giving up mutch as the amplfier stage is exactly the same.
The T+A PA 3100HV integrated will beat most separates, its earlier incarnation which cost $18k was compared to a $120K worth of CH Precison’s separates and the reviewer Allan Taffel, was having a hard time figuring out which one we was listening to
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/ta-pa-3000-hv-and-mp-3000-hv/
"PA3000 not only competes directly with integrated amps that run all the way up to $50k, it holds its own against $120k worth of Switzerland’s best separates. This is a component that’s not to be missed. "
"How close is the sound? Let me start with the PA3000 HV. At $17,000, this 300-watt integrated amp costs about 15 percent of my reference CH Precision C1/2xA1 combo. Yet when I switch between them the most striking thing I hear is their utter similarity.
Of course, I tried to find differences. On the Original Master Recording LP of Donald Fagen’s The Nightfly, I queued up “The Goodbye Look” and carefully compared bass (identical), vocals (identical), the twang of the solo guitar (identical), and the snap of the xylophone (identical). Most importantly, both presentations preserved the percolating rhythm that make this—and many of the album’s other songs—such an enduring pleasure. To be sure, the reference CH equipment creates a wider soundstage, and its tonality is a little more fleshed-out. But I seriously doubt I’d be aware of either of these without a back-to-back comparison.
The biggest difference between the T+A and the CH Precision is at the very top end, where the reference is more refined, though not any more extended. Bear in mind that even this difference, though audible as a touch of roughness, still falls into the subtle category. As evidence, consider that while trying my darndest to ferret out differences like this one, I frequently put down my pen and succumbed to the music. I listened to entire sides of even the most familiar albums.
That’s an indication of how little these scant distinctions matter, and how miraculously close the PA3000’s sound and capacity to captivate come to the higher-buck Swiss Sound stalwarts.
"So if an expensive, $18k or a $23k high end integrated but comparatively cheap compared to the $120k just for the price of the CH Precision gear how much was Mr. Taffels multiple sets of power cords and interconnects can sound nearly as good that should put this concept that a high end integrated can and will be compared to the very best separates and come out sounding as good as or better than many."
Bear in mind that this is vs the older PA 3000, the newer PA 3100 uses an improved preamp stage and a few other improvments that elevate that integrated amplfier into even better performance.
So yes it is clear that a high end intergrated amplifier can either duplicate or exceed the performance of many uber expensive separates.
Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ, Dealers for T+A, Naim, Krell, Micromega, Nad, Parasound