Also check out the Esoteric integrateds. Not sure how many dealers they have here in the US now, Overture is one. I’ve listened to the F-07 (100 W/ch, 8 ohms) extensively at my dealer (Fidelis AV, they are no longer carrying Esoteric) and had the F-05 (120 W/ch, doubles to 240W into 4 ohms) in my system for about a year and a half before getting sucked back into the separates game. Speakers were Dynaudio Confidence 30. Either of those models are within your price range new and should be good deals if found used. There is also the F-03 which is more expensive and pure Class A at 30W/ch. And of course on top of that is the Grandioso integrated. Rock solid construction on all of these models, excellent performance. Very clean and dynamic. They also have tone controls and built-in phono stages (MM and MC) if that’s important to you. IMO their looks are exceptional, very much audio jewelry. Amazing feel to the controls. If you’d like more feedback on my experience with the F-05 shoot me a message.
My last Integrated Amp: $5-10,000?
I would like to hear recommendations regarding integrated amplifiers costing between $5-10,000. This will be my last amplifier for quite a while. I prefer to buy used when I can but also prefer no older that 2-3 years. My speakers are likely to change every couple of years and I may keep more than one pair.
I like a detailed and transparent sound with air and the ability to easily to pick out the location of the instruments/singers. I have liked the class A that I’ve heard and I’ve liked the tubes that I’ve heard but I don’t want to mess with tubes. Also, I do not want a streaming device and I’d rather not have a built in DAC but I can live with it.
My music preferences are vocals and 70-90s rock.
So far I have identified the following possibilities that are available.
Mark Levinson: No 585 at $8400 and ML-5805 at $6550. The latter is a new model and I have read that there have been teething problems. I don’t know if ML have corrected this situation.
Luxman L-590AXII $7250 has a good reputation and longevity but is relatively low powered.
McIntosh MA5300, Coda CISB, and Gryphon Diablo 120 are also possibilities if available.
- ...
- 116 posts total
- 116 posts total