Recommend me a Class A Integrated Amp (or sound like Class A amp)


I have been rocking a Cabasse Riga setup with a Sony TA-A1ES (a heavily biased Class A design outputting first 15 watts as Class A). I absolutely love the clarity and natural sound of it. I’ve decided to keep to Class A to upgrade if possible because the Riga does not need a lot of juice to drive.

Accuphase Class As are eye-watering expensive in my country, but thankfully Esoteric prices their Class A F-03A at much more reasonable $8600 USD. Luxman unfortunately has stopped producing Class As, so they are out of equation and besides strangely they are more expensive than Esoteric in my country. Pass Labs, well, way out of my budget.

So, for around $8600 USD or less what are my other options if I want a similar sound to Class A without going down the tube route?

I’ve heard the new HifiRose RA180 sounds quite class A like. And I think the Yamaha AS series sound quite close as well. Any more options should I consider? The pricing of other brands should be similar to US.

128x128auroravengeance

I would buy used Accuphase E- 530 on ebay from Japan for about $3500,  get acupwr.com transformer and be happy for a while. Accuphase E- 650 is step up, of course not to mention Accuphase E- 800.

Coda is an interesting suggestion, I would say.

Luxman, Plinius, Sugden are all below Accuphase. I don't like the sound of Pass equipment.

Either a Pass Labs INT25 of something similiar from Luxman.

Both produce great sound. 

I do like the sound of Pass Labs. 

http://www.claytonamp.com/claytonaudio.html

Clayton Audio - Pure Class A amplifiers, but no integrated amplifiers.

For integrated amplifiers check out Kinki Audio EX-M1+.

Both are priced way below your max pricing.

Great suggestions from all of you. I am located in Singapore btw.

A dealer suggested to me I could actually get the entry level Accuphase Power Amp A-36 for $6500 USD and use the difference to upgrade my DAC to a DAC with a preamp like TEAC UD-701N ($2500 USD). That theoretically might give a better sonic upgrade compared to just getting an Esoteric F-03A.

 

Luxman, Plinius, Sugden are all below Accuphase. I don’t like the sound of Pass equipment.

 

It’s all subjective, and the speakers that are matched to the amp will play a part too. No right or wrong. From the list, I’ve owned Plinius Class A power amp and currently own a Class A Luxman. I’ve not heard the Accuphase but read that it has a warmer midrange glow than the Luxman.

Between Plinius and Luxman, I would say the Plinius sound more like a Class A to me, warmer midrange and fuller bass. The Class A Luxman has a rather neutral presentation although it sounds slightly warm. I find the detail and refinement of the Luxman to be a step higher than the Plinius. With the Plinius, some of the details may be missing, toned down or smeared. The Luxman is a more transparent amp with higher levels of clarity and detail in comparison to the Plinius. The leading edge of notes are all sharp, defined and pin-point with good clarity. With the Plinius it sounds a bit smeared. If one prefers a punchy, full and thick bass, the Plinius will be better but it doesn’t have the agility and refinement of the Luxman. The bass of the Luxman is leaner but with better clarity and detail when compared to the Plinius.

In my system, I wouldn’t want something that sounds warmer than the Luxman so I presume I won’t like the Accuphase which is generally regarded to have a warmer sound than the Luxman