Help! I absolutely cannot pick an Integrated Amp

[Al ears]

And that's why you buy to try at home with the guarantee you get your money back thanks to the regulations that permit it.
Your only requirement is to take care of the goods while in your possession. Never had a problem yet.

that's never going to work if buying second-hand, bargains will be missed.

 

[record_spot]

that's never going to work if buying second-hand, bargains will be missed.

Sorry, I miss your point/rationale? If buying from a dealer, you get certain protections buying new, buying from a dealer used, you'll get what the dealer offers (some offer 14 or even 30 day return periods), buying from Joe-Schmo it's a lottery. It's really up to the buyer to take responsibility for what they're buying and be in an informed position.

 

[Al ears]

Sorry, I miss your point/rationale? If buying from a dealer, you get certain protections buying new, buying from a dealer used, you'll get what the dealer offers (some offer 14 or even 30 day return periods), buying from Joe-Schmo it's a lottery. It's really up to the buyer to take responsibility for what they're buying and be in an informed position.

my point was most people buy second-hand from the same said joe public and not a dealer so auditioning is not a possibility.
That was my point, so sorry you missed it.

 

[plastic penguin]

however, his question was what was there out there that he should audition, not whether he should audition or not.......
At no point does he say he isn't going to audition.
It would be really refreshing, some day, to see a thread on this forum that did nothing but answer the OPs question....
But I will not hold my breath. 😎

It's always hard to make suggestions that may not suit the OP. Even more tricky living in the States -- some brands travel better than others.

 

[SteveR750]

however, his question was what was there out there that he should audition, not whether he should audition or not.......
At no point does he say he isn't going to audition.
It would be really refreshing, some day, to see a thread on this forum that did nothing but answer the OPs question....
But I will not hold my breath. 😎

Yes, I'm still waiting too! It's not just this forum, even the holy ASR gets filled with off topic detritus.

Has anything been added to the OP's list?

 

[hommy]

Wow, I didn’t mean for my first post to go off the rails like this! I do intend to demo whatever I decide to buy. My intent was to find options I may have missed, as I am not as well versed as many of you. To that end, I discovered the Parasound Hint 6 and Rotel RA-1572 amp that I would have missed on my own had it not been for this thread (and others, but those two scratch an itch). So, not a total loss. Demoing the Rotel tomorrow. The Parasound is a little harder to source locally.

Thank you to all who responded. If anyone has a last second brand/model I missed, please let me know!!

 

[MrReaper182]

Wow, I didn’t mean for my first post to go off the rails like this! I do intend to demo whatever I decide to buy. My intent was to find options I may have missed, as I am not as well versed as many of you. To that end, I discovered the Parasound Hint 6 and Rotel RA-1572 amp that I would have missed on my own had it not been for this thread (and others, but those two scratch an itch). So, not a total loss. Demoing the Rotel tomorrow. The Parasound is a little harder to source locally.

Thank you to all who responded. If anyone has a last second brand/model I missed, please let me know!!

I hope you find what you are looking for and your new equipment gives many happy years of music listening pleasure. Posts on hi-fi forums to tend to to get a little heated at times, but must people mean well even if they do go over the top at times.

 

[MrReaper182]

It's always hard to make suggestions that may not suit the OP. Even more tricky living in the States -- some brands travel better than others.

Very true PP. The old editor of What hi-fi sound and vision magazine Simon Lucas once's agreed with me on this very forum when I posted a response to someone post saying that What-hi-fi sound and vision don't give 5 stars to a product to get you think it's a superior product to all others products that did not get 5 stars (I do believe Simon Lucas owned a TV that only got a 3 star review in What hi-fi magazine sound and vision) or you should just go out and buy that product they gave 5 stars to just because What hi-fi sound and vision gave 5 stars too it. What hi-fi sound and vision give 5 stars to a product as a guide on what products you may want to seriously consider demoing as tastes differ from person to person when it comes to hi-fi (like everything else in life) and there is a lot of hi-fi in this world and when it comes to choosing what to buy it can be a confusing, even for those who claim to know a thing or two about hi-fi.

 

[James105]

Hello, all. Long time lurker, first time post.

I've become stuck in deciding on a new integrated amp. I simply cannot decide on what should power my KEF LS50's because I've researched too much.

My wishlist:

1. Max spend $2500
2. DAC/Digital inputs
3. Sub Out w/Bass Control or crossover (this is surprisingly difficult)
4. Phono Input
5. Prefer class AB amp, but there are some enticing class D amps that I've just discovered (Parasond NewClassic, for example) and have thus caused me to yet again reset my search.

Here's what I've looked into:

1. Emotiva BasX TA1 or 2 - this literally checks every box, but I don't know much about the brand and reviews are scant (other that your typical YouTube personality)
2. Cambridge CXA81 - current frontrunner; concerns about effectiveness of bass control and not having tone control
3. Yamaha A-S801 - Strongly considering, same concerns about bass control
4. Parasound NewClassic 200 - just discovered this last night and am intrigued, but class D amp
5. Cambridge EVO 150 - Can't help but think separates are "safer" than an all-in-one from a repair/reliability standpoint
6. NAD C 369 or 389
7. Sonos Amp - I had a gen 2 and not sure I want to go down that road again

Anything else I should consider?

Thanks for any and all help/recommendations!

Difficult to covert prices but the NAD 389 or 399 with the BluOs module will give you Dirac live as will the Arcam SA30. Lyngdorf will give you room perfect these should really help with integrating a sub. Also the Rotel RA-1592 MKII has dual sub woofer out and a full range preout but no room correction software that I could see.

I like to download and read the manuals to get a better idea of how well the sub outs or other options work.

 

[plastic penguin]

Very true PP. The old editor of What hi-fi sound and vision magazine Simon Lucas once's agreed with me on this very forum when I posted a response to someone post saying that What-hi-fi sound and vision don't give 5 stars to a product to get you think it's a superior product to all others products that did not get 5 stars (I do believe Simon Lucas owned a TV that only got a 3 star review in What hi-fi magazine sound and vision) or you should just go out and buy that product they gave 5 stars to just because What hi-fi sound and vision gave 5 stars too it. What hi-fi sound and vision give 5 stars to a product as a guide on what products you may want to seriously consider demoing as tastes differ from person to person when it comes to hi-fi (like everything else in life) and there is a lot of hi-fi in this world and when it comes to choosing what to buy it can be a confusing, even for those who claim to know a thing or two about hi-fi.

Yep, I had this experience with still one of my fav sub-£500 standmounts - Usher S520. What hi-fi only gave them 3 stars.

Welcome to the mad world of hi-fi and forums.

 

[plastic penguin]

Very true PP. The old editor of What hi-fi sound and vision magazine Simon Lucas once's agreed with me on this very forum when I posted a response to someone post saying that What-hi-fi sound and vision don't give 5 stars to a product to get you think it's a superior product to all others products that did not get 5 stars (I do believe Simon Lucas owned a TV that only got a 3 star review in What hi-fi magazine sound and vision) or you should just go out and buy that product they gave 5 stars to just because What hi-fi sound and vision gave 5 stars too it. What hi-fi sound and vision give 5 stars to a product as a guide on what products you may want to seriously consider demoing as tastes differ from person to person when it comes to hi-fi (like everything else in life) and there is a lot of hi-fi in this world and when it comes to choosing what to buy it can be a confusing, even for those who claim to know a thing or two about hi-fi.

In fact, half of my current system has less than the full compliment of What hi-fi stars: the Exposure 2010 only received 4 stars, same with the Pro-ject Classic; the ClearAudio Concept V2 cart only received 3 stars.... only the Leema and Dalis received the full 5 stars.

Just proves you don't need to lump all 5 star products together to get a fabulous sound.

 

[Guitargonaut]

Hello, all. Long time lurker, first time post.

I simply cannot decide on what should power my KEF LS50's because I've researched too much.

uhm, yeah...

 

[McThommo]

The Evo 150 is a very good product- just upgraded to it from a Cyrus amp and very impressed and sounds great