What Integrated Amps have the sonics of Separates?

Manufacturers seem to be taking integrated amps more seriously these days. For lower powered tube amps, there are countless choices, VAC, Jadis, Viva, Mastersound, Almarro, Ayon etc etc. Higher power seems more limited, I can think of the VAC Phi Beta, I am sure there are others.

Looking at solid state/hybrid there are more higher power choices. The best I had in my system was the Lavardin IT, but only 50watts, The Karan K180 was very nice too. Then there is LSA, Vincent, all the Musical fidelity amps.

I went integrated 5 years ago and have used my Viva Solista for that time. I have'nt felt the need to chop and change. It does limit my next choice of speakers at only 22 watts, but it's worth it.

Thanks for responses. Now some comments on recommendations given.

Many of these integrated units have much, much smaller power supplies and no. of output devices. I know the BAT 300 is a perfect example. Looking at its internal layout, it is not very impressive for the price. But BAT's price increases have become so extreme, I don't even look at their things anymore.

In general, on Musical Fidelity, I've heard mixed positive and negative comments. A real concern is the volume controls going bad on NuVista and TriVista units. Also, the nu-tri-vistors are soldered in, so changing them is probably a nightmare unless you are a techie type person.

Some of the names I never heard of, and companies that may be here today, gone next year, are not comforting. Who are: Viva, Mastersound, Almarro, Ayon, Lavardin, Karan, Audio Space, Neodio, ASR ?

And the Overseas companies undoubtedly have importers who often do a poor job at servicing or take forever. Then you see brands go fro one importer to the next, apparently because of problems. With the US dollar so weak, prices for European stuff has become ridiculous and just isn't worth it. In speakers, look at the outrageous price increases from Spendor, Harbeth, etc. over the last couple of years. Who'd want to buy the stuff?

Asian made equipment is often made with inferior steel, stainless steel, etc.. After the passage of some time, you'll find rusting and deterioration of the metals. Their quality control and some of the parts are very mediocre or worse.

I'm sure VAC is good, but it's all tubes, and I'm not sure I want the maintenance and noise and impedance drive limitations tube power sections have. I didn't like the damped and flat sound of the Pass X1 preamp, though their power amps are very good, so I don't know if I'd like the integrated.

Don't mean to sound negative, but I don't think it's so easy to find quality and sonics. Perhaps the Rowland stuff is more in that category, but then you're talking digital amps, which I'm not so sure I want.

More suggestions, comments appreciated.

I have heard the audio note meishu at a dealers and it is very nice if you have efficient speakers. It is not cheap . There is a blue circle bmph listed now that is not very much and had some very nice reviews that are listed in the ad. (I have a blue circle dac which i think is very good but have not listened to the bmph). It is a hybrid so maybe it will not raise the "all tube" issue for you.

Hi,

It sounds like you really know what you don't want, but I'm not sure what is left for you to listen to :)

I can say, having lived with a Pass Labs XP-10 for a while, their new preamps are not really damped and flat. They do, however, take a week to warm up. Still, I don't consider the current breed of Pass preamps to be tube like, however, the Pass B1 buffer has a lot of presence similat to tube preamps.

One of the heavy posters on Audio Asylum, who has a lot of tube equipment, wrote that the Pass Int-150 sounds very good. The quality of Pass gear is excellent, although it is costly. If Pass uses anything like their B1 buffer as the front end to the Int-150, then I bet it sounds quite good. Still, most of the lushness in the Pass sound seems to come from their amps.

I've never heard the Vincent stuff, but from what I've read they are a quality product.

What kind of speakers are you trying to drive? What do you have now and why don't you like it?

Audiosoul, class D amplifiers like the Rowlands or the latest Bel Cantos are not even faintly digital. They use ICEpower analog power conversion modules.

The only cavieat with ICEpower based amplifiers is that they need to be very well broken in, or they sound dry and the treble response may be foreshortened. 500 to 700 hours is a good breakin for the Bel Canto products and the JRDG Continuum 500. The JRDG Continuum 250 and the JRDG Concerto integrated may require over 1,000 hours to shine.

One of the good news is that they draw almost no power at idle. . . e.g. 25W for the JRDG Continuum 250 integrated (and probably the same for the Bel Canto integrated). . . 35W for the JRDG Continuum Integrated. . This means that you can leave these amps powered up continuously so they always give you peak performance whenever you listen to music.

Do not exclude class D products a priori, they are just like any other technology. . . They all sound different. . . some of them you may like, and others you may not enjoy. G.