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2000-2500 USD budget for an integrated amplifier. Do amplifiers sound the same? :)

Hey guys!

My first post here! Great community here!

I recently bought a pair of Klipsch Forte III and I’m thinking about upgrading my current budget amplifier Cambridge CXA60. My budget is around 2500 USD. I hope you guys can give me a few insights. Cheers!


Current setup:

  • Macbook Pro
  • Network streamer + DAC: Chord Mojo + Poly
  • Amplifier: Cambridge CXA60 (60 watt)
  • Speakers: Klipsch Forte III, 99db sensitivity
  • Subwoofer: Klipsch R-115SW
  • The room is pretty small: 4*6 meters (roughly 13*19 ft) but very well acoustically treated (I covered all the power corners with GIK acoustics bass Tritraps and Soffit + complete acoustic treatment on early reflection points

The Cambridge amp sounds nice with the Fortes but I feel like I’m missing out on something. I don’t know what "something" actually, since I haven’t paired the Fortes with anything yet but the Cambridge.

So the crucial question is: should I upgrade?

I’ve been considering integrated amps like the Rotel RA 1592 and the Peachtree nova300.

I know that it’s kind of an overkill to drive the Forte III with respectively 200 watts (Rotel) and 300 watts (Peachtree).

However knowing myself, I might upgrade the whole system (speakers included) in like 4-5 years or so. And it might be nice to have a capable high powered amp around (with lots of power headroom) so I won’t need to spend further capital again on a new amplifier in a few years.

On the other hand, I feel like I’m wasting quite a bit of money buying a powerful integrated amplifier right now. At the end of the day the Cambridge CXA60’s got 60 watt and it is more than sufficient to drive the Forte III.

This leads to another thing that’s bugging me… The sound quality of an amplifier! People like Ethan Wiener argue in a very convincing way that when compared evenly, the sonic differences between amplifiers operated below clipping are below the audible threshold of human hearing.

This guy summarized this view here:

https://jakekuyser.wordpress.com/2016/05/23/do-hi-fi-amplifiers-sound-alike/


Furthermore I’ll most probably have Sonarworks room digital EQ correction toggled on all the time to remove all the equipment unwanted colorations. These colorations might sound nice, but I’m more of a "I want to hear what the artist intended" type of a listener.

(((To me Sonarworks was an eye opener when I first used it to calibrate my Sennheiser HD800.

https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/home-page/2017/8/24/headphone-shootout-sennheiser-hd800-vs-hd800s

It made me think about the extreme amount of the self delusion nature in the audiophile community. Many audiophiles rave about the alleged flat response of the HD800 when there are indisputable peaks at 5,5kHz and 11kHz, plus very very weak bass. Without correction they’re almost annoying to me and they definitely do not deliver what the artist/sound engineers intended. However, these cans are very often just described as extremely revealing, clinical, unforgiving… which eventually led to the claim that the HD800 is picky regarding the amp…)))

Questions:

  1. So considering that I’ll most probably have Sonarworks room digital EQ correction toggled on all the time to remove all the equipment unwanted colorations, do you guys still think that I might be able to get a "better" sound by upgrading the Cambridge to a more powerful amp, like the the Rotel RA 1592 and the Peachtree nova300?
  2. Is it worth to spend 2000-2500 USD more for this? Or should I use this money for a better DAC or a network streamer?

Sorry guys for this long post!

Cheers,

Egoq


egoquaero
johnto
972 posts
 
Have you given the Parasound Integrated any thought, great sound plenty of power good phono pre and class A syereophile rating.
noble100's avatar
noble100
2,419 posts
 
viridian: "Class D, what planet are you from? Getting paid by the word now, newbie?"

Hello viridian,

     Okay, okay.  Yes, we're all aware you're one of those hideous, large insect like Viridian things from the planet Virid and I'm the Earthling that's always making fun of you creepy crawlers for your sliminess, low IQs, lack of high quality audio knowledge and you're inability to grasp how to properly trash talk other universe inhabitants.  
     Now be a good slimy grasshopper, climb back into your intergalactic jalopy with the rollup windows, pop an 8-track into the player and head back to your bug infested dumpster of a planet. 

Love,
 Tim
XOX
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
Actually, Class D amps may not be a bad suggestion for the OP.   The newer Class D amps, especially the nCore models, are extremely clean clear sounding.  I have heard that recording engineers love these because it allows them to hear every single instrument in the mix (because it is so damn clean, it provides excellent "separation of instruments" in music, especially when things get really busy with a ton of different types of sounds).  The downside is that the Class D "sound" is not for everyone.  I am particularly sensitive to the current Class D "lack of high frequency extension and air".   Also, many of the Class D offerings use switching power supply.  The ATI AT52x and AT54x models are one of the only nCore offerings that have a full linear power supply.  There are other options, such as PS Audio or even Nord Acoustics (that use the discrete Sonic Imagery op amps for input stage).  So in the end, Class D might allow egoquaro to listen critically to mixed masters, but it may not be as engaging as other Class AB amps.
Post removed 
egoquaero OP
7 posts
 

Guys, thank you so much again for your help!!!

The audiophile community is really something.... you guys are so supportive and helpful! :D

Well yesterday afternoon I managed to cruise on ebay for a while and there was a new Hegel H190 at 2600 Eur which is quite a steal here in Italy. (in Italy, hifi prices are absurdly high compared to the ones in the US for instance..)

And so… I bought it! :D It was a rushed decision (last piece), but I think it'll keep my upgradetis under check for a while. It's one of the few integrated amps with Airplay and that comes really handy to me. And it should be able to drive with authority most speakers I might buy in the "near" future.

Is anyone familiar with this Hegel H190?

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