Best Integrated, period.

Like David12, I'm also very impressed with the Viva Solista. My friend has his paired with 86bd efficient speakers in a decent size room, but his listening is pretty much limited to small ensemble jazz and classical. With speakers rated in the mid 90dbs or better, I suspect the Solista would play any music with world class results.

There have been numerous threads on the subject of "Hi-Fi vs. musicality". Reading these posts, I come away with the impression that many consider these the two extremes of a sliding scale - to the degree that you choose one you sacrifice the other. IMHO, the New Audio Frontiers Supreme 300b SE integrated makes the strongest statement, that I've ever heard, that one component can offer SOTA performance in both. It's too bad that they aren't marketed more aggressively in the US.

Tvad, The 845 SE has surely enjoyed a wider distribution than the 300b SE.

"The VAC integrated allowed me to get rid of three HRS isolation bases, three expensive power cords, and two pairs of reference interconnects - an investment about equal to the separate components.”

Ain’t it wonderful?

Akg_ca, you make excellent points. But for the same reasons that you think the thread should be removed, I think it should live forever. Can there be a better example - especially for newbie posters seeking component advise - than this thread, to demonstrate that if enough Agoners participate, sooner or later, every component on the face of the earth will be recommended.

Of course, the real shame of it is that all these other posts, obscure those from us who really do know the best :-)