Well, it's a poor frog that won't praise its own pond, but I'm very happy with my Luxman 505ux integrated. It replaced an Ayre AX-7E and it was a noticeable improvement with my Harbeth SHL5 speakers. It has one set of balanced inputs that I use with my DAC. The onboard phono preamp is surprisingly good although I use an outboard PS Audico GCPH. Wonderful build quality, flexible, great remote. I even like the loudness control for low-volume listening, although you can go "line straight" and bypass all tonal correction features. You can also easily integrate into a A/V system if you decide to go that route. List is $4000, I bought mine for $3400, used you should be able to find well under $3000.
Integrated advice
Hi everyone,
I hope you are all doing well. I am considering moving some of my rig to my office system, so I may have an opening at home for an integrated. I'm happy with my current speakers - Golden Ear Triton 7 - that have an 89db sensitivity and a minimum of 3.7ohms. The front end is digital - Oppo 105 (may move to the Sony HAP Z1es, but nonetheless it will be digital). I've been using a Hegel H80, which I find to be a very nice sounding amp. However, more headroom/power would be a nice thing to have, especially because the Triton 7 has a nicely controlled deep bass.
I'm looking at a budget around $2,000-$3000 and want balanced inputs. I don't need a DAC or phono input. At this price point, I've seen a few possibilities that look interesting:
a. Wyred 4 Sound STI-500 (or the 1000)
b. Krell s300i
c. Musical Fidelity M6i (if I can find it used)
Wondering if you might give me your thoughts on any of the above. There are no dealers around here, so I won't have a chance to listen to it. However, I'll be sure to buy from a site with a return policy.
I appreciate your input and wish you all a good evening,
Scott
I hope you are all doing well. I am considering moving some of my rig to my office system, so I may have an opening at home for an integrated. I'm happy with my current speakers - Golden Ear Triton 7 - that have an 89db sensitivity and a minimum of 3.7ohms. The front end is digital - Oppo 105 (may move to the Sony HAP Z1es, but nonetheless it will be digital). I've been using a Hegel H80, which I find to be a very nice sounding amp. However, more headroom/power would be a nice thing to have, especially because the Triton 7 has a nicely controlled deep bass.
I'm looking at a budget around $2,000-$3000 and want balanced inputs. I don't need a DAC or phono input. At this price point, I've seen a few possibilities that look interesting:
a. Wyred 4 Sound STI-500 (or the 1000)
b. Krell s300i
c. Musical Fidelity M6i (if I can find it used)
Wondering if you might give me your thoughts on any of the above. There are no dealers around here, so I won't have a chance to listen to it. However, I'll be sure to buy from a site with a return policy.
I appreciate your input and wish you all a good evening,
Scott