I liked the YBA Passion Integre better the Concentra II. Never heard the Plinius. I own the Passion. You can read my review. It's one hellava SS with some of the benefits of tubes. Beautifully made, lean and mean, 100 glorious watts, and competitively priced, especially compared to some of the other big boy integrateds. FWIW, I also listen to the ML, MF Nu Vista and the Mac. I'm not saying the Passion is better; I'm saying I liked it best. peace, warren
Integrated: Plinus 8150 vs Concentra II
My system: Meridian 508.24 + Sonus Faber Cremona + Plinius 8150.
When my Cremonas arrived I thought that maybe my Plinus 8150 was not good enough to drive them. With so many good reviews on the new Concentra II I have decided to try it on my system (in Europe the Concentra costs 3 times more than the Plinius). I was surprised since I was expecting that the Concentra would beat the Plinius in every aspect. Well, it did not.
The Concentra has a wonderful (huge) soundstage, lots of air between the instruments and it's very musical. On these items, it sounds MUCH better than the Plinius, yes. BUT, the Plinius has clearly a deeper bass (possibly a litle boomy) plus the highs are much softer. But the main difference is in dynamics: the Plinius is much faster. The Concentra is slow so voices tend to sound unhappy.
So, is there any other (integrated) solution? Feel free to suggest. But, please, cost does matter to me...
Thanks in advance.
When my Cremonas arrived I thought that maybe my Plinus 8150 was not good enough to drive them. With so many good reviews on the new Concentra II I have decided to try it on my system (in Europe the Concentra costs 3 times more than the Plinius). I was surprised since I was expecting that the Concentra would beat the Plinius in every aspect. Well, it did not.
The Concentra has a wonderful (huge) soundstage, lots of air between the instruments and it's very musical. On these items, it sounds MUCH better than the Plinius, yes. BUT, the Plinius has clearly a deeper bass (possibly a litle boomy) plus the highs are much softer. But the main difference is in dynamics: the Plinius is much faster. The Concentra is slow so voices tend to sound unhappy.
So, is there any other (integrated) solution? Feel free to suggest. But, please, cost does matter to me...
Thanks in advance.