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Mid grade Integrated amp choices

Currently, I have a Rotel A12, which is decent, but I am ready to upgrade. My other equipment is a Bluesound Node 2, Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit turntable, and Sonus Faber Chameleon T speakers with Nordost cabling throughout. At first, I was going to upgrade speakers, but after home auditioning the Dynaudio Contour 20's and Focal 1008 Be's, I felt that my integrated was the weakest link currently. 

 So, I have been auditioning a few amps (several at home) for the last few weeks. So far, I have home auditioned:

NAD 388 (with the BluOS card) - Class D gives weight to bass, but otherwise, it's just okay
Simaudio Moon ACE - Nice, certainly better than the Rotel, very good warranty and build
Simaudio Moon 340i - Seemed too boomy with bass and a little brittle on the top end
Bryston b60r - Nice, really good sound. Great warranty
Plinius Hautonga - Blew me away. Yes, the 200 watts may have had a lot to do with it. But, the soundstage was huge and everything was so detailed.

I will be dealer auditioning this Friday:

Rega Elex -R
Rogue Sphinx
Naim 5si

Anyone have any experience with the Rega, Rogue or Naim against the Plinius? I don't know if I want to spend that much on an integrated right now and am hoping that one of the ones I am auditioning Friday will blow me away. Thoughts? Comments?

-Brian   
128x128bkmaxey
soundwatts
221 posts
 
I second the rogue cronus magnum 2
gsm18439
895 posts
 
I agree with sbrownnw. The Audio Refinement Complete is an amazing integrated amp - and very inexpensive on the second-hand market. I have had one in my bedroom system since 2000 (driving Celestion SL700s) and bought one for my girlfriend (where it drives Spica TC50s). The only quirk is the remote (you need "their" remote), but there are ways around this problem.
bkmaxey's avatar
bkmaxey OP
37 posts
 
I’ve not thought of a tube amp, but if they have one, I’ll check it out.
reubent
6,935 posts
 
I always wanted an Audio Refinement Complete, and I now own one and use it in my second system. It is a nice little integrated amp and I enjoy it. However, I also currently own a Rega Elicit-R and it is in a completely different league from the Audio Refinement Complete (and its significantly more expensive).

I see you have the Elex-R on your short list. I have not heard it, but if it is the same house sound as the Rega Elicit-R, it will be a winner. If you choose to go used, the Rega Elicit-R at just over half of MSRP (current prevailing price) is a very good value IMHO. It has very good bass performance (some of the best I've heard) and everything else about it is very good also. I have a Pro-Ject Carbon Debut Esprit SB and it sounds great though the Rega's built-in MM phono stage.

I highly recommend the Rega Elicit-R if you can go used. Not sure I would pay the $3K MSRP, but that's not a reflection on the Rega. I'm just frugal......
whipsaw
753 posts
 
I don't mean to derail this discussion, but I would love to audition some of these (new) suggestions and compare them with my vintage amp. I'm not suggesting that the new ones wouldn't prove better, but that it would be a very interesting comparison.

I use a re-capped and upgraded Accuphase E-303x, which cost less than $2k including the work a couple of years ago, and am delighted with it.

The broader point of my contribution is that I have always bought used, and have been building systems since the 1980s. In my view, the bang for buck is clearly superior, and I have never worries about warranties, as well-kept, high-quality amps only rarely suffer anything like catastrophic failures.

Cheers,

Tony C.
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