There’s a 1m pair of Acoustic Zen Matrix Reference ICs (original version) on eBay for $229. Very warm sounding but still nicely detailed so may help push you in the right direction for not much $. Cardas Golden Cross would be another IC to look at. Best of luck.
Tuning my system towards a darker tone
I am trying to tune my system in a darker direction; as I have a bright ( lots of glass) listening area and have been directed by my interior designer ( aka wife) not to add room treatments. Starting with power cords, then possibly ICs would like to find a natural sounding power cord but with a darker tone. System includes: leben cs 600 amplifier, Linn Akurate Streamer DAC, Feikert Volare TT, Luxman CD player. Current power cords include Luna, Audio Art and Raven. Note: my speaker cables are not in play as they are within the walls and were picked to appease building codes in our area. My price range for cord 500-1000.
MP
MP