Upgrading - what amp to choose

Hey Willie -
Were I looking to buy an integrated, a couple things I might at least do some research on would be Parasound's Halo integrated. They claim 160 Watts x 2 @ 8 Ohms (RMS, both channels driven) & 240 Watts x 2 @ 4 Ohms (RMS, both channels driven). Has a DAC and phono stage too, I believe. Very feature rich.

Also, I saw a couple of used Hegel H-300s on A'gon. Hegel claims output power: 250W + 250W in 8 ohms, 430W + 430W in 4 ohms. Minimum load: 2 ohms.

Good luck in your search.

Willie - Audio Advisor carries the Parasound Halo Integrated. I believe they ship to Canada. They have a 30 day money back guarantee in the States. Don' know if that applies to Canada but worth checking if you are interested in the Halo integrated. Link here should take you to the AA product page for it.

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PAHAINT

Krell 550i discounted

Hey Willie, saw this today on Audio Advisor's Clearance Newsletter.

Well I, for one, am dying to know what you upgraded to! especially from V-Link to DAC. I'm guessing you went to some flavor of KLEI Innovations on the ICs from your DAC? Let us know. Glad things are sounding better.

Hey Willie - I was not being sarcastic or ironic with my KLEI comment. Knew you thought highly of their products so figured that's what you would use. I checked out your DIY IC procedure on your system page. (I'm guessing your haven't yet updated things to reflect the triple twisted pair used for the neutral conductor in the latest design?) Wow. Nice job on the DIY description. Easy to follow and nice clear photos with plenty of detail. I'm thinking even I could build one (maybe). Good job.

Hello again, Willie. I'm not planning to upgrade the Gungnir at this point. I'd gotten a bug to try something new and became interested in Class D amplification. Discretionary $ are going into a Taranis amp from Merrill Audio. I've really not done much A/B'ing between the Shunyata and Pangea PCs. They were bought at different times to serve different equipment and meet specific spacing needs so I really hadn't tried comparing them. Music Direct was offering the Shunyatas at a reduced price a while back. I needed some additional cords to replace stock on some new gear. The reviews were favorable and they were affordable so I got them to run the Hegel and the TEAC CDP. My intention is to power the Taranis with the Shunyata but with the mono blocks not in use, I could certainly try a Pangea 9 on it it. Sounds like you looked at my system page. I need to update some of the cabling information there but A'gon is doing work on the Virtual System feature and I've been unable to edit my system. Ciao for now.