The suggestions for integrated are really if you have separate sources (such as a dedicated DAC and/or turntable). In that situation, an integrated would do better because of the superior preamp in the integrated.
If you are going to use the Yamaha receiver as the source for all music listening, then an "Integrated" may not really help because the sound is still generated by the Yamaha receiver "DAC" and still goes through the Yamaha "preamp circuits". If you are doing this, your best bet is to just get an external amp and connect it to the "preamp outputs" of the Yamaha receiver.
With an integrated, you are paying for both a "preamp" and an "amplifier". A straight dedicated amplifier would be cheaper and allow you to focus on finding a more powerful amp.
The Cambride 850A integrated is a very nice integrated - maybe not quite as nice as Hegel, but a very refined sound. And not as powerful as Hegel. But like I said, if you still use the Yamaha receiver as your primary DAC/preamp, I would not bother getting an integrated.
The "Pure Direct" mode in receivers is somewhat more of a marketing thing. It does bypass all the "processing" stages, which include EQ and crossover/bass management. However, in the Yamaha receivers I have tested, it actually sound better with Pure Direct turned off. I think it goes through one more set of preamps and create a fuller/smoother sound. The "Pure Direct" mode was thin sounding and very sterile / solid-state sounding. Just my opinion.
Soooooo. if you are going to still use the Yamaha receiver as DAC and preamp for all music listening, then start looking for a nice high current amplifier. The Parasound A23 is nice, but a little light on brute force and will be on the warm side of neutral with soft high frequency response. Something like my Emotiva's I mentioned above would be faster and higher resolution, or an Emotiva SA-250 on Audiogon. Wyred 4 Sound SX500 if you want the clean Class D type sound.
Thoughts?
