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Sub 1k integrated?

A couple of years ago, I reached out for budget speaker advice, and ended up with the original Elac debut b6's. After an underwhelming beginning, I am onboard and have been very happy, though I do run the treble tone control a bit hot. Currently (huh huh) driving them is an about 20 year old Yamaha HTR-5560 avr receiver that I am looking to upgrade. Although is it now considered vintage and thus better than anything out there today? Maybe an interesting concept to explore in another thread...

Now to the point. On paper I've limited my choices to a Yamaha A-S801, Outlaw Audio RR2160, or the recent YouTube darling IOTAVX SA3/PA3 stack. Anyone with experience with these? Will any of these be a decent anchor piece as I slowly but surely wind on down the road?

I listen to mostly rock, post rock, metal, space rock, blues and jazz. If you are tempted to assume the metal and post rock stuff is without dynamic range, let me know and I'll send some album recommendations.  This source material is primarily played from a healthy yet strangely still expanding CD collection, played by the Onkyo 7030 with the onboard Wolfsons. Streaming is done with a Chromecast audio puck/Schiit Modi 3 setup using Google Play Music and Spotify. No vinyl in the future, and I don't need it to do home theater duty.

Thanks in advance!

iron57
iron57 OP
81 posts
 
I will be sticking with the b6’s for now though, or to your point is that a bad play?

Save for higher performing speakers first then amp? Or build around a new amp? A question that has been posted and pondered many times in this forum and others. Emotionally, I think I am more ready to let go of the AVR right now and upgrade speakers down the line.

I am not chasing hi-end (obviously) I have three future college tuitions as bad roommates right now, I am after something entry with a respectable sound to price ratio.

Great point on the YouTube darlings too.
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,313 posts
 
If you're patient, you should be able to pick up a decent integrated used at the 1K price point.  Creek, Exposure, Belles Aria, would be names to look out for.
three_easy_payments's avatar
three_easy_payments
2,097 posts
 
so @millercarbon - what is your sub-$1K tube integrated recommendation?  If we skip the price then sure we can open up all sorts of possibilities but the OP framed the question.
iron57 OP
81 posts
 
If I am being honest, not really ready for a tube world, constantly worrying when they'll go out, if there is another matched set better than the other, etc. Maybe this isn't the experience and I'm totally naive, but my trip down memory lane with vinyl a few years ago made it obvious that I don't have the stamina for next level analog.
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Details are everything. College, dorm, forget tubes. Unless you will be matriculating at Hillsdale, then I would say have your roommate build you a 300B. Typical liberal arts college, beer, there goes the amp. Or beer, there goes the speakers. If not directly beer then indirectly via beer induced volume cranking. 

Sorry, but it helps to be realistic. No amount of SQ matters once the voice coils start scraping and rattling. 

Klipsch Heresy's sound good, play loud, and fit most dorm rooms. Then if you can swing it, good SS integrated. That SA3 you mentioned will have enough power to drive the Heresy's nice and loud, but not enough to fry them when your roommate cranks em to 11, and will sound quite good. There's a lot of em out there, you can probably find some old and beat up for cheap. Might as well. If they aren't beat up now they will be anyway by graduation!
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