After years of separates, I'm going integrated. Anyone else do the same?

So according to op,  BHK and first watt are mid-fi? At best?? Huh... Wow... 

My Made in  U.S.A. Coda -CSIB  integrated amplifier is a Excellent  integrated, Many people still don’t know that Coda has been around over 35 years and all were Engineers with Nelson Pass at Threshold under Nelson went solo ,Coda has 3 power options for the same monies up to 18  1st watts into pure class A , the biggest low noise potted toroidal transformer I have ever seen at under $15k   It’s 3,000 Va  and over 120 short term amps on demand . Beware  of companies using cheap silver round  Alps volume pots ,they degrade low level detail for sure , the Coda has a Electronic Burr Brown class A  type it has Mosfets,fet, and 40 bipolor transistors on the outputs, 10 year warranty for $6500 or less, a true Great bargain in Audio .  Mike at Audio Archon is great to deal with and very competitive .

I went the opposite route.  I actually started with an integrated system.  Some cheap Japanese junk by Hitachi back in the 80s.  I then got into surround sound and my music playback was via a series of surround sound receivers.  My first "serious" integrated system was a Peachtree Nova 150.  

I moved to separates because I was unable to source an integrated that I could afford/live with, that featured bass management. I have perennially faced space constraints which dictated bookshelf speakers with understandably limited capacity for bass reproduction. 

Although I eventually managed to upgrade my living space and now use Canton floor standers for my main system, I still use separates because I like the flexibility when upgradeitis strikes.  In my bedroom system I use Kef LS50s driven by separates which allows me to channel the signal through a subwoofer with a highpass filter that reduces the load on the little Kefs. 

I"m fully cognizant that there are other means of accomplishing this, but there is a limit to how "separate" I want to get! :-)

Last August 2021 I made the decision to scale back. I wanted a simple system consisting of an integrated amplifier and good CD player. I had an Oppo BDP105D > Ayre Cx-7emp player > Ayre K-5xeMP Preamp > Mark Levinson no.334 > Totem Forest Signature Speakers. I also had a classic Anthem I225 Integrated that pulled duty on occasion.

I selected the Naim Supernait 3 and their CD5si. Then I discovered that the CD5si was an entry level component. As a result I kept the Oppo BDP105D and purchased a Supernait 3. Then a Naim nDAC along and their Super Lumina DIN5-5. Thinking I was satisfied I jammed until March 2022. Then after hearing what the 3 piece system could provide I wanted more. I purchased a Teddy Pardo XPS and their TeddyCap SE. The Teddy XSP came with a free prototype power cable. So far it’s pulling it’s own weight.

Summation: I started with a 5 piece system and I'm now back to a 5 piece system. However I’ve gotta give it to Naim, their kit sounds amazing. The Teddy Pardo power products are quiet good as well. Better than Naim’s? Dunno but I really like Naim’s Integrated amp. 80 Naim watts/400VA transformer!

N

NEVER!!