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


I'm rethinking my listening room. I want my audio rack to be more minimalist vs lots of boxes, wires, and clutter. I know separates, in general, will sound better. However, at the level of my system, I'm not certain the difference would be as apparent. In the grand scheme of things of Audiophilia, my level of components are mid-fi at best (BHK Pre, First Watt J2, Elac PPA-2 phono, Pro-ject s2 Dac, ZU Omen Defs)

I'm favoring one of the Luxman Class A's (I know Luxman is getting out of the Class A business. The only way I would favor a built-in Dac is if it were upgradable like McIntosh or Accuphase. I'm guessing a Luxman or Mac built-in phono would sound just as good as to what I have now (Elac PPA-2).

So the question is, who else has gone to integrated? Do you regret the move or are you glad you did?

 

aberyclark

I tried it last year with Audio Research, going from REF 150, REF 3 linestage & PH8 phono to the GSi75 integrated.  I was shocked how good it sounded with the solid state on board phono and an impressive DAC.  My problem was now my Wilson Sophias were underpowered and the bass would cut out at loud volumes.  It drove me nuts and I had to return to separates.  For a smaller listening space I would totally love a nice sleek system with an integrated at the helm.  Good luck in your search.

I think it depends on your system spend and what you care about. 

For me I care about one thing a stereo system so amp, signal conditioner, preamp, DAC, media server and good speakers.  I am in process of upgrading now and think I will select the Roon Server.  Though vinyl has some great attributes once you play an album a few times you have degradation of the quality not to mention record player are not fans of sound/vibrations.

The stereo store I used to go to, prior to going out of business, always tried to sell you on the most expensive equipment.  They convinced me to abandon my technical experience and just listen.  I think many people convince themselves that a high price mean better, I did.

Years later I needed work done on my amp, Levinson 331, expensive at the time I bought it.  The technician I went to was the same tech at the previous store and he said "the sales people will always sell you on a more expensive part that is not always better."  Since I like the sound of my Levinson he suggested to look at Parasound JC-5.  20+ years after I bought the Levinson the Parasound with 3.5X more power, and the spec's is a little more than I paid!  Probably could have bought Parasounds JC-1 mono blocks for less than the 331.

This time I am reading the reviews but only focusing on the technical stuff not how the listener perceived the sound, that's too subjective.  I'm spending a lot more time investigating/researching room, amp, DAC, speaker performance. 

I also was sold on B&W 801's and Wilson WATT Puppies.  I have the 802's and like them but after reading about Vandersteen's, link below, I was impressed with the design.  Most speaker's are not phase correct which means the woofer maybe pushing air while the midrange is pulling air.  If all frequencies are +/- a few dB's you may not be able to hear this but it should matter.  I'm an aerospace engineer, not practicing anymore but still cling to technical solutions.  This along with other designs/ solutions by Richard Vandersteen make sense to me (no I don't work with Vandersteen.  In my opinion many of his thoughts / designs are ahead of there times.)  Many speakers are slightly bright which draws your attention to them.  In my opinion Wilson's and B&W's are slightly bright, and that is what drew me to them and still does!  But if I go by technical performance only then I see some deficiencies.  You need to make up your own mind. 

Currently my system is divided into 26% speaker, 26% amp, 26% preamp/DAC, 5% CD player, the rest is interconnects, speaker cable, and signal conditioning.  I plan on changing that mixture to 35% speaker, 18% amp, 23% pre/DAC, 10% signal conditioning, 4% media server and 9% interconnects and speaker cables.  I am focusing on the weakest link, the speakers, which has the most error first.

SoundStage-Richard-Vandersteen.pdf (troelsgravesen.dk)