Best bang for buck integrated amp for $500

@seanheis1 I realize this is a latent thread, but I would like to offer an opinion on the Rega R for the record. I owned a couple of the small amps you list above - the Rega Brio R and the Audioengine N22, plus the NAD D 3045.

I generally agree with your evaluation of the Audioengine, nice little amp for the money - but no grunt. The NAD D 3045 is a typically (for NAD) smooth sounding amp with an incredible amount of features crammed into it.

I am currently using the first iteration Brio R in my desktop office system with JRiver on a PC and an Audioquest Drangonfly Red as the source, upper entry level Audioquest cabling throughout, and Wharfedale Diamond 12.0 speakers in near field. The Brio has remarkable PRAT and engagement. The treble is somewhat forward but not the last word in airiness. Midrange tone is "near perfect", and soundstage on the Wharfedales in near field is spot on. The bass that the Brio R produces in these little speakers is very good, I would go so far as to say "very engaging", down to their modest limit.

I would have to question the noise issue you bring up with the Brio R. It is dead silent in my system. I can turn the volume to 100% with the source paused and there is zero sound coming out of the speakers, nada, even with my ear right next to the drivers. My system is set up in a commercial office building that has very noisy power. I use an inexpensive Belken power conditioner and run the Brio off the "Amp" outlet of the conditioner. Perhaps that is the difference.

And a word about power cables. The Rega R comes with an 18 guage $5 "appliance quality" AC cable. I swapped this out immediately for a 12 gauge cable I assembled from the "very best" Chinese parts and it made a huge difference with the Brio R. More of everything good, especially bass loudness, speed and impact. YMMV

-kn

Thanks for sharing. I would say you are fortunate regarding your noise floor with the Brio. When I contacted Rega, the higher noise floor was a known issue due to the compact size of unit and the only fix was to send the unit to an authorized dealer to perform an adjustment. The adjustment was said to reduce the noise floor but also reduce sound quality as I believe they said they would be reducing the bias. 

I want to hear the NAD D3045 in my system. I have the NAD D3020 V2 in my family room. It was chosen for its size, looks, and features, but it is very meaty sounding and avoids the typical pitfalls of Class D amps under $1000.   

Follow up on my earlier post about the Brio R and Wharfedale Diamond 12.0.  The speakers were fairly new when I wrote my previous post.  It took them a very long time to fully break in. The treble is no longer “forward” and the presentation is plenty “airy”.  The performance envelope for this combination is large, and can really rock.  I tried with high resolution material from a Chord QuteHD DAC and it has remarkable PRAT.

Year and a half later. Did the OP find his $500 diamond?