New Integrated amp recommendation


Greetings:

I’m looking to upgrade my Yamaha 801 to drive my Revel 328s

Unfortunately I live in South Carolina and auditioning equipment requires a fair amount of time and travel. 
The room is 20x25 loft open to one side to a staircase and 11 foot ceilings (not ideal but limited amount of conditioning will follow) 

Almost always classic rock and contemporary jazz never above 80db Vinyl/CD and streaming

I’ve read a number outstanding reviews on Luxman integrateds and that is the first question..Is the 505z a good fit? If so does stretching the budget to the 507z offer a sonic difference? If not Luxman any other recommendations. I’m not necessarily looking to color the sound of the Revels but the Yamaha and maybe the room lack a bit of low end clarity and maybe a bit of fatigue from the Be tweeters.

Finally has anyone had experience buying direct from Japan? Can I assume the transformer is going to add unwanted noise?

Appreciate any thoughts love the forum. Learn from it everyday.

Thank you

JF

 

 


 

jwfitzdo

I have Revel Salon 2 speakers in a room that’s not as large as yours, driven by a Hegel H590 integrated amp with spectacular results.  I use a reference level outboard DAC with the Hegel and not it’s internal DAC.  The Hegel H590 and Ayre Acoustics QX-5 Twenty Streaming DAC combination is just truly, simply, incredible!!!   I’m confident I’ve found a combination that I can live with for the foreseeable future.  I would highly recommend one of the higher powered Hegel integrated amps for your Revel speakers.  Happy listening.      

A pricey option though usually available on used market is the Ayre AX-5 20 or their less expensive EX-5. 

Rotel MICHI X5 Series 2.  Their top of the line beast.  Suggest considering for an integrated amp.  I’ve have a great experience with Rotel equipment over the years.  Good luck with your decision.  

Synthesis A100 Titan. It will drive just about any speaker out there, including yours, and it has a very nice onboard DAC. I've owned a bunch of integrateds over the years, and this one is simply above and beyond.

Few years ago went thru 3 Luxman receivers , all had reliability issues and there is no parts for them. I have a McIntosh MA7900 integrated 200 WPC into 8 ohms great soundstage , has it all. They were mfg 2013- 2017 and you can probably find one for about $6,000. The newer model MA8900 great also. No need to demo it but you will need a study table it weighs 75 pounds and has a 5 band graphic equalizer built in also. I pair it among other things with a McIntosh MR-71 tube FM tuner the finest sounding radio I've ever heard. There are many other choices but with the Mac you know it's quality , parts are available , repair shops that specialize in them and a solid resale value. I'd pesonally never buy anything from Japan. Shipping , returns can all be a problem and it's all 100 volt over there unless made for U.S. market. Happy listening.