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What Integrated Amps have the sonics of Separates?

I want to get off the $$$ bandwagon. I'm tired of spending money, and then in a year, the equipment has dropped in used value substantially, since the fickle audiophile community has moved on to new favorites.

There must be very good sounding integrateds, or more modestly priced separates that perform as well. I'm still looking for quality, weight and finish, so it doesn't have to be just modest priced gear.

Thoughts: Rowland, Plinius, Simaudio, Vincent, or others. Don't want cheap, plastic, light stuff with limited power either.

There must be audiophiles who have felt the same way, and found things that satisfied them as well, or nearly as well, because they were tired of spending and spending.
audiosoul
flg2001's avatar
flg2001
543 posts
 
I have had great results with Audio Note Meishu, Jadis Da50S, Acoustic Plan Sitar and I am sure that the already named Rowlands, MBL or Boulder are great options as well.
bongofury
1,160 posts
 
Great integrated amps at the moment include McIntosh 6300 from America, Luxman (4 really great models)from Japan, and LFD out of the UK. All have build qualities like a tank, have some of the best parts sourced and assembled, and are not made in China. What more do you want? Oh, they all sound incredibly musical in a natural way.
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
I have owned several integrateds throught the years and the CJ CA200 I currently own conveys all the attributes of a well designed separates system. Plus, it's about as tube sounding as solid state in the mids and highs while remaining tight and controlled in the lower frequencies. Power wise it appears to lack nothing.
eujin
33 posts
 
The Luxman integrateds are very nice and I've heard them often at my local dealer. If I was looking today, I'd seriously consider one.
1graber2's avatar
1graber2
303 posts
 
I know you said you werent into tubes, b/c you "want to crank it up", but I would second and third the BAT 300SE integrated which I have in my own system. 6h30 tube preamp with SS amp = 150 powerfull watts. I am running 4 ohm Dali Helicon 400s with them to be giddily surprised. The bass is actually full and deep with very little if any distortion or roll off.

The new ones retail for $6-7 grand, but are used on Agon for $3000-3500. I would only advise the SE version with BAT PAK power back up and the 6h30 tubes which are more linear than, say, EL34s; such that rock and roll sounds quite good, and I listening to a broad musical spectrum. I cannot, however, suggest the pre-out performance of this unit to an auxillary amp. This seems to be one of the quirks of the system.
Its a bomb-ass integrated built with technological wizardry by BAT, but the extra options are limited. I believe this to be a quite natural consequence of integrateds; b/c, well, we cant have it all. That said, I am so satisfied with the 300SE, that I have no desire to go back to separates at this time. Good luck in your search. Gary
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