Considering Integrated amps?

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Mechnutt

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I am giving serious consideration to selling off my separate preamp and amp and going with an Integrated Amp for downsizing. I can't believe I am even contemplating it at this point. I thought maybe in 7-10 years I might.

I am looking for opinions on a few. So far the ones that I am considering are the Luxman L-507uXII new, Mac MA8000 used, Pass Int-60, Moon 340i D3PX to name a few. I prefer a little bit of warmth along with a liquid midrange and at least 100 wpc with the exception being the Pass. Maybe a used Devialet. Budget will be $7-8K. Bear in mind I have not heard any of these as there are no dealers here in the twin cities except for Mac.
 
Mechnutt said:
I am giving serious consideration to selling off my separate preamp and amp and going with an Integrated Amp for downsizing. I can't believe I am even contemplating it at this point. I thought maybe in 7-10 years I might.

I am looking for opinions on a few. So far the ones that I am considering are the Luxman L-507uXII new, Mac MA8000 used, Pass Int-60, Moon 340i D3PX to name a few. I prefer a little bit of warmth along with a liquid midrange and at least 100 wpc with the exception being the Pass. Maybe a used Devialet. Budget will be $7-8K. Bear in mind I have not heard any of these as there are no dealers here in the twin cities except for Mac.
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VAC 170iQ


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Larry

Dan's supposed to be coming out with a Hybrid Integrated in the near future so you might want to contact him through AC and see what the time table is. The amp section will be from the 150SE and a 6922 based front end.
 
I know they fell out of favor, but I really like the Pathos Integrated. Bummer that the Vinnie Rossie Lio is not enough power and the L2s are way out of price range.

I will follow this thread Larry.
 
Thanks for the recommendations. I am about 1 year away from this as I want to try and listen to as many as possible. I will hit up a couple of audio shows. Mike, what is the price of the Vac? I certainly would love to have a high powered tube integrated. How does it compare to the Luxman SS sound?
 
You know there's companies like techniques and Yamaha who might include features such as DAC and phono stages in their Integrate. I was considering this a while ago myself. All the good ones seem to run about $10,000. And talking with the Dealer's I did here one consistent comment, you don't get as much control & power from a integrated unit as from a separate amplifier.

If I were to start heading down that road again, I would look for a good integrated front end piece containing a phono stage DAC and probably streamer as well as volume attenuation. I would then look for a stand-alone amplifier. I know Mojo audio whom I'm partial to is developing a new preamp and integrated digital server. I think his dac will still be stand alone. If I remember correctly, luxman will allow you to Output to a separate amplifier. VAC definitely has that feature too. But then again, you paid for a lot of amplification parts in that unit and added a whole bunch of weight.

I haven't been looking much lately but if you find something along the lines I was talking please post and let me know.
 
The Vac Iq170 is awesome! Brought it home from Mikes shop one day and now I have tube fever! Great relaxed easy to live with sound and and big stage.
At it’s price and performance it’s a bargain.
 
I, wonder how the synergy would be with both Luxman DAC and amp. You'd expect pretty good.

I've heard some Moon, in my opinion they are what I call dry, it's a house sound for them, it's that type of sound where the music seems not to go anywhere, like being played in a damped room.

I personally like Devialet a lot. I can't say if the sound is warm enough to your taste. I'd say they were in the neutral zone, in a good way though. Definitely, not leaning lush like Pass, so if staying with that type of sound........

Sounds like we may be seeing you at Axpona.
 
Kingrex said:
You know there's companies like techniques and Yamaha who might include features such as DAC and phono stages in their Integrate. I was considering this a while ago myself. All the good ones seem to run about $10,000. And talking with the Dealer's I did here one consistent comment, you don't get as much control & power from a integrated unit as from a separate amplifier.

If I were to start heading down that road again, I would look for a good integrated front end piece containing a phono stage DAC and probably streamer as well as volume attenuation. I would then look for a stand-alone amplifier. I know Mojo audio whom I'm partial to is developing a new preamp and integrated digital server. I think his dac will still be stand alone. If I remember correctly, luxman will allow you to Output to a separate amplifier. VAC definitely has that feature too. But then again, you paid for a lot of amplification parts in that unit and added a whole bunch of weight.

I haven't been looking much lately but if you find something along the lines I was talking please post and let me know.
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I know what I would be giving up in separates and have considered upgrading to a new version of my Pass X250 and selling it and my BAT pre, replacing it with a Don Sachs or Vinnie Rossi tube pre. But we will probably be moving in 3-5 years (when I retire) and to a smaller home. I don't feel like lugging 150+ pounds of amp and preamp around. My wife keeps hinting about me to down size my system. I already replaced my Magnepans with PSB T3's. As far as a DAC, I have a Luxman DA-06 which I will probably keep a while longer especially if I buy a Luxman Integrated even though it is getting a little long in the tooth.

I have also considered going with a new tube pre and going with a Class D or hybrid Class D amp or mono's since they tend to weigh less than 15-20 pounds.

The VAC has peaked my interest as I would not mind keeping tubes in my system.
 
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Mechnutt said:
I am giving serious consideration to selling off my separate preamp and amp and going with an Integrated Amp for downsizing. I can't believe I am even contemplating it at this point. I thought maybe in 7-10 years I might.

I am looking for opinions on a few. So far the ones that I am considering are the Luxman L-507uXII new, Mac MA8000 used, Pass Int-60, Moon 340i D3PX to name a few. I prefer a little bit of warmth along with a liquid midrange and at least 100 wpc with the exception being the Pass. Maybe a used Devialet. Budget will be $7-8K. Bear in mind I have not heard any of these as there are no dealers here in the twin cities except for Mac.
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Dartzell LHC208...200wpc into 8 ohms with built in Ethernet Dac (NAS only needed, with tablet controller). New its $13K.
Extremely good.
 

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Not that it would fit Larry, I was out on a certain audio store website and noticed Lampizator has an Amber amp. If this has been around I didn't know about it.

This looks like a cool little amp, 12x2 watts of SET power with a built-in Amber DAC. Also, auto-bias.
 
Lampi is also about to release this int, but I think the guy said it would be in the 12-16K range. 300wpc

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Lots of great suggestions. I am going to make a list and see what I can hear at audio shows at Axpona and Denver in 2019. Mike I will be in Bonita Springs FL next April for a conference. Too bad Sarasota is over 100 miles away or I would stop by for a listen at your store.
 
wisnon said:
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Dartzell LHC208...200wpc into 8 ohms with built in Ethernet Dac (NAS only needed, with tablet controller). New its $13K.
Extremely good.
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Dartzeel is always an interesting product. It appears this unit does not have a phono stage. That would be an awesome addition. It also doesn't talk about whether it can be accessed through a tablet. I'm not even sure where it's getting the digital files from. Whether it's your nass, Tidal, Qobuz? I didn't see much on their website.
 
For SS, I've had many of the brands you've listed in integrated form but Dartzeel was by far the best. However, the CTH will be over your budget. I would therefore try the Ayre AX-5 Twenty which used can be had for a song.

For tube, the Vac 170 seems like a decent bet as your speakers aren't terribly tough to drive at 89dbs and don't huge phase swings.
 
Mechnutt said:
Lots of great suggestions. I am going to make a list and see what I can hear at audio shows at Axpona and Denver in 2019. Mike I will be in Bonita Springs FL next April for a conference. Too bad Sarasota is over 100 miles away or I would stop by for a listen at your store.
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Suncoast is a fun stop!
 
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