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Best integrated amps under $9k

I am building a new house and I will be having a large great room ( 25x28).  I love music and and I love to hear all the different instruments clearly.  I don't need a heavy bass.  I am also not going to be playing music at real loud levels.   I like wide dispersion speakers.  I have been looking at integrated amps from Krell, Classe, Pass, Macintosh, ATI.  Any advice?  Sound quality is really important to me.   Whatever I buy will last a lifetime.  The reason I am thinking about integrated is that I like the idea of AMP/Pre-Amp in one box.  Any input is appreciated.  

willgolf
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 

willgolf: Can’t find anything on the Hawk, but do like what Revel do with the ones I’ve heard, always been a fan of theirs.

The F208 needs a good 4ohm rated amp as by Stereophile, when this is said that usually indicates an amp that can increase it 8ohm wattage by a fair margin into 4ohms.

From Stereophile measured report.

"However, the combination of 5 ohms and –50° at 25Hz means that the F208 will need to be driven by a good 4 ohm-rated amplifier."

Looking at this, I could confidently recommend a John Curl (up there with Nelson Pass) designed Parasound Halo Integrated, and it’s way under your budget, and loaded with features, like it has digital input for an inbuilt dac, both moving coil and moving magnet phono stage, remote, the list goes on.

http://www.stereophile.com/content/parasound-halo-integrated-integrated-amplifier#7UTByZd2hEKewWO3.97

And what a warranty: " warranty period is for a term of five (5) years for parts and five (5) years for labor, from the date when the Product was purchased from an Authorized Parasound Dealer"


Cheers George

 

soix
9,456 posts
 
Agree with others you need to finalize your speakers first.  If you're considering the F208s I'd think the Totem Forest might be the more appropriate option instead of the Halk since they're more in the same price range.  Best of luck. 

jriggy's avatar
jriggy
564 posts
 
Your original post says to me that you are seeking sound that is detailed with exceptional clarity and separation at low to moderate volume level in a somewhat large room... That should be your goal in a speaker. Then fit the gear to it.. 
akg_ca's avatar
akg_ca
2,241 posts
 
I've owned Totem Forests in a prior system and I know both their strengths and also their not-subtle warts . 

In brief, if you are actually plunking down up to ~$9000 on an integrated amp, the FORESTs or HAWKS are a significant step down from that choice of speaker worthy of that resolution in that class of amp.

You can do much better by choosing a myriad of alternative speakers in that same price level class as the amp, that will be worthy of the amp in performance. And that difference will not be subtle .

System synergy matters .... Big time .... Full stop.

 


fliz
66 posts
 
I just posted this in a different thread but it bears repeating:

http://www.exemplaraudio.com/integrated.html

At $5500 it's well below your $9k ceiling, but it's as good as it gets with respect to sound quality.  I've been buying John's stuff for years and it's always blown me away.  I had his eXception II pre 10 years ago and it was the heart of my system. I brought it to all my friends' systems to show off what it could do in their listening rooms. Upgrading to his current one was such a change, I risk sounding like ad copy trying to describe it.

The integrated is exactly like the pre-amp I have now, except it also has a 50wpc output stage.

With your room size and volume requirements, that should be plenty unless your speakers are unusually inefficient.

Paul Wakeen of Stillpoints just had one of these commissioned for his personal system, so it's fair to say it's a piece of reference equipment even though it's squarely in the 4-figure price point.

If you're in the SF Bay Area, you're welcome to stop by and hear what his gear sounds like.
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