Integrated amp: Can it perform equal to separates?

TO Timrhu, Thank you for your response. I agree with you, BC PRe3 is the best pre-amp I have ever owned. It really would not cost much much to ship to California. I just would like to have less boxes; I downsized before, but did not get the same quality of sound larger system I sold. The main shipping expense will be the Adagios which weigh 90 lbs each and are big. I bought them used from a guy who lived in Wisconsin and it cost $525.00 to ship to Honolulu. The turntable should be easy to sell and my phono pre-amp. Are the BC eVo2i and Unison Unico SE integrated amps. I think the Unison is. I really want to get a better amp than the Red Dragon mono blocks, and just have one box. They are good amps, but again too many boxes.

******* The islands are great, but for me they got old very fast. It is great to see college age ladies walking down the street in bikinis, but I love Southern California.

The Pre3 had that elusive property of the straight wire with gain IMO, absolute neutrality. The class D amp that worked best with it for me was the Bel Canto Ref500S. I had the stereo version, not the mono blocs. I also had a pair of mono blocs which used the same modules your Red Dragon amps use but the Bel Canto bested them in my system.
Also tried using my Resolution Audio cdp without the Pre3. The RA has a very good analog volume control but I preferred the sound with the Pre3 in place.

Timrhu, I considered the REF 500S and the REF 500 mono blocks, but decided on the Red Dragon blocks. The BC 300S stereo amp comes up occasionally for sale on AG. I am just curious if the BC integrated 300i,(there were two versions: one has a toslink, the other USB input) is close in performance to PRe3 pre-amp and REF 500S combo. They came out approx the same time give and take a year. The 300i is 150RMS and got very good reviews. There are always some tradeoffs in these these items.

The Bel Canto S300i is a good integrated, but the PRe3 and REF500S would be a substantial step up. If you're getting out of analogue, then you could definitely consider getting rid of the PRe3 and use a Bel Canto DAC directly into an amp like the REF500S. You'll improve your digital front end and with 2 half sized components (the DAC and amp), it will take up no more room than one full sized component.

Disclosure: we are a Bel Canto dealer

TO ROGERCR, THANK YOU FOR YOUR RECOMMENDATION OF THE VAN ALSTINE integrated amp. Did you ever have the opportunity of listening to one using CD's. Van Alstine's products are mainly mail order but do offer a 30 day home trial. That's great but I don't want to tie up $1800, especially if I don't like it and want to return he item for a full refund.

I am sure it is a great sounding unit, surely VA claims it will outperform any other integrated on the market. However, I have been down that road of extraordinary claims before. I will be happy if it is as good as what I have now. The convenience of an integrated amp is very appealing, especially if you have an aging back. Again, thank for the recommendation