I'm debating whether to upgrade my Marantz integrated with a better performing and higher powered integrated or simply add a separate amp and use the Marantz as a pre-amp. I've looked at stepping up to the Marantz model 30 or 40n, PS Audio Stellar Strata, Music Fidelity M5si/M6si. But then the Heaven 11 Billie caught my eye.
Has anyone had any experience with the Heaven 11 Billie integrated amp? It's a hybrid class D amp w/ a tubed pre-amp. The reviews I've watched seem to give the unit high marks for sound quality, presentation, sound stage, and because of the tubed pre-amp, an analog warmth to the otherwise "cold" sound of a class D amp.
Another brand to consider that clicks all your boxes is Emotiva. They have a full featured integrated that even has an FM tuner. 135/200 wpc into 8/4 ohm.
I bought the separates With a Pre (PT2) and amp (A2) that has all the features and a little more power, 160/250 wpc. The pre has FM, DAC, full (hi-lo) bass output management, mm/mc phono and headphone amp.
I know the brand doesn't get much love here, but they are definitely steps up from box store brands. Prices are lower because they are direct to consumer.
They have been trouble free for me and do an excellent job of driving my KEF R3 Metas.
@gano should call these guys at Holt Hill in Andover. They are the distributor for Heaven11 in the US. I think they would be the guys to reach out to 1st
For the Music Fidelity owners, since the MF M6Si does not have an internal headphone amp, have any of you used the line level out to a separate headphone amp? I'm wondering if that would work.
In the last 5 years I’ve been through a Yamaha A-S2100, Sugden A21SE, Pass Labs INT-25, Rogue Pharoah 2 and after it was all said and done I bought another Yamaha, a A-S2200.
I owned the latest Heaven 11 Billie MK2, just sent it off to TMR for consignment. Lots of reviews online, but some important points.
a) It’s buried on their website, but Heaven 11 says DON’T use the amp with high-sensitivity speakers (10+ ohms). I tried the amp with some Zu Audio speakers and found it fatiguing and not a good match. This was before the warning was added. A tube integrated was a much better match for those speakers
b) Volume control bug. This KILLS me. Even with the latest firmware, if you lower the volume, it momentarily gets louder before the volume decreases. With the older firmware and the latest, I would occasionally flinch when lowering the volume because it gets louder and it’s not what you’re expecting. This "little" issue alone kinda killed the amp and as a standalone preamp.
Lots of features, it’s beautiful. The owner (Itai) is very nice in emails. I had some issues with the headphone, so I don’t recommend it if you plan to use headphones. You can change the sound a bit with different tubes, but their Gold Tubes are quite good. It wasn’t bad with Buchardt S400, but it wasn’t my favorite amp/speaker combo I auditioned.
I took a demo Billie MK II home from my local dealer to try with some Harbeth P3ESR after reading some fantastic reviews. After 2hrs of listening at home I called them and ordered a new one in gold finish no less, lol. I swapped out the JJ ECC99s for some NOS Sylvania 12BH7s and the amp is now as great as anything I've owned at 2x the price. Interesting side note, the guys I got it from are the US distributor for Heaven11 and have #3 in their loft showroom. They are maybe a tad overly enthusiastic about the amp but I gotta say, the proof was in the demo with a set of LS50s. It was amazing in their showroom and even better at home with better speakers. The Billie could be $2500 and still be a great value. Just my experience
@rauliruegasYes, I have upgraded my entire rig except for the CD player, which I really don’t use anymore but keep it in the rack for nostalgia purposes.
The rest of my rig: NAT Audio Symmetrical Balanced Line Stage, NAT Audio Magma M mono blocks, Herron VTPH-2A phono stage, Verastarr power cords on the mono blocks, Triangle Art Maestro TT with Horus 12" tonearm, Verastarr speaker cables, Cardas Clear cable from the phono pre to preamp. Audioquest Cobalt Dragonfly DAC and cable, Audioquest Dragon power cord from preamp to Transparent Powerbank 6 power conditioner.
My buddy has a 6k SS phono stage that he wants me to try. I love my Herron but now I’m open to trying it just to see how it sounds.
Dear @vuch : " I upgraded to the A3’s in regards to what it would take to bring the sonic level of my rig up to what I heard in the demo. "
You said that upgraded almost all what you owned and in other thread I read that a friend of you is offering to listen a SS phono in your room/system.
I wonder and I would ask if you can share your today system ( other than the TA Zeus. ) surrounded those very good A3’s. Could you? Thank’s in advance.
I also must agree that Hegel integrated amplifiers are excellent, but from the H190 and up. I've not particularly liked the H120 (which is more expensive than the Billie amp), but the H190 (now H190V) is excellent and offers a ton of value....but at $4,200. The H390/H400 are better still (and a friend just upgraded to the H400 which is really really sweet), but again at $6,500......where are we in the budget?
The Heaven 11 offers a compelling value and feature proposition: integrated with good power, tube preamp, DAC, headphone amp, phono preamp. Peachtree used to offer a similar integrated, but in a less visually-appealing package. Vincent Audio also has hybrid integrateds with tube preamp section in a couple of their amps, but they are at higher prices. I don’t know how recent ICEPower class D modules compare to other modules. I had Peachtree's Nova 300 integrated which was a powerful class D amp with ICEPower modules, but that was a much older design. I have been using a combination of a ProJect PreBox RS2 Digital (selectable tube section) preamp/DAC/headphone amp that has bluetooth and a phono preamp with a separate NAD C298 class D amp with Purifi modules which is a very good combination, more power (185W/8R) but more expensive and without the visual appeal of the Heaven 11 Billie Mk II.
It really depends on the price you want to spend (I didn't see any listed in the thread), but the Heaven11 Billie Mk2 is an excellent integrated for it's $2,000 price point. I helped a friend of mine on a budget set up a system, and used the Billie amp for him. He is running Buchardt Audio S400 MKII or Monitor 100 Silver speakers, and it really is excellent.....very musical, good soundstage, and nice punch. I've heard his set up 7 or 8 different times since then, and I still find it a really musical amp. It runs slightly warm of neutral, but fun and really enjoyable.
The Billie amp is less than $2,000 with free shipping, has a tube preamp, good power, 30 day return policy, and quite a few good reviews (Steve Huff, British Audiophile, Nemo, Steve Guttenberg).
@audiotroyyou are a used car salesmen. A vulture lurking these forums, notice I do not see you lurking WBF because they would punt you.Notice some great brands you no longer carry, wonder why, did they punt you too?
I'd like to add the new Advance Paris A10 integrated---my local dealer carries them and they look and sound amazing. The A10 is about $2500---hybrid. Tons of connections. You should check them out.
@nonoise AR is a bully. I once commented on his inaccurate numbers and he attacked me like I molested him. Instead of looking at and correcting his dumb, wildly inaccurate numbers. Honestly, he lacks substance, intelligence and doesn't even research his subjects like others but I understand he is "consumable" which is why he is watched by 10s of 1000s.
A lot of this is going to depend on what speakers you have and what you expect out of them. I suppose you've already seen Steve Gutenberg's review of the Billie which is very positive (he keeps going crazy over the knobs!) but does much address the sound, which seems to be somewhat warm like a tube amp without being overly so. You can also play with tube switching for fun. Still, he says those looking for a more analytical sound might look elsewhere. Also, if you're a vinyl guy, the phono stage would be a consideration, which seems ok. Some question the headphone amp. Adequate power too, good warranty, and under $2000. That last thing is impressive. You're talking about the Spectral integrated at PSAudio which is like $3400. I got their prior model, refurbed, for $1745, no doubt when its former owner traded it in to get the new one which has a phono stage (I already had their old NPC phono, so a good deal for me). Now that combo runs a little more analytical. I think I would give the Billie a try were I doing it over again, especially if I didn't have the phono converter. There are a bunch of good integrated out there. Mainly find a good match for your speakers and be careful of that phono stage if that's your thing and the DAC if that is.
From what I've read the Billie headphone amp is not very good. The amp also has hiss. I have not auditioned one though. The Musical Fidelity amps are dead quiet, sound very good and the build quality is excellent. I have an M6si and it's great for the price but as you know it does not have a headphone amp.
Whilst noting comments to my input of the NAD C399 that its not the warmest of amps (none of the Hypex are) it does also have an E-ARC HDMI, so probably simplest connection for you from the TV.
With regard to the speakers if they are similar priced in the US (they are in the UK) then might I suggest as an additional audition to the Monitor Audio 300 7G's the Acoustic Energy AE 320 and AE 509. When the NAD C399 was bought I had some slightly old generation Monitor Audio Gold's and we tried them against some borrowed for audition Acoustic Energy's and I was impressed enough by the difference buy my step-daughter/son-in-law the Acoustic Energy's when I could have just let them have the older Monitor Audio's.
Lots of great advice everyone! I do appreciate it. I've been doing more research the last couple of days and taking closer looks at the NAD c399, MF MSi6, Hegel H95, PS Audio Stellar Mk2, Rogue Sphinx V3, and a few others.
The speaker upgrade I'm currently leaning towards are the Monitor Audio silver 300 7Gs and then determine my integrated amp option. 100 wpc minimum with adequate digital inputs, with a headphone amp. A phono stage isn't a deal breaker but an HDMI for TV connection would be a plus.
Good to know no one is disparaging the video editor of the Absolute Sound like they do with Andrew Robinson, whose video I grabbed in order to put in another perspective.
Don't let that deter anyone interested in a highly performing integrated such as the Technics SU-G700M2. You can all now go back to the rock throwing.
I agree the ARC i50 is a great integrated. On the solid state side, as a second amp I have Hegel H190 which is really good. The streaming capability to my ears sounds great. I mostly spin vinyl and cd's. But the little Hegel holds an emotional place in my listening.
I wouldn't trust Andrew Robinson even when was asking a question. He is the least knowledgeable and most arrogant youtuber out there, a bad combination (but logical)
I went from my Marantz PM-15S2 to a Technics SU-G700M2 and couldn't be happier. Improvements all around. Here's a link to a video review by The Absolute Sound.
I went from a Marantz PM8005 to a McIntosh MA352. A big change in budget, but the 200w hybrid integrated really paired well with my Dynaudios. Since upgrading I'm not wanting for power, bass, details and soundstage. The MA352 does have dual subwoofer outputs if you want to add 2 SWs, but I found the speakers alone delivered all the musical bass needed in a 2 channel system.
Another two cents: Of all the amps the OP mentioned, the only one I've ever spent any serious seat-time with (i.e. approximately 2 hours) when I was auditioning for a two-channel system speaker upgrade several years ago was the MF m6si. That is one fantastic amp, provided it is matched to the right speakers. I listened to it with a couple models of Paradigm towers. Forget the model numbers but they were in the 3K and 4K price points.
Simply stated, I know when music sounds good and does not. Obviously (based on my MANY amp changes), I am not happy with amplifiers that do not sound good.
I own the Musical Fidelity M-6Si integrated amp. I am VERY surprised it sounds this good. The M6si offers excellent performance, facilities, and power. As per the Musical Fidelity web site “Internally, the M6si is configured as 2 independent monobloc power amps with a separate preamp. It is, in fact, a preamp with 2 monobloc power amps that just happen to share the same casework. The M6si has 220wpc. It has very low distortion, outstanding noise ratio and extremely flat frequency response”.
My speakers are the PMC Twenty5.6. I contacted The Music Room, and they recommended the Musical Fidelity M-6Si integrated amp. I am VERY surprised it sounds this good. The M6si offers excellent performance, facilities, and power.
I am very happy with my Musical Fidelity M-6Si integrated amp and have STOPPED looking for the next amp.
My friend said synergy between components is what makes am an audio system sound great. I hope this helps. Obviously, in my system the Musical Fidelity M-6Si integrated amp is a great fit for my PMC speakers.
I also suggest you look at the NAIM SuperNate integrated amp It is also very good.
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