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Integrated thingy

My first attempt at posting this didn't go over well with Audiogon. Here's another go at it...

I'm looking for a beautiful integrated amp with plenty of power (at least a 100 per side). It needs to have luscious mids, a tight bottom and spacious highs. I prefer an autoformer-based volume control like the one in ASL's Flora, but I might be able to live with a potentiometer-based volume control if this is a deal breaker. It has to have a remote. I'm done with this primitive act of getting out of my chair to change the volume. I also need a nice phono stage in there too. I don't want to be too picky, but something along the lines of a K&K, Boulder, LAMM, Aesthetix. Is there a unit with a nice analog sounding cd/dvd player in there too?

You see, I've had it with the cancer that's spreading in my living room. It started with separates, then spawned into monoblocks, then morphed into biamping with garden hose PCs and ICs and eye sores everywhere. It looks like a rats nest back there. When I started looking at DACs, it dawned on me there's no end to the madness. I don't want to audition any more cables, vintage 12AX7 or 6NS7. I just want all the parts to be designed elegantly in a beautiful container with silver wire quietly doing it's magic inside.

And my girlfriend keeps asking why I have four extra pairs of speakers in my closets. I tried to tell her that I was comparing them, but she looked puzzled with that answer. And the tweaking. Oh my god. My living room looks like a garage with soldering guns, screw drivers, capacitors and wire scattered everywhere. Thank god for dinner parties that force me to clean up once in a while.

Does anyone else share my feeling of being on an irrational journey that consumes so much time, energy and money? When does it end? Why do I need all this stuff? I remember when I had a Yamaha receiver a few years ago and everything was so simple -- one power cord and a cd player. Man, those were the days! It might not have been the best sounding rig, but it wasn't bad. Where did I go wrong?
mingles
briweve
123 posts
 
Mingles,

You took the words out of my mouth, I'm going through the same thing. Cables, Home Theater, 2 channel Mono Blocks, Power conditioner, tweek here and there. And now I'm just lookng for a nice intrigrated.

So far I think I'm going for a used YBA Passion.

Although I'm trying to audition a BAT 300x or Plinius 9200 before I make the leap.
maineiac
649 posts
 
The VAC Avatar Super is a little shy on what you are looking for in power at 85 WPC. I think the VAC Phi integrated is close to 100?
joeyboynj
621 posts
 
Check out the SimAudio Evolution Series i-7 integrated. The new 2008 version just came out and it's better than the older model.
issabre
120 posts
 
Linn Classik. Love mine and I use it with Sequerra Met 7...which I think is a nice combo. I would also second the idea of a YBA. More tube-like than the Classik perhaps (though nothing is really as good as tubes). I currently use my Classik as preamp and use a small Sofia music baby as amp. The music baby is an integrated however. It's pretty good, but not up to the standards that you mention.

I had to downsize years ago when I was very mobile and had to move back and forth from Africa. Had that same "separates sprawl" that you mention.

Good luck.

Good luck
mingles OP
796 posts
 
There's more out there than I was aware of. I appreciate all of your suggestions.

Timrhu, you're right. I'm not ready to get off the merry-go-round, but I want to start eliminating cables, boxes and clutter. That was the main focus of my rant, but I'm plagued with the desire to taste everything. It may be the only way to learn, but it's starting to feel irrational. I've gone through so many components the past few years that it seems crazy when I stop to think about it. I find myself asking, why do I have all this stuff? Is it really about the music, or is it gadget lust?

I may never know the answer to that question, but I'm close to having the sound that I've been looking for. The only problem is that it doesn't look the way I want it to. Adding to that, I hate to think about preamps. One of the main reasons I got into passives was to avoid the coloration of actives. Why add another layer of complexity to the picture when you can pass the signal through and have better control at the source, amp and speaker level? I don't want to revive that debate here, but it's a concern of mine.

I also hate cables. They're a mystery to me. They always have been. But I had to think about them with a passive. I never liked that. An integrated reduces the number I need to think about.

The Bel Canto, Plinius, YBA Passion and Linn Classik are all very interesting. The Plinius and Bel Canto look absolutely stunning. Between them, I lean toward the Plinius b/c of the power and that sexy face plate. My speakers are not efficient at 87 dB.

If I were into home theater and liked digital amps, the Meridian G95 might be something to consider, but I didn't care for the sound of NuForce 8's which are digital, so I'm hesitant to consider D class amps. That may change, but for now I have my heart set on tubes. I forgot to mention this in my original post. I'm sorry about that. It was a major oversight. I've had a few amps over the years (Parasound, McCormack, NuForce, Quicksilver, ASL) and I have to say that I prefer tubes over SS.

The VAC Phi Integrated would be at the top of my list, but the price is way beyond my reach. Retail is somewhere around $22k. My budget is no more than $3000.

I was kidding about the cd/dvd bundled inside. The phono stage isn't so important either. I'm sure I'll be experimenting with that for a long time to come, so it's best to leave it as a peripheral.

Does anyone have any experience with the Cayin A-100T. The specs look good at 100W (Ultralinear) and 50W (Triode).

Thanks again for all your thoughtful responses. -Mark
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