2. amps-preamps
  3. 1301700233

Musical Fidelity A5, Simaudio I-5 or Krell s300i

I posted a few days ago and I think I ended up answering my own question. I'm in the market for an integrated amp with some decent power (~100W) to power my Vandersteen 2Ci's. I have acurus separates now and compared to my friend's NAD c356bee they sound terrible, very flat and not engaging.

I'm looking for a piece up to about ~$1,500 used and I already see a decent amount of well liked gear. I'd like to stick with good, recognized, solid name brands that will afford me the ability to sell the piece of I don't like the sound, as I won't be able to audition before I buy.

My room is fairly well treated, and is 12' x 11'. I listen to vinyl on a Rega P1 through a Bellari VP129 tube phono pre, and my main digital source is an Asus Xonar Essence ST PCI sound card playing 24/96 flac rips although I also have an acurus cd player that rarely gets used. I listen to 80's and 90's rock/alternative and folk/country, with some electronic music sprinkled in, and occasionally some classic rock.

I'm considering the Musical Fidelity A5, the Simaudio Moon i5, and the Krell s300i. From what I can tell it's hard to go wrong with either, and they all seem to be within my budget used. I've read the Krell can be unemotional or boring. I'm leaning towards the Musical Fidelity but wanted to know if there were any other integrateds in this range from other brands I've yet to consider, naim, rogue audio (although a tubed power amp right now doesn't seem like a good fit for me in terms of uptime), bel canto, or other models within these manufacturers lines I should consider? Again, I'm mostly looking at mainstream, SS manufacturers that have enough power to give me good, accurate, taut bass from my Vandersteen's 2Ci's 10", and open, airy, high resolution in the mids/highs without being harsh or bright. I'd like to move to Thiel CS3.6's or so some day, but either way I'll need something with enough power to drive 86 - 88db, 6 - 8ohm loads.

Thanks for any direction you guys can point me in.
fargel
elberoth2's avatar
elberoth2
1,223 posts
 
I second the opinion that 308 is a much better amp than the A5. The new MF M5 is olso very nice, although definately on the warm side (for may it may too much of a good thing).

I wouldn't wirte off the S300i - IMO this the best amp of the lot, you can get one used for as little as $1600, and if you do not like it - sell it with no loss within a week or so.
ml8764ag's avatar
ml8764ag
502 posts
 
Wow... xxxx is a much better amp than yyyy .... I love that one! Based on what? Is orange a better color than brown...well for hunting it is! I tried both...for my tastes I like the A5.... but don't begrudge you having a prep for the 308.

Psssst: The OP didn't ask about the 308....

That's the problem with these threads...someone asks a straight ahead question and get's a bunch of people that like the hear their own opinions on topic or not.
fargel OP
7 posts
 
I know everyone's tastes are different, but it appears that more people like the A308 than do the A5. Although anything will probably be better than what I have now.

What do you guys expect the 308 to cost? Seems like it came out in March 2003 (at least that's the date on the manual). How much was it new? $3K?

I guess I'll have to wait until someone wants to part with theirs.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Yup. 3K
countingbackwards
138 posts
 
Some years ago, I compared a Simaudio I5 to a Musical Fidelity A5 - I bought the I5. The Musical Fidelity was on the clinical side of things relative to the Sim. In fact, in that same session, I also auditioned the Naim Nait 5i, which was far cheaper than the other 2, and it was better than the MF A5 to my ears despite its lower power rating and price.

I have since moved on to the Ayre AX7e, which obviously I view as a notable improvement on either and worth the few hundred $ more on the used market.

I've heard Krell seperates from the same line (or perhaps a previous similar-caliber level) as the s300i powering B&W Matrix-series speakers, and that wasn't my cup of tea - it was too aggressive sounding for my tastes. I'd place the Krell sound as my least favorite of any that I reference in this post.
More to discover