Integrated amp & player for B&W 804, pls

I used to own some N804s for a little while. I felt they were too bright with Krells and found McIntosh to be majestic and beautiful with them. Mc is excellent at controlling brightness. The MC6500 has effortless liquidity and warmth with a remarkable amount of power when needed. A buddy has a Musical Fidelity A3 setup (on CDM9)that is very nice but I like my McIntoshes better (on Paradigm Ref. 100.2). They have more soul than the MF, more body and strength without any loss of detail. Anyway, I just find McIntosh to be one of the best in their price category. Not to mention the Mcs look stunning. If you like the Mc sound, you won't find a SS substitute IMO.

A little known but remarkable set of integrateds come out of Audiomat (French company). The Arpege reference (bottom-end product) kicks the ass of anything I've heard for at least twice the price. I own one, and have been in complete love with it for over a year. I have a NAD 521i CD player that I'm upgrading today (Vecteur L-4), but even with the NAD...outstanding piece of equipment. Soundstage has done reviews on Audiomat products, including the Arpege. One is currently for sale on Audiogon for about $1500. Goood luck

Audio Analogue Puccini, faboulous sounding amp and extremely musical, it is for those discerning listeners who want nothing but music coming out from their transducers.

Quadophile

Thanks!

I've decided on McIntosh MA6500 new. I might upgrade to MA6900.

I am looking for CD Player now. quad@pcreview.co.uk, what do you think about Puccini CD Player?

Thanks,
Konstantin