JRDG Concerto + Amphion Xenon


I've got Amphion Xenon speakers and Meridian 508.24 cd player. I'm going to replace my McIntosh 6850 and siriousely thinking about JRDG Concerto.

What do you thing of my choice? Any other suggestions?
krzycho
Nice choice! ...another option could be the musical fidelity KW500. Keep in mind that the unit has a seperate power supply - in case space is an issue

Good luck
I just bought the Concerto, and it's one serious integrated amp. I've owned a bunch of integrateds from such companies as BAT, Musical Fidelity, Krell, and several others, and the Concerto trumps them all. It's by far the quietest amp I've ever had in my room--which lets all sorts of previously unheard details in music and movies pour forth. If you're looking for tube warmth, look elsewhere, but it's far from cold or clinical. Neutral is more like it. It also has 250 WPC, which is more than almost any other integrated I can think of, save the Musical Fidelity KW500. I'm using it to drive Von Schweikert VR-4s, and it handles them pretty easily. I don't know what the Xenon's sensitivity and impedence curve look like, but the Concerto should be able to handle it. One caveat: The volume control has a very strange progression to it. I have to turn it up to almost 60 (out of 99) before I get any decent volume out of it. But once I past that point, the sound explodes, and the volume becomes much more linear. It's a weird little quirk, but hardly a deal-breaker IMO. There are a lot of other contenders in or near this price range--the aforementioned KW500 is probably the closest contender I can think of--but the Concerto ranks up there pretty highly. Super-quiet, ultra-reliable, dynamic as hell, extremely musical--I can't think of what more I would ask of an integrated amp, even at its lofty price point.
Hooper - first, many thanks for taking the time to post an excellent description of the JRDG Concerto integrated. It sounds like exactly what I'm looking to downsize my current amp/pre/phono stage setup to.

By any chance are you using the on board phono stage and if so, could you possibly share your thoughts on it?

In addition, I know this is a tough one, how does it compare to the Dartzeel that you also own - I guess my question is really, what do I give up in absolute terms with the Concerto and to what extent? Deeply appreciate any advise you have there.

All the very best,
Neville