best sounding integrated for under 2500.00

I second the recommendation for the Bel Canto C5i as well as the more powerful discontinued S300i which I owned. You can pick up the latter used for around $1200 - $1500.

i have owned nad in the past and actually using a nad reciever currently. scared about reliability.

I too second the BEL CANTO C5i, and is absolutely fantastic amp/DAC. It's easy to use, just plug and play. I paired it with Cambridge iD100 docking system, Definitive Tech Bipolar speakers, Siltech speaker cables, Nordost Shiva PC's and Cardas digital RCA. The soundstage is wide specially in the highs and mids with outstanding basss response. Just ordered a pair of REGA RS3's from a Rega dealer in California and can't wait to hook them up with the C5i. Fantastic small piece of ALL IN ONE equipment.

i think the vincent audio 236 is what i want to go with. a hybrid that should give me the best of both worlds. what do you guys think of this choice. has any body heard of its reliabilty?

I've heard the Atoll IN200 as well as a combo of one of their seperate preamps and amps, and they both sounded amazing, and completely caught me off guard. I was really surprised because I prefer tube gear, I personally have Audio Valve Baby Baldur monoblocks with their Eclipse preamps, and while the Atoll didn't measure up to these, it was still enjoyable to listen to and very musical while costing a fraction of the price. So for the price I would highly recommend it. Actually as I'm starting to get into analog more I'm considering Atoll's p200 phono preamp to start off with. I'd demo thier integrated amp first if you can you you can make sure it has good synergy with your system (last time I upgraded my speakers I made the mistake of not listening to them in my system and then spent more than twice as much upgrading my preamp and amps to the Audio Valve ones I have not to get the speakers to where I wanted, and actually significantly better than they sounded at the dealers house).

Anyway out of the other recommendations that have been made while I didn't prefer the Audio Research VSi60 in my rig, I know a lot of people who do like it a lot so if you can afford the extra you should consider it. The other integrated amp besides the Atoll that I would recommend is the Cary Audio SLI-80. Like the Audio Research VSi60 the Cary Audio SLI-80 has also received great reviews, it has a bit more power and also retails at a two thirds of the price of the VSi60, so it is much closer to your original budget. I've listened to both of them and definitely prefer the Cary over the Audio Research. I also prefer the Cary over the Atoll.

If you do end up with the Atoll, make sure to invest in a good power cord for it because Atoll responds really well to good power cords. Hope this helped and good luck.