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Recommendations for used/vintage integrated for vinyl

Hi, 
you guys have pointed me in the right direction a few times now and totally appreciate the help.  I sold off my pro-ject and music hall integrated that were not playing nice together and I am looking to buy a used integrated that can push my Dzurko Jaguar speakers a little harder.

Long story short I sold best components to pay for grad school a few years ago. That rig was a hodgepodge of really nice stuff mixed with my guitar center fire sale gear.   99% of my listening went Stanton direct drive dj turntable (bought on clearance for around 100 bucks), a Shure DJ cartridge (don't remember which one), 50 dollar ART phono preamp,  into a Mark Levinson No.380 preamp,  Krell KSA 150 power amp, Dzurko Jaguar speakers.  

Even though the turntable and phono preamp was pretty bottom end from a chain guitar store, all of my records sounded good with some real heft to the tone, by comparison the music hall with pro-ject was thin and revealed the imperfections of my records instead of enhancing or allowing the music to just play. 

I am about to get a Thorens 160 in excellent condition in trade for some of my unused recording studio gear and I would like to get an older integrated of at least 100 watts 8ohm to go with it.  I would like to stay away from brand new because I would like something  with longevity and will be worth roughly what I paid when and if I decide to sell. 

What are some good integrated amps for someone who 1) only listens to vinyl 2) listens to a lot or rare and original pressings that are not available on 180 gram vinyl.   

Part of me kind of wants an old Kenwood KA-9600 receiver since they seem to be held in high regard and were made when vinyl was still the top medium.  What about the 9100 integrated?  any good?

Years ago the person who gave me the Levinson 380 recommended that I should consider selling it and buy a Music Fidelity A300 since I am only interested in vinyl.  How is this as an options?

anything else? I would like to spend around 550.00 for a used integrated since that is what I sold my turntable and integrated for but I could certainly go higher if there was something much better. 

Thank you,



128x128mwrenne
paraneer's avatar
paraneer
818 posts
 
I am about to get a Thorens 160 in excellent condition in trade for some of my unused recording studio gear and I would like to get an older integrated of at least 100 watts 8ohm to go with it.  I would like to stay away from brand new because I would like something  with longevity and will be worth roughly what I paid when and if I decide to sell
I think your looking at this the wrong way. 

An amps primary purpose is to properly drive a pair of speakers.  All other functions are just features that can added.  So find the best 100 wpc integrated (with or without a phono stage) that will drive your speakers and then add an external phono preamp to match your cartridge if you have to.  Besides, an external generally will outperform the built-ins found in most integrateds/receivers, new or vintage.

Also, what makes you think you can't get longevity out of a modern integrated and that it won't hold its resale value too?  You just need to research them and know where to look because you won't find them at a big box store.  The Audiogon classifieds is a good a good place to start.  A good, modern 100 wpc continuously rated integrated will run rings around the best vintage integrated as the modern most likely will be 4 ohm rated.  Very few vintage amps were because all the speakers were 8 ohms.

Concentrate on getting the best sound possible from your speakers and TT.  Not necessarily matching vintage with vintage.

mesch
3,506 posts
 
I agree with paraneer. With your budget purchase a used integrated that is less than 10 years old. Many come up for sale on AG. Used phonostages also. 
jl35
4,009 posts
 
I also agree with paraneer
mwrenne's avatar
mwrenne OP
4 posts
 
Thank you for the responses,
I am not in a huge rush  so I can wait for the right piece to show up at the right price/condition.   From the vintage guys it sounds like accuphase or luxman and then plan on re-capping is the way to go.

paraneer, jl35, an mesch.  Thank you for the input,  I was hoping to get a few ideas of what to look for.  I will troll around the audiogon classifieds and reviews .

Thank you all again you gave me a few really good starting points in my research.
mwrenne's avatar
mwrenne OP
4 posts
 
oh and I kind of cut my last reply short I was a little distracted.  To reply to paraneer's  question in regards to longevity and resale is that in my experience budget items that are great deals for the money are often a little disappointing and I end up selling it for a loss to get something only slightly better and sometimes much worse (that pro-ject comes to mind.)  
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