Best Integrated, period.

Mapman, there are a couple of Continuum 500 offered on Agon. Instead of going to a retailer you may purchased one of these discounted pieces. . . they are bound to be very new. And if the C500 ended up not being your cup of tea, you can probably sell it at no loss.

Guidocorona,

Yes, I know.

In line with the topic of this thread, I believe the Rowland 500w/ch Class D integrated with phono would be the best sounding with the Ohm 5s.

I also really like that VAC Phi Beta though!

The thing is I'm pretty happy with what I have at present, so I am not inclined to jump at anything right away even though I would expect a significant improvement on several fronts. Also, I have 2 kids still to put through college....

If something in my system dies unexpectedly, I may be there sooner, dude.

Not sure if I'd go new or used in this case yet.

I think I am definitely going to try to check it out at my closest Rowland dealer when I have a chance. Unfortunately, I think it is about 60 miles away though I get in there from time to time.

If only I had no conscience....

Pubul57,

Yes, even when you add a passive attenuator,[I am sure you know that all single box CDP has a built in "preamp",}It is very difficult to do it right....

I have had some integrateds - The three best that como to my mind is the Gryphon Century (the Diablo should be far better, The new Burmester Integrated, and my current Acoustic Plan SITAR.

Depending on your tastes, a SET integrated is a nice option, I liked my time with the AN Meishu but sure there are somo other good contenders out there.

I though the problem with DAC "preamps" was the poor quality of the attenuator, as opposed to let's say a Goldpoint Attenuator being used in an Art Audio Carrissa, or a Placette RVC used in a Moscode 400, for example. Good attenuators are not cheap, but if you use a good one, and you are ok with passives, I'm not sure why "integrating" one in an amp would be a challenge to a Nelson Pass or other good amp designers; of course, some like what a tube buffer and tubes in the "pre" can do to the overall pre/amp circuit. It does seem that the use of a passive pre built into an integrated chassis is becoming a very coming design approach, even in some very expensive gear.