Help with next upgrade

@jmcgrogan2 I appreciate your feedback and insights. My preference is to move away from the integrated route. I was using the Cronus magnum for all things and now it only serves as an amp as I am weaning myself off. 

Ive given thought to the .8 and .5 architecture, however, I have my equipment on a cradenza and I can’t support the weight. The XA-25 is a svelte 45 lbs. 

I respectfully disagree about the ‘bottom of the line’ comment as I believe hifi manufacturers use integrateds mostly for this purpose. 

Maybe im wrong but I can’t see how it would benefit Pass Labs to stick an XP-12, XP-17 and an XA-25 into the INT60 at a $6K differential. 

Maybe im wrong but I can’t see how it would benefit Pass Labs to stick an XP-12, XP-17 and an XA-25 into the INT60 at a $6K differential.

Well first of all, I don't believe that the INT-60 has a phono stage, so you can eliminate the XP-17.  So now you are talking a XP-12 and a XA-25 ($10,700) versus a INT-60 ($9,000), a difference of ($1.7K),  less that 20% difference, which can easily be done by using one chassis and one set of packaging vs. two of each. My guess is Pass Labs profit margin is the same regardless of which way you want it.

I get that many folks have the preconceived idea that separates are always better than an integrated amp ingrained in their heads. That is what many years of marketing can do for a industry, sell more boxes.

However, there are a LOT of stunningly good integrated amps out there on the market today, including that Pass Labs INT-60 model, along with brands like VAC, Vitus, Solution, Boulder, Accuphase, Goldmund, D'Agostino, Rowland, Kondo Audio Note, darTZeel, Shindo, etc., that would embarrass most separates.

I went with separates because I did not want the preamp and amp to be from the same manufacturer (I prefer tube preamps with SS amps).
If I had wanted a Pass Labs preamp with my Pass Labs amp, the INT-60 would have been awfully tempting to me, especially when you consider how much you could save on power cords and interconnects too.

However, that is just me. Everyone is entitled to spend their money however the choose.

@jmcgrogan2 good points. I don’t think separates are superior to integrateds in an absolute sense as value can be determined by investment and utility. When I became more serious about hifi it was still before I was numb to the pricing structures in the hobby. I thought $2,295 for my Cronus Magnum was expensive compared to the Onkyo and Sony ‘do it all’ receivers I previously owned.

Regarding the comments on the super high end companies now producing integrateds and some even experimenting with Class D or a hybrid of it, I think it’s for several reasons:

Increased competition from other equipment manufacturers
fighting for spent dollars (as you say, less cables and rack space needed, frees up more dollars to spend on the integrated du jour. Plus, even when I became somewhat numb to component/speaker pricing, I still had a hard time reconciling cable prices. I just bought a ZU Event XLR for $475 and I’m still a little stunned I did it.
aging audiophile community (how to appeal to a newer generation). So many of my friends have Rega, Schiit and Rogue gear. The higher end or more expensive producers can’t sit around and wait forever hoping to be there when and if an upgrade is in store.

If you can earn a new customers trust early in the journey; you may be in position to continue the relationship while they move up the product line.

These companies are doing all they can to produce value peices for people like me when I was considering Rogue. I may have gone with PS Audio Stellar equip had it been around at the time.

I believe it’s a similar model to to the luxury car market. You are now seeing cars produced from audi, Mercedes and others to compete with cars they never competed with before. 

I believe the market is trending in favor of premium Integrated amps.Not suggesting that separates are tanking,the sand box is big enough for many players.I'm currently enjoying a Coincident Technology Dynamo 34SE MKII which in my system is as good as anything I've had the pleasure of owning.