Integrated amplifier search

I’m willing to go up in price.  My wife has tolerated my audio habit long enough and I don’t listen critically nearly as much as I use to, so going down in size is no problem for me.  The Sony has intrigued me for a while.  I don’t remember if it has a DAC or not.

The Sony sounds about identical to the Halo. I've owned both and compared them back to back. The big difference is that the Sony pretty much petered out once my 88db sensitivity speakers approached 90db. 

The strength of the Sony is its performance at low volume levels. That and it's a better value proposition when only SQ is considered. 

I would think the Naim Supernait2 would be a better choice than the Unti Nova - where SQ is concerned. A lot of the Nova's price comes from the steaming/network/DAC hardware. 

If your system is mostly for background music, might as well save your money and get Sonos. 

If you really want to hear what 2-channel music at its best, get a tube amp. Owning one should be on every audiophile's bucket list. 

Recommend considering the Rotel A14 Integrated Amp. Current technology with a good DAC, Phono, bluetooth, etc. Excellent sounding with 80 watts into 8 ohms. Adequate power for moderate size room (15 x24'). I purchased one about 6 weeks ago. Very happy.

Coming at this from a wife's perspective, she probably just doesn't want something that looks ugly or like a typical audio component staring back at her.  I get it.  In this vein, I'd look at the Devialet 120 or Micromega M100, both of which are available here now.  While they are still 15" - 17" wide, they are only about 1.5" to 2" high, respectively, and they are both unobtrusive, attractive, and do not look like traditional audio components.  And, most importantly, I think both may actually provide sonic improvements over your Halo Integrated.  Best of luck. 

I’ve had tubes before. Anthem pre amp, pathos classic one, and antique sound labs integrated. I’m sure I’m missing a couple. They didn’t do much for me and I’m convinced good solid state gear can go toe to toe with tubes.

I appreciate all all the suggestions. I’m feeling like the Naim is just more than I want to spend and opening myself up to separates as far as a DAC is concerned may give me lots more options.

I’d say at this point I’m more interested in class A (Luxman, again?) or class A/B in lieu of class d.

I keep hearing about NAD reliability issues. I've had several NAD pieces with absolutely ZERO problems.