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Lively, fast & open sounding integrated under 3k?

My speakers are 89db 2 way monitors with a very warm sound. Minimum impedance 3.5 ohm
large Room, low level listening 

My goals
no.1
excellent immediacy, speed & timing (dont recommend naim, very unnatural forced sound)

no2
forward soundstage (begins at the listening position and extends beyond the speakers)

No3.
Body without warmth

no4.
small in size if possible, but no class D, doubles into 4 ohms, Good at low volumes
new or used.

possible candidates from reading reviews

crayon cia-1
teac ai-2000
krell s300i
sugden a21se

128x128zuio
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,825 posts
 
@auxinput,
I was on the fence about that and even a professional reviewer here ( I believe it was Doug Schrodeer) recommended I do it but after I got my Audioquest Niagara 1200, everything improved to the point where I now find it unnecessary to change anything.

The sound is fuller, has more body, the highs lost some of that tizzy edge and the base goes way down and is tighter and more defined.

Oh well and all the best,
Nonoise
yogiboy's avatar
yogiboy
5,654 posts
 
This Belles Aria might fit the bill!!
https://www.hifichoice.com/content/belles-aria
zuio's avatar
zuio OP
96 posts
 
The Hegel seems a bit too warm, dense and overdamped - not lively.

MF sounds unnatural to me.

I try to find a belles aria.
kren0006
1,859 posts
 
What speakers do you have if you think Hegel sounds warm?
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Yes, when JC1 is switched into high bias mode, it becomes very warm.
Not to me they become invisible like the speakers have left the room, and the music just washes over you in a 3D sound stage, that you swear you can get up and walk into. 
And I've built many, some very big ones over the last 30 years, even a self contained 120w-8ohm pure class-A water cooled one that could double down to 2ohm, that was two man lift, the size of a coffee table.  
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