unbeatable Class A integrated

My advice is to stick with the well known brands that have been in business for a long while and that have big time R&D behind them: Gryphon, Luxman, Accuphase, Constellation, Levinson, McIntosh, Pass, Ayre and Esoteric. 

I own two Luxman integrateds at the moment and one Esoteric SACD player.  And they sound great and look good too.  I've never had a problem with them.  I've owned Ayre in the past and it was a quality piece.  

If you can demo any of these, that would be ideal.  Maybe there is a dealer near to you that can lend you one for the weekend or something. I've done that before with my local dealer.  That's how I got to try out a Sutherland Little Loco, before deciding to purchase.  

Read the reviews,look at the company history,then buy the Sugden A21SE & get the optional headphone out as you will most assuredly need it in the immediate future,put the $11,000.00 saved into daughters college fund as it will probably coast a BILLION $ by the time she's old enough,sit back & enjoy the music!

Class A is absurdly overrated.

Pass Labs 150 and 250 integrated's are both Class A .

Esoteric F-05. Excellent in all respects. Lots of useful features including two sets of speaker outputs. (One for speakers, one for headphones.) Replaced a McIntosh C2200 / Pass X150.8 setup. Same cost.