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Looking for a SS integrated Amplifier recommendation going into a new system

While waiting for a new speaker delivery, I have some time to start looking for a SS integrated amplifier, and hoping for some recommendations.

The speaker to pair with is Ascend Acoustics Sierra Tower with RAAL tweeter option that is around 91dB efficient, and the room size is 12x18x8.  I mostly listen to classical, jazz, female vocal, and the listening level normally is around 85dB, occasionally go up to 90dB.

I originally was looking for class-A integrated amplifier, but now would like to open the possibility to class-A/B as well to see what will be a good match for this new system I am putting together.

TIA
elan120
steveinthebeach's avatar
steveinthebeach
7 posts
 
I would take a close look at the Hegel lineup. I have the H190 and I’m very pleased with it and how it marries up with my B&W 702s2 speakers. That said, if your budget is up to $10k the H390 appears to be the sweet spot in the offering.
soix
9,456 posts
 
mainly because I also plan to see how well they will drive my headphone that I listen to quite a bit.
If headphones are important, at this level I’d get a separate headphone amp as the ones included in integrateds — even the better ones — are relative afterthoughts and not anything special at best (amps matter for headphones too!).  When you can get a nice fully-balanced, Class-A headphone amp like the Singxer SA-1 for only $599 that’ll kick the crap out of any integrated’s headphone section, I can’t see using an integrated’s headphone section if you’re truly serious about headphone listening — and the SA-1 is small so not much of a space penalty for the level of benefit you’ll get.   Just my $0.02 FWIW. 

larry5729's avatar
larry5729
1,008 posts
 
I keep hearing the name Luxman 509X.  I just wish I had the budget for this.
mawarwick
2 posts
 
I have a Luxman 505UX11 and very pleased. If budget allows the Luxman 509X would be a great amp I believe. My room is small, 11x14 and my speakers are B&W 805D3 . My CD player is a Luxman 03X. All sounds very good.
elan120 OP
35 posts
 
@soix ,

Thank you for the suggestion, I may not have made it clear on how I am going to use the headphone amp from the lower output Class-A integrated Amp mentioned by others such as Pass Int 25 or Luxman 590AXII.  With these amps, I will be using the speaker outputs instead of headphone output to drive my headphone.  I do use a separate headphone amp, a GS-X mk2, but have been wanting to try Class-A speaker amp for while, and this might be the right time.


The more I think about my setup and possible future path of my system setup, I might end up getting two amps instead of just one.  First, try out a Class-A integrated amp that can drive both my headphone and this speaker system well, and later, getting a Class-AB amp that will match well with the Tower speakers I am waiting for the delivery.

Appreciate all the inputs thus far, they help a lot in my search.

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