To be honest, I have not wanted to listen to anything the past month or so. I have forced myself and its just not clicking. Not because my current system does not sound good....it sounds great. However, siting in my listening chair, all I see is clutter. I know everyone goes thru an audiophile "funk". however, I've seen some real simple systems of late to where its just turn it on, and enjoy the music.
After years of separates, I'm going integrated. Anyone else do the same?
I'm rethinking my listening room. I want my audio rack to be more minimalist vs lots of boxes, wires, and clutter. I know separates, in general, will sound better. However, at the level of my system, I'm not certain the difference would be as apparent. In the grand scheme of things of Audiophilia, my level of components are mid-fi at best (BHK Pre, First Watt J2, Elac PPA-2 phono, Pro-ject s2 Dac, ZU Omen Defs)
I'm favoring one of the Luxman Class A's (I know Luxman is getting out of the Class A business. The only way I would favor a built-in Dac is if it were upgradable like McIntosh or Accuphase. I'm guessing a Luxman or Mac built-in phono would sound just as good as to what I have now (Elac PPA-2).
So the question is, who else has gone to integrated? Do you regret the move or are you glad you did?
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@lalitk I would love to find a used/demo 650. The Dac module is pretty pricey (around $1000). |
Well, there is a E-650 available on USAM. It comes with a phono module. You can always get the DAC module later :-) If you end up getting E-650, you will be pleasantly surprised how good is the $1K phono module. The AD-50 phono board in my E-650 was more than adept in conveying Hana’s Umami Red gorgeous sound. In fact, the AD-50 offered much better synergy over a $2500 E.A.T. E-glo S phono preamp with external power supply. |
Luxman jacked up their prices on all their integrated amps by $1000 or more. The 550 class A model used to be 5500, now it’s 6500 according to music direct pricing, crazy. I would love one, as it has a true tape monitor and a loudness button. I settled for my Sugden A21se, yeah, has no fancy meters and lacks the above features, but it sounds fabulous and is half the price of the luxman 550 and has more watts per channel. |
I've gone from Home Theater separates + Stereo separates to 1 HT receiver and 1 Luxman 507ux and couldn't be happier. The amount of cables and reduction in components (not to mention remotes) has been outstanding. The Luxman integrateds in particular have outstanding preamp sections, the equal of the separate units.
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