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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?

 

aberyclark
gratefuleric
112 posts
 

Yes, after years of separates in a nice rack with all the bells and whistles, I went to a Peachtree Nova 300 and it blew the doors off of anything I'd run before. 300WPC @ 8ohms, great DAC built-in, 111db S/N ratio, .004 THD. Simply stunning sound quality.

mcslipp's avatar
mcslipp
123 posts
 

I’ll go one further. I’m toying with the idea of some powered ATC 150’s feed by a Lumin P1. No speaker cables. Just a pair of xlr’s. Lean, mean and clean.

slvrado's avatar
slvrado
9 posts
 

I have a beautiful sounding Luxman integrated, which has allowed me to feed a secondary system with that awesome Speakers A/B/A&B. Now my secondary system is fed by a great front end  common to both systems. This is one key advantage of a traditional integrated.

bikesandguitars's avatar
bikesandguitars
13 posts
 

I have a McIntosh and a Marantz Ruby integrated along with separates from AR and PrimaLuna .  I’d recommend spending the money on room treatments - sound panels, bass traps, etc.,  There are a ton of decorative options with potential WAF, if that’s an issue.  If the room acoustics aren’t tuned, the source doesn’t really matter.  Ask any musician. 

Ag insider logo xs@2x
jji666
537 posts
 

It all depends on how you like to spend your time. Sometimes I just want to listen, but other times I’m in them mood to explore and tweak.

So I have 6 separate means of amplification (monoblocks, solid state power, tube power, classic, newer) 4 separate preamps (tube, SS, multichannel, classic, newer) 4 different sets of speakers plus surround, and a NOS DAC and a Delta Sigma DAC.

So how many different configuration possibilities are there? Do things sound different? What works well together? My opinions evolve.

So at this stage I don’t care about clutter; actually I love it. Maybe sometime I won’t.

One thing I will say about integrated systems: they are meant to work together, so you should get good synergies between the sections in the component. HOWEVER, if you do get the urge to explore, you may find the preamp section only mates well with the built-in amp, and vice versa, and so you can’t really convert your integrated into a separate effectively. Those extra ins and outs on integrated units are generally for convenience, not necessarily high quality interaction with separates.

It’s all just fun though.

 

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