Looking for an integrated amp to replace my Cayin A-50T

@pretender

Regarding the Yamaha sound, compared to my Cayin, it’s somewhat a matter of trade-offs. I’d say midrange is about equal but the Yamaha’s bass is deeper and it has greater overall resolution. The Cayin has the upper hand in soundstage width/depth and 3D-effect, but not by a huge margin in back-to-back A/B. The Cayin also produces more of those pleasant harmonic distortions, the such that can make electric guitars sound a little more realistic, but that’s to be expected, and also dependent on the amp’s bias setting. The Yamahas (MOSFET versions) have a lush/saturated tonality that one doesn’t typically associate with SS. Think of it like a TV with its color saturation turned up to around 70/100. It also has a slight “V-curve” presentation, so speaker matching does matter. Yamaha may not quite be the company it was in the 70s but they do employ their own in-house design team and own/operate their factories independently. They use higher quality parts than many competitors as well.

The Rega Elex-R is a little more neutral and warm, with that “PRaT” that British gear is known for. I’m not familiar with the higher priced Regas. Apparently they are going to release the new Elicit in the near future and that one would be on my radar if I were in the market. I know Audio Advisor sold them at one time so may be worth checking out.

I have no familiarity with Vincent gear but it appears well made.

Since you asked about Parasound, I owned the original Hint for a stint. It is a very nice sounding integrated. Mine had some low-level hum (lower than Cronus) but otherwise it was a good performer, and very powerful. It can drive nearly any speaker with a bold, meaty presentation. Hopefully they addressed any inherent noise issues in the Hint 6 revision. My only other nitpick is that it sounded a little slow with some music compared to the Yamahas. Parasound also uses inferior parts quality in that entry-level Halo line. The stuff with Curl’s name on it has better parts. Parasound does have some of the best customer support and their stuff is serviced in CA.

Best of luck. Those Cayins are hard to match or surpass without getting into decent separates IME.

I have a Plinius 9100 available. It is a sweet sounding SS amp. 120 watts but very powerful. FYI

Hey Pretender,

As for the Schiit Ragnarok, or the AVA Vision SET 120, not my beat. I got nada.

As for Cambridge ... I'd group them in with Rotel & the like, meaning IMHO your Reynaud's deserve better upstream components.

As for Rogue Sphinx, I'm not familiar with that model. I am familiar with Rogue's Cronus Magnum, but now you're back to tubes. That said, the emphasis on the Cronus above it's other attributes was it's value for the money, not it being part of a sonic coterie. Potentially this could be altered to a given degree by swapping out the pre-amp tubes with NOS tubes, and then again with a snob capacitor upgrade. But there goes your budget.

Parasound .... you're onto something there. John Curl has a reputation for a reason. Question is which one of his designs is optimal for your application. The Halo Hint 6 integrated amplifier is there premiere piece, but you may be using an elephant gun on an elk hunt. They're NewClassic 200 Integrated might suit your application better. Take note that Hi-FI sound shines when it's being pushed to a given degree.

In choosing your purchase concern yourself less with features. Instead steer towards quality of power supply, type of capacitors, transformers being used, binding posts. Contact a Parasound Rep, gettem on the phone, build a rapport, lay out your questions, and tell him you want the best without being up sold.

This is all dependant on your listening room. If you have a fair sized dedicated sound room with better than average acoustics, knock yourself out. You can justify the added effort/time and expense. If you're in an L shaped room, or your gear is being put in the wife's tightly packed Victorian tea room, save your money, the results won't be there.

@thehorn Thanks!  I do have a dedicated/treated room with no windows, albeit on the smallish side—12 x 14…

The Sony TA-A1ES is a nice no-frills integrated that sounds very similar to the Hint but with dead-quiet backgrounds and class-A smooth midrange. It’s not powerful enough for some setups but with 89db sensitivity in that small a room it’s plenty. It does run quite warm, not as warm as tubes though.