I was told that under 10K: integrated is the way to go, overt that: monoblocks and preamp
user poll on seperates vs integrated
Hey guys, I wanted to try and crowd-source some (likely very opinionated, unscientific) knowledge. I've read about the benefits of separates (have only ever used integrated myself), and I'm wondering how those benefits compare to the benefits of higher end parts/assembly, when controlled for cost.
To put it more plainly, would you likely get better overall results from a $5000 preamp and $5000 amp, or from a $10,000 integrated, given the likely quality/components used in equipment in those price ranges.
If you're experienced both separates, and integrated amps that cost the equivalent of those separate parts added together, can you speak to which you preferred?
Thanks for weighing in.
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- 97 posts total
grislybutter: that's an interesting sort of rule of thumb, do you recall who gave you the advice?my budget would probably walk that line, so i guess that doesn't help that much. the obvious future plan i guess would be to build off of what i have, for example, i have a parasound phono amp, i could eventually save up and get the matching pre and power amp or something like that, but as i was reading reviews, looking at my options, just generally getting a lay of the land as far as options in that price range, it occurred to me that for the same price as the couple of separates, i could get an integrated from somebody perhaps a little more exotic that i wouldn't otherwise have had on my list of options, and it got me curious as to whether people thought one option was definitively superior to the other or if it was more contentious.
i appreciate everyone weighing in with any personal experience they might have had. |
@chrisryanhorner I remember who gave that advice but it shouldn't sway you, it was a "big spender", I think if you buy used, you can get good monoblocks for less than that. If my budget was 10K I would definitely try Parasound. And since I am not too sophisticated, I would explore integrated for sure. |
nonoise: that technics unit you mentioned is beautiful, i'd definitely take a look at that one.
yeah echoing your statement, i hear a lot lately about how far integrated amps have come. the thing is that the audio press essentially only print positive reviews, so it's hard to ever tell what is or isn't the way to go. when i was purely considering separates, i was looking at parasound, bel canto, primaluna, rogue, as those had separates in my budget that were pretty well-reviewed, but those are all kind of mid-budget mainstays and i was curious what else was out there. for the same money if i was looking at integrated units, particularly if i start looking at open box deals, dealer trade-ins etc, i could be looking at things like esoteric, or BAT, whose separates are way out of my budget so i hadn't otherwise considered them.
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- 97 posts total