T+A's new R 2500 R integrated amp

I wish I had direct experience for you, but I do have some relevant experience to share.

I used to own their R2000 integrated amp, now upgraded to the PA3100 HV integrated, and currently own their DAC200. So, I have experience with the brand quality and sound.

I was actually quite pleased with the R2000 but experienced a bit of dynamic compression at higher volumes (think Mahler crescendos). It was a modestly powered amp so that’s not a surprise. I compared the sound to SimAudio 700 series integrated and the detail retrieval was about the same, but the T+A a touch warmer, and significantly smoother. The PA3100 HV has a similar sound, but more of everything and no dynamic limitations that I’ll ever reach.

The DAC 200 is good on PCM - competitive with the marketplace of $7k DACs on PCM, but I wouldn’t necessarily say better than other choices. However, on native DSD - it’s exceptional. I almost didn’t purchase the DAC when auditioning it at home because I was feeding it PCM. But, I have an outboard processor (does the same thing as HQ Player) and when I sent it DSD 512, I was shocked at how good it was. So, ended up being an easy purchase.

I don’t know what’s in this new integrated, but you’ll get more power than I had in the R2000 - and that was its only limitation. And, if the DAC is anywhere close to the DAC200, you should be quite pleased with it.

Hope this helps.

Best,

At that price level I’d never buy a combo unit and be locked into a DAC/streamer unless I had F U $$$ and it was for a second system or vacation home where it’s not as big of a concern.  Is having a separate DAC and streamer really that big of a deal?  I confess I don’t get it short of an extreme space limitation sitch, but to each his own and best of luck.

@mgrif104

Thanks for the excellent feedback.  Re: dynamics, what speakers were you using, and in what size room?

My own requirements are modest: low-to-moderate listening levels, an outboard active sub, and a 14x17 room with Harbeth speakers 10' from my listening position.  Despite their 86dB sensitivity, the Harbeths are spec'd at requiring a minimum of 25wpc, but Alan Shaw himself has demonstrated that the speakers reach a whole new level when driven by an amp that has 2-300wpc in reserve for peaks.  The R 2500 R specs at around 200wpc into 6 ohms (higher than the R 2000), and T+A gear usually outperforms its power ratings.  So all that is encouraging.

One reason for the PCM/DSD differences you heard from the DAC200 could be that the T+A DACs have two distinct decoding paths, one for PCM and one for DSD.  The R 2500 R DAC boasts a nearly identical architecture and most of the parts found in the DAC200.  And I'm told that this 2024 update actually incorporates improvements over the older DAC200.  The biggest difference I see on paper is that the R 2500 DAC processes only half the number of DAC streams, limiting it to 512DSD instead of 1024.  Which I don't think either of us see as a dealbreaker.

The few people I’ve spoken to who have heard both  DACs – a handful of dealers and mfr reps -- believe that the DAC200 & R 2500 R DAC have similar sonic signatures -- or that the newer, embedded DAC has a slight edge.

I realize that you have experience with the HV line, which is a step above the R series, the R2000, which is a lower-end, older version of the R2500, and the DAC200, which is both older and higher-end.   Given that I have a good feel for the sound of the R 2500 R relative to other T+A offerings, your comments thus give me an excellent frame of reference.  And that gets me closer than ever to dropping $19K without a demo.

Thank you again!