T+A's new R 2500 R integrated amp

@mgrif104 @cundare2 Thank you both for your kind comments and advocacy. It’s greatly appreciated. :)

@doyle3433 Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the two rooms. I’m glad your findings matched my experiences and assumptions. With the Aurender room, I would have definitely picked a different cable loom and speakers to make the end result more soulful. I’ve not had an issue accomplishing that with the AP20. I would love to hear that unit with something like a Joseph Audio Pearl 2 Graphene. I’m sure that would be an incredible match. 

***FINAL RESOLUTION***

Well, my R 2500 R arrived a few days ago and is burning in.

My initial reaction is very positive, even using lower-grade cables until my new, longer cables arrive. The sonics are everything I was promised, and they're a great match for my Harbeths with no other components in the signal path.

When I use the R 2500 R to drive just the the FL & FR speakers in a 5.1 home theater, the increase in realism is jaw-dropping. Last night, I was almost knocked out of my seat when I sure that I heard a door slam in an adjacent room.

But the best thing about this incredibly well-designed box is its functionality. (I never thought I’d say something like that.) In addition to outstanding amp & preamp sections, it includes a 2023-designed dual PCM/DSD T+A DAC (similar to its $8000 model, I’m told), an integrated streamer with a very good Android interface, a TON of connectivity (including HDMI in & out), and even Internet radio / FM / DAB & a CD transport. And a lot more.

I’m finding the rest of my components to be functionally, not only sonically, limited in comparison. For example, my $2000 Marantz receiver can’t output digital and analog signals at the same time (which would let me, e.g., send a digital signal to the T+A and analog to my rear & center amps when watching something like 5.1 Netflix).  The T+A doesn't seem to have such limitations.

I know that some people have negative knee-jerk reactions to integrated form factors (and I've posted at length about why those reactions sometimes don't make sense), but I spent months searching for an integrated that did not have the most commonly cited downsides.  When the smoke cleared, only two or three made the cut. This new T+A model was clearly the best choice, as perfect a fit with my complicated topology as I could expect to find: beautifully conceived, designed, and built.

One last thing: A TENK YOU VEDDY MUCH shout-out to Juan from Bliss HiFi (he’s actually participated in this thread), who originally turned me on to the R 2500 R, and who has provided such outstanding pre-sales and post-sales support. I wish every dealer had Juan’s knowledge, experience, and customer-support skills. I can’t recommend Bliss too highly.

I know you already bought but if I were buying an $18k integrated, it'd be an Ayre Acoustics AX-5 Twenty. Full disclosure I own KX-R Twenty, MX-R Twenty, QX-5 and L5xe. For me it's Ayre Acoustics or nothing!

Actually, Ayre was high on my list when I first started my search.  Those X and R series models, and especially the $12K EX-8 2.0 integrated, were almost a slam dunk for me.

Unfortunately, it seems that Ayre is having some serious internal issues and I hear rumors from insiders that, despite its public notices, may be on the verge of going out of business.

I can't verify whether this is true or not, but the difficulty finding any product in the channel led me to err on the side of caution and put an X through the EX-8.  FWIW, the T+A has a reputation for being at least in the same class, sonically, as the best Ayre separates, so I'm pretty happy with my purchase. 

And really, I can't say anything bad about Ayre products.  As you say, they punch way above their weight class, great Charlie designs.

https://darko.audio/2024/10/ta-r-2500-r-video-review/

I just discovered this R 2500 R Darko review, which covers most of the points I outlined above, even confirming some of the reasons why an old monoblockhead like me, for the first time, chose an integrated component over separates. (Yes, Dorothy, despite audiophile street lore, an intelligently designed integrated, all things equal, actually has intrinsic sonic advantages over otherwise-comparable separates. Our DAC & streamer don't need your steenkin' external clock!  Think about it.)

My only beef with Mr. Darko is that the author compares the R 2500 to a $10K+ set of Cambridge EDGE separates, which hardly seems like a fair comparison.  The Edge gear is pretty impressive at the price, but the T+A is in a higher class.

More to the point, I’ve heard credible opinions from a dealer who handles both product lines that what the reviewer the "fuller bass" that the reviewer hears in the Cambridges' low end is the product of a less-resolving EDGE preamp -- a guess that's consistent with the reviewer’s other comments.

I personally found it interesting that the review evaluated the R 2500 R with Vivid S12 speakers + external sub.  The Vivids have been getting so much praise the last year or two that I'm considering a similar pairing (but with a better bass box), so it's nice to see how that worked out for this guy.