Retirement integrated amp for a “fiscal conservative”


I’ve taken the plunge and am now enjoying the 2nd week of retirement after 44 years of work, including 42 years with the company I just retired from.  
 

One of the retirement goals I’m really looking forward to is spending much more time enjoying music with my main system!

I’ve pretty much gone digital (but do have a Linn Sondek LP12 to enjoy LPs purchased in the 60’s - 80’s). 

My system consists of a Rose 150B streamer/DAC and a Primaluna CD player for digital playback. I use a Roon Nucleus for Roon/Tidal new music research and listening. Speakers are original Joseph Audio Perspectives. 
 

I enjoy all types of music, but mostly listen to jazz (preferably smooth but am exploring all of the various forms of jazz). 
 

I’m currently using a Primaluna Dialogue HP Premium integrated amp which I’ve enjoyed for many years. Here’s where the “fiscal conservative” part comes in; this amp has 8 power tubes. Even with Primaluna’s great low tube stress design concept, I’m not looking forward to replacing power tubes every couple years with my retirement bonus listening time. Also, I’d like to get additional damping factor bass control than my current amp provides. I love the tube midrange and treble range sound, but would like an upright bass to sound more like a wood instrument (hard to describe in words) and hear more natural note attack and decay
 

I’d like to get ideas/advice from A’gon music enjoyment experts on a replacement integrated that still provides the acoustic sound of tubes, but doesn’t require new tubes every couple years/2,000 hours and is a great match to enjoy jazz on the rest of my system which I plan to keep. I’m open to used or new with a cap of say $8,000. 
 

Thank you in advance for your thoughts and suggestions. 
 

Eric

ezstreams

Eric, working for one company for over forty years is quite an accomplishment. I don't see this new generation staying with one company that long, not that they don't want to, the opportunity is just not there.

You have quite a few recommendations here, so I don't think your choice has been made any easier. I personally don't like integrates because of their limitations. For one thing the preamp and power amp share the same cabinet and that can obscure low level detail and or pick up hum. In addition, they don't provide a pathway for up grading either the preamp or power amp in most cases but there are some good ones out there where the mfg. has gone to great lengths to shield them two components from each other

@phd thank you for your observations (yes, Ive received some great and a variety of advice which is wha I hoped for with the vast diversity of audio experiences this membership represents)!

I do appreciate your recommendation of going the separates route, but a couple of aspects give me pause pursuing that route:

  1. With separates providing even greater opportunities for future upgrade, that would make it harder for me to resist my goal of this being the last significant $$ upgrade to my system. 
  2. As you mention, some companies have overcome the pre-amp/amp co-habitation issues and manufacture integrateds that provide A-rated sound quality. As my 68 year old tinnitus-ridden ears are far from being classified as “golden ears” I likey can’t tell the difference between a well implemented integrated design from separates. 
  3. Based on #2, I suspect I’ll be able to achieve the best sound my ear/brain system, can resolve and enjoy, more cost effectively with a nice (new/used) integrated if my current tube rolling experiment doesnt pan out. 

Sorry to hear you have tinnitus. This is a reason to choose very carefully. Very trebly solid state units like Luxman are probably going to exacerbate your tinnitus. Happily I do not have tinnitus. But having discussed it with many folks that do, you want a very warm musical sound. Highly detailed components tend to exacerbate the problem. Tubes are a really good choice... and probably not Rogue. I'd look at Conrad Johnson, Audio Research. I'd go listen to an Audio Research I-50... it is very musical with amazing PRaT. 

Try to find an ASR Emitter 1 Basic, the Rolls Royce of integrateds. Solid state but actually is as liquid as tubes, with solid state bass and excellent highs. AND, it does both macrodynamics and microdynamics exceptionally well. Imaging is spectacular (almost matches my Antique Sound Lab Hurricanes in that respect, and that is saying a great deal!

Brand new, here in the US, they cost $13,000. A few thousand less in Europe. The Music Room has one for $3,800. If I didn’t have one, I’d buy it.

I'm a 63 year old audiophile (for 40 years), with tinnitus. Tinnitus is brought on by hearing loss, especially high frequency. The best thing I have done  to my audio listening experience is invest in GOOD hearing aids. What has worked for me is ReSound Nexia, but there are a other brands to investigate, that musicians use. Drop the money on your hearing, not expensive gear. Perhaps investigate the NAD M33 integrated. I moved from Jeff Rowland Consummate/Model 2 into my Dunlavy SCIV's to the NAD M66/M23 and I love it. I hated digital and class D amps until recently, but technology has marched on. Good hearing aids will eat up a bunch of your budget, but will help in many other ways.