Best sounding integrated between $1500-$3000

you can get used krell 300I or 400xi and be very happy!, you would be surprised of the performance for the money you pay, It is my opinion, that there is few, if any that can surpass these for the money!

THose two Krell are always near the top of my list when I look at SS integrateds. Have heard them....very nice! I do worry sometimes about functional reliability of newer Krell, in that they have more often than most proven to be quirky in dealer showrooms.

Classe is another good option that ranks high for me, along with the two I mentioned in the earlier post.

Thanks to all who have responded so far. Your suggestions and advice are extremely helpful. I appreciate Johnny 53 endorsement of the Rogue Cronus Magnum which I am leaning toward. Though, the Rogue Sphinx is less money and has gotten very good reviews. (Many members claim the CM is much better than the new little brother) I am still NOT sure if the Rogue CM will make that big a difference in improving the sound quality of the Acoustic Zen Adagios
speakers; and, I hate even simple biasing of tubes which the CM requires bi-monthly or so.

Audiolabyinth and Mapman make interesting recommendations with the Krell S300i and 400xi.I have seen them on listed AG hundreds of times. I have read that the 300i is somewhat quirky in that the remote volume when pushed produces a chuffing sound from volume knob. I believe the 300i is newer and surely looks very smart in silver. However, the older 400xi may be more "glitch free", but MIGHT NOT SOUND AS GOOD AS 300i I have never heard either.

There may be a dark horse in the mix. Musical Fidelity A300 integrated. I once posted a thread to see if there was any creedance to the claims that the MF "300" series produced some outstanding amps. The A300 has even a decent built-in. MM/MC stage. The Soundstage review highly praised the amp, but that was back in 2002, so who knows if the piece is still viable. There are NO A-300'S on AG at the moment. Though, I may have a lead on one. Thanks again, Jimbo

I've heard Rogue Cronus Magnum run Magnepan MMGs (with and without a sub)and results were quite good accordingly.

I've also heard Rogue tube amps run larger Maggies solo, but not the Cronus Magnum.

Have not heard Rogue sphinx yet but can vouch that a tube/Class D hybrid approach (I use ARC tube pre-amp with Class D power amps similarly) can deliver a lot of the best characteristics of both SS and tubes in general together with all kinds of music.

I would expect a significant difference in sound with Sphinx versus Cronus Magnum. Which is better will likely come down to personal preference based on listening habits more than anything else. I would probably not go CM without hearing SPhinx first, but if I tried the Sphinx and the results meet my expectations I would probably not look any further, but that's just me. That's because I suspect the Sphinx would be the more consistent performer track to track, system to system versus the CM, which will shine more uniquely in some cases but perhaps less so in others.

Of course CM is way cool retro-looking, compared to more conventional looking Sphynx, but that's pretty obvious. :-)

I'm a big Rogue fan and in general would not shy away from any Rogue gear, if the application is right.

JRDG Concentra I has been selling used for $3,000 for the last ten years - note that its price has never gone down. For $3k this has always been my favorite. If you can find one!