Musical FidelityWhich Integrated is best value?

I have owned several IA's and my favorite, so far has been the McIntosh MA6500. Compaired to Musical Fidelity or Krell, it was more musical and less scientific sounding. The only thing I didn't like was the size of unit (too large). If you can live with that, I feel it is a winner.

There are only 3 MF integrated amps to consider, the Nu-Vista, the Tri-Vista and the kW 500. They have a tube pre amp section that makes them better than the rest.

I second Jihley's comments on the McIntosh. I preferred their integrateds over the MF. I demoed the MA6500 & MA6900 and can understand why their equipment is selling well. I decided to stay with my Krell integreted which I also liked better than the MF (perhaps if I'd listened to the Mc first?).

The 308 is hard to beat in terms of styling.. and even performance. But the SE version of Unison Unico would be worth a look (and listen), maybe not as much power (140W) but beautiful looks and highly regarded sonics (currently A rating in Stereophile, whatever that means...), comes with a phono stage too.

Of the MF integrateds, the Nu-Vista M3 is the best value. Several up recently for sale on the Audiogon in the 2000 dollar range. I own the Tri-Vista myself and it's fantastic. A better amp for certain than any of the McIntosh solid state integrated amps. The 2275, however, is another story, sonically and price-wise. In addition to the tube preamp sections that Merganser mentions, one of the important advantages of the three MF amps is the choke regulated power supply housed in a monstrous box separate from the main amp. These power supply boxes supply effortless power to drive virtually any speakers and all of the amps are an exceptional value compared to what you would pay for separate components to achieve these sonic capabilities.