Fisher 400 receiver
Original Amber preamp and amp (for around a decade, these kept me SO happy, but I accidentally shorted out the amp and it was not repairable, so....)
Adcom 545 (big sonic step backward, alas, based on excellent reviews, argh!)
Forte 4a with PS Audio preamp (nice)
Forte 4a with Audible Illusions M3 (better)
Bryston 2 (or was it 2a?) with AI M3, later M3a (better)
Conrad Johnson 11a (huge improvement, score!)
Conrad Johnson Premier 12 monoblocks (tighter, more authority)
adding Conrad Johnson 17 LS preamp
toyed wiht First Sound Premier Deluxe II preamp (should have bought one..)
This was my sonic high water mark.
Then I got the DOWNGRADE bug. I decided to try out integrateds, big time. After reading so many raving reviews of cheap solid state integrateds and tiring of maintaining tubes... (Sam, are you seeing this?)
LFD Mistral (wonderful but not as lifelike as tubes)
Plinius 8200 mk II (wonderful but not as lifelike as tubes)
M something, model 208 receiver (nice but not nearly as lifelike as tubes)
Ok, what about tubes.....
Cary SLI-80 integrated, after heavy tube rolling, NICE. Have stuck with this.
DK VS-1 Mk II (NO, NO, did you have to bring that up ; - )
Actually the DK is my favorite non-SET integrated to date, but the looks don't really work in my living room. And, you do have to tube roll and leave it on constantly. It betters my Cary in authority and bass control, by a wide, wide margin, while being reasonably close in overall naturalness and offering better detail and bite. Sigh.
I expect to go back to tube separates.
Sigh.
Art
