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Integrated amps on a 1,000 dollar budget

Hi everybody, I have b and w dm 602 s3 loudspeakers which I love. However my prepro combo is a rotel 1080 rb amp and 1070 preamp. While I love he speakers, the amp and pre are very forward sounding and fatiguing for my tastes. Also I will be going away to college next year and would liek to have an integrated to save space. Althogh I know my prepro is quality equipment, its just not my taste. I am looking for a warm integrated, easy, relaxing and musical to listen to. That being the reason I am strongly considering a tube integrated. I am in the market for used or new with a budget of 1000 dollars, approximately what I plan to sell my separates for which are in mint condition. Can anyone reccommend an integrated within my budget known for its warmth and musicality keeping in mind used is ok for me and considering my speakers. Thank you very much.
bigmoneyv4
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
The Shanling has been very well reviewed. Also you may want to consider the Music Hall Maven; used at around $750; if you need to save space, you can rip CDs to your computer and output digital to the Maven's built in DAC. My friend has one and I think its a great bargin.
ryder
1,748 posts
 
Classe CAP-100 is warm and liquid. Around $750. YBA Integre DT is very musical. Around $1,000 or slightly more. I have owned both. The YBA Integre is a better-sounding unit to me. I have used both to drive B&W CDM 1SE and N805. The YBA may be a slight overkill for your 602s3.
bigmoneyv4 OP
20 posts
 
I just checked the stereophile review on the classe cap 100 and it was positive but noted the sound to be slightly forward and bright. This the opposite of what I am looking for.
robertbrown
151 posts
 

best
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?intatran&1215563211
second best
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?intatran&1216304702
ryder
1,748 posts
 
Bigmoneyv4, I didn't read the review in Stereophile and don't know what speakers they were using. The B&W's are widely known to be bright speakers by many folks here due to the metal dome tweeter(I didn't find them to be bright anyway) and in my system, I have used Krell KAV-300i, Classe CAP-100, YBA Integre DT, Arcam Alpha 10 and pre-power combination based around Plinius amplification. Forward and bright will be more suitable to describe the Krell KAV-300i. In comparison, the Classe is warm and liquid. I have never heard Classe being described as bright sounding, and I suppose the reviewer in Stereophile that wrote about the Classe CAP-100 being bright must have experienced something "significantly" warmer with regards to the Classe. I didn't mention Arcam as it was not as warm as the Classe and lacked dynamics. Anyway, different people hear things a bit differently so your mileage may vary. Also, brightness can be caused by other issues as well, mainly room issues. If there is allowance to address room acoustics it might be worth a try.
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