Buy new integrated or vintage?

If you're looking for great build, longetivity, excellent customer support, and accurate sound, Bryston should be at the top of your list IMO. Owning a small project studio, you may have heard the name before, as they're a very popular studio and audiophile brand.

I own a B60, so I can tell you it's built like a tank. Solid metal chassis, tight knobs, etc. It's a true dual mono amp - it uses one power transformer for each channel, and on and on. And it sounds phenominal IMO. Very transparent and musical sounding.

The B60 integrated can be found within your budget. There's one currently listed for $725 - no connection to the seller.

Bryston has a 20 year transferrable warranty, and when that expires, they'll fix anything they've ever made for a great price.

The Naim Nait is also a great integrated amp. If it weren't for the B60, that's the amp I'd own.

Not sure what speakers you're driving nor how big the room is. The B60 is 60 watts, and the Nait is 50. From my experience with both, they can drive any realistic speaker to realistic volumes in normal sized rooms. My B60 can drive my Audio Physic Yara bookshelves louder than I can for them too withough straining. If you're looking to drive something like a Totem Mani-2 in a big room to rock concert levels, they're not going to get the job done.

I think I understand what you like: Old school build quality or "Beefiness" e.g., robust parts made of metal and chosen for their operational and structural integrity that easily exceeds any demands that will be placed upon them through normal and probably even excessive use. I'd be surprised if you could find that in a new component for under, or anywhere near, a grand nowadays.

One guy who shares your values is Andy from "Vintage Tube Services". He might be willing to advise you if you give him a call.

For my part, I wouldn't go too vintage unless I had a good tech who I trusted.

are you looking to power your studio or just looking for a replacement for the house? if for the house, seriously, i'd look to see if that Marantz i mentioned yesterday is still there, for a buck fifty, bro. and like someone else said, i am no relation to the seller...

Arte Forma Audio Susan with remote controlled Dual lightspeed attenuators would be very high on my list of Integrated amps to try out! The only other Integrated amp that uses these lightspeed attenuators for a volume control is DartZeel and they are over $20,000 !! The Arte Forma amp is only $$1395 ! The lightspeed passive attenuator preamp are one of the best you can buy and from what I heard on the forums they sound alot better after you put them inside of a amp! I found out about this Arte Forma amp here.. http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=87635.0 They show some pictures of their new Susan model with the Dual lightspeed attenuators at the bottom of this thread.

Bryston is a name I am fimilar with having been in studios where they are the monitor power source. Thanks for the suggestion. My project studio has a Hafler power/monitor/system setup but I am looking for an integrated for a living area apart from the studio. It would however also be used to monitor mixes as well. It's always good to listen to mixes on "consumer grade" equipment as this will be the type of system the majority of listeners will have. I think Phaelon hits the nail on the head with the realization that I can not find the build quality I have without spending a lot more today! It seems however, that 1980 prices are not really relative to todays when electronics generally have gotten cheaper. My guess is supply and demand for two channel stereo is relativly small as apposed to flat screen TV's and I Pods.

Thanks for your suggestions, this is a great forum and feel fourtunate to have found it. I will be hanging around checking on gear for sale and probably asking a few more questions.

Smitty