Rega Brio-R Break-in time.

Unfortunately, I think my ears agree with Mezzanine. I just replaced my hk3490 with Brio-R today. The sound has improved measurably across the board. Finally, my Vienna Acoustic Bach 6ohm speakers have come alive! There's more detail, more composure, more control, and the bass has gone from bloated mush to firm and taut; EXCEPT --and I really hate to say it --- I can't listen to this damn thing! I keep turning the volume down, the brightness just gives me a headache...

I listened to some vinyl, which calmed things a little. Then I spun Getz Au Go Go and I realized it -- the coupe de grace for me -- somehow the magic had gone mostly missing from the sax of Stan Getz and the voice of Astrud Gilberto. Honestly, they sounded a little dry, boring, and absent the smoothness/sweetness I'm use to hearing.

I plan on running the Brio-R all week to see if either my ears adjust or it breaks in; if not. I'm pretty sure I have a 30 day return policy to make use of.

So.. recommendations for an integrated for $500-1000 with a smooth/lush-neutral character anyone?

The Bach's are really nice speakers. I personally don't think the Rega is a good match up for Vienna speakers. For $500-1000. That's a tough one. You want something powerful, yet smooth and clear for the Vienna's. If you can find a used Primare I21 I would go for that. Heard it together one time and sounded good. NAD might work well. Arcam is smoother than Rega. Oh I know, this is just a hunch but there is on sale right now on Audio Advisor website a Vincent Audio integrated amp. 100 watts and a tube preamp stage with 4 tubes! I bet anything you will like it. If not they have a 30 day return policy. Regularly $1500 on sale for $1000 right now. It will give you the current that the Viennas need and the warmth you are looking for. Let me know what you decided. Good luck!

Thanks for the suggestions, Mezzanine. I've read about the Primare I21 + Vienna combination quite a few times, so it must be pretty good. I saw one on ebay, but I wanted a built in a phono stage and the reassurance of a warranty so I opted for the Rega Brio-R instead. I didn't see the Vincent you mentioned on audioadvisor, but they do seem like nice products -- would love to try tubes with the VAs! I have considered the peachtree products (as integrated or preamp/dac) and also the Primaluna prologue one (the only primaluna I could afford and the one that never comes up used).

Anyway, back on topic, I called the folks at needledoctor.com today to return the Brio-R, but the fellow on the phone (extremely helpful and friendly customer service btw) assured me that the store's Brio-R sounded "brutal" out of the box and suggested that I break it in for a good 50-100 hours. I've already put about 35+ hours in, so I'm going to give it a shot before I decide what to do.

Funnily enough, I stumbled upon the Stereophile review of the Brio-R last night; I believe the reviewer described the amp as "smooth and non fatiguing" which mirrors some of the comments I've seen on this forum. I guess we'll see...

That is interesting. Not sure if people are just hearing differently or perhaps I didn't let it in burn in long enough? I played it a few hours everyday for about 5 weeks. So I don't know. I ended up selling mine on here. One thing that did help was that I swapped out my Audioquest Diamondback interconnect cables for Cardas Quadlink 5-C. That smoothed out the sound somewhat.
I also bought my Brio-R at the Needle Doctor. Those guys are very helpful. The Vincent Audio SV-226 MK2 I saw in a recent Audio Advisor catalogue that they sent me. It was in the clearance section. Maybe it's already sold out. I didn't see it on their webpage either.
On a side note, I have to be honest, I have to say that the Rega might need more break-in time or not but I have owned over 15 integrated amps in my life and there was only one that sounded brighter to me ears in the upper midrange and lower treble and that was an Audiolab 8000. Makes no sense because a lot of the Rega's frequency range sounds really smooth except in certain areas. If you decide to keep it I look forward to knowing if it got a lot better after a long break-in time or not. Let me know if that brightness ever calmed down.
Thanks

Just an update: I returned the Brio-R after putting around 150 hours on it (can't say I noticed any real change past the 60-70 hour mark); it was still too bright for me to live with. Upon return, my dealer confirmed that my unit sounded fine to him...well, everyone hears differently.