Integrated amp for Wilson Audio Cub 2's

Thank you very much for all your responses. To Zd542, why don't you think the Audio Research won't work very well? I have always liked the compliment of Audio Research and Wilson but I do admit I have never heard the Cubs on Audio Research. I have heard the Sophia 2's, the Sasha's and the Alexandria's and they all sounded very nice.

Just to be clear, I didn't mean to imply it definitely would not work, just that I feel there is a real possibility it may not be a good match, and therefore would recommend an audition as mandatory before buying. The reason for this, is that when you are working with a speaker as sensitive as the Cub, its very easy to get gain related noise issues. I like ARC and have set up and owned many of their components. I find quite often, some of their entry level gear, is not the cleanest sounding. That's why I think the Ayre or BAT would be a better choice. Both of those companies make very quiet components. The only thing you will need to be careful of if you choose the Ayre, are your sources. Ayre doesn't feel that at the Ax-7's price point, they can build a good sounding amp and active preamp, even if they put in one box as an integrated. Instead, they give you an amp and a passive linestage. What that means for you is, without a traditional active line stage to act as a buffer between your source and your amp, a burden is placed on the quality of the output stage of your sources. For most people that don't have very efficient speakers like you, its usually not a noticeable issue. For you, however, it can be. You need to pick sources that have a quality analog output stage and don't have too much gain to be a problem. If you end up getting the Ayre, using matching Ayre components would be a great way to go.

If you go with the BAT mentioned above, you are less likely to have gain issues because that unit uses an active line stage. The downside is that its about 2x the cost.

What about a Primaluna Dialogue Premium Integrated for now? Ultimately I would like to end up with the new Audio Research VSI75 integrated. What do you think?

If it was my choice, I would hold off and just get the amp you really want. After your first post, I had a look at your HK because I wasn't familiar with it. It looks like a really good product. There's no guarantee the Primaluna will be better than what you have now. If you can't do a demo, I wouldn't risk it.

You may want to try some great integrateds from the same time period as the Cubs, such as the YBA Passion or Rowland Concentra (if you can find them).