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Integrated thingy

My first attempt at posting this didn't go over well with Audiogon. Here's another go at it...

I'm looking for a beautiful integrated amp with plenty of power (at least a 100 per side). It needs to have luscious mids, a tight bottom and spacious highs. I prefer an autoformer-based volume control like the one in ASL's Flora, but I might be able to live with a potentiometer-based volume control if this is a deal breaker. It has to have a remote. I'm done with this primitive act of getting out of my chair to change the volume. I also need a nice phono stage in there too. I don't want to be too picky, but something along the lines of a K&K, Boulder, LAMM, Aesthetix. Is there a unit with a nice analog sounding cd/dvd player in there too?

You see, I've had it with the cancer that's spreading in my living room. It started with separates, then spawned into monoblocks, then morphed into biamping with garden hose PCs and ICs and eye sores everywhere. It looks like a rats nest back there. When I started looking at DACs, it dawned on me there's no end to the madness. I don't want to audition any more cables, vintage 12AX7 or 6NS7. I just want all the parts to be designed elegantly in a beautiful container with silver wire quietly doing it's magic inside.

And my girlfriend keeps asking why I have four extra pairs of speakers in my closets. I tried to tell her that I was comparing them, but she looked puzzled with that answer. And the tweaking. Oh my god. My living room looks like a garage with soldering guns, screw drivers, capacitors and wire scattered everywhere. Thank god for dinner parties that force me to clean up once in a while.

Does anyone else share my feeling of being on an irrational journey that consumes so much time, energy and money? When does it end? Why do I need all this stuff? I remember when I had a Yamaha receiver a few years ago and everything was so simple -- one power cord and a cd player. Man, those were the days! It might not have been the best sounding rig, but it wasn't bad. Where did I go wrong?
mingles
newbee
4,767 posts
 
Hi Mark, I've got one of those Cayin 100's driving my Silverline Bolero's, primarily using a Raysonic 128 CDP as a source, but I also use a BAT (more romantic) and a Wadia 302 (for more drive and mid-range clarity). I've been in the process of 'downsizing' ever since I retired my TT and got tired of all of the system synergy issues. I also use two other CDP's for various types of music, my remaining idiocy (I like to think).

It is exceptionally well built and very easy to use and maintain. Its very responsive to tube changes. I settled on SED KT88's and EI 12AX and AU 7's for a good combo of warmth and clarity.

I prefer the ultralinear mode. The difference between it and triode is most observable as in triode there is a real dip in the mid/upper mid range and the sound becomes relaxed but a bit thin. In ultralinear you get both more drive and an upfront(not bright!) mid-range. BUT for casual listening triode is great - the amp runs very cool (for tubes) and you should get really long life out of the power tubes.

BTW, its not a 100/50wt amp. VAS and Acoustic Sounds' ads are contrary to the owners manual. Not an issue for me as I have 92db efficient speakers. The manual spec's it out as 36/70 wt pc. About 1.5db less power output. Not much.

At 3K I think its an excellent unit and I see relatively new ones for 2K or less. Don't know how you can go wrong at those prices.
mingles OP
796 posts
 
Thanks Newbee. I appreciate the info. The Cayin is more in line with what I can afford. I was trying to stay at 100 watts, but I may not get everything I want. I wonder why their website says power output is 100 watts. Are there different models?
newbee
4,767 posts
 
Different versions? Not to my knowledge. You might like to visit the current post requesting info "multiple choice integrateds" where in the Cayin A70T is discussed a bit. Only about 3db difference between this an your 100wt goal. And about $1000 new, and $600 used, difference that is from new. :-)
mingles OP
796 posts
 
I must have been having a bad day when I started this post. As much as I want to simplify and de-clutter, I can't imagine letting go of my amps and TVC. I really like their synergy. They offer something very warm and realistic.

However, I'm thinking about a Monarchy M24 serving as a preamp and a DAC. Lynn Olson wrote an interesting review where he said:
If you use the Linestage with the built-in [volume] control, it'll sound noticeably more closed-in, less dynamic, and less open than it really is, with just a bit of grain at the top. With an external AVC or TVC feeding the linestage, the linestage actually sounds better than the AVC or TVC by itself, and the sound quality leaps to the top of the tube-linestage league. The real giveaway is the grain—a good tubestage should never have any grain, at least with a competent power supply. Get rid of the control, the grain completely disappears, the soundstage width and depth doubles, the bass deepens, and dynamics really open up. It's not a small difference.

hmm. This would mean more clutter. How does one resist?
issabre
120 posts
 
Oh and check out the Muic Hall stuff. I heard it not long ago at Promusica in chicago. Not bad. I still prefer my Linn Classik, but the Music Hall was pretty good.
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