$1.4K to $1.6K Budget for New Integrated or New Amp/Preamp Combo

[Ajani]

I can't blame you for going with a proven combo. I don't know if I'd have your patience though to wait.

Usually bedrooms are crowded and not the best for sound stage and stereo set up, any compromises on a different room? Assuming you have a normal bed in there, it makes it difficult to do the listener in the perfect triangle configuration to your stereo speakers. You'll either be too close or have the bed or furnture between you. Hate to wreck anything after you've made a decision but have you ever thought about a good headphone amp and headphones? I am a big Sennheiser fan. I drive mine with the Musical Fidelity X-can but would love to try some others. I believe PS Audio has a head amp out that runs around $999.00. It would be interesting to see if there was that much difference in SQ. I'm not sure how much the X-can is these days but it's about half that price. There are several cheaper than that from reputable companies as well. This comes to mind as it seems space may be an issue for you. Headphones is a way to get excellent sound quality and eliminate any drawbacks of room interactions. Or, maybe put the wife and the TV in the bedroom

You have no idea how right that last option may be... I have the option to have the stereo either in the bedroom or the living room... only problem is that the tv is in the livingroom, so it would mean that either my wife can watch tv or I can listen to my stereo... so I chose to seperate them... But I can still switch them... so depending on whether the stereo sounds good in the bedroom or not, I may just put the tv in there and have the stereo in the livingroom... I actually have the bedroom setup so I can get a proper triangle for the stereo though (same thing with the living room)....

I've considered the posibility of a benchmark USB DAC and a pair of Sennheisers... but I'm a little worried that I'll get carried away with the volume.... I may eventually add headphones as a 2nd system.... but I doub't I'll start with the phones.... I really miss having speakers at this stage.... oh and waiting really sucks....

[audio amateur]

Waiting is the worst thing, i've experienced it long enough

[basite]

Waiting is the worst thing, i've experienced it long enough

I think I understand you

I waited 9 weeks for my cd player to arrive. waiting just plain sucks!

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[Ajani]

The hardest part about waiting for me, is that it gives me more time to second guess my decision... Now my brain is wondering what a setup of Revel F12, Creek Classic and Benchmark DAC1 USB would be like in comparison to the Monitor Audio RS8, Musical Fidelity X-T100 and X-DAC V8....

I imagine the former would be butter smooth neutral with good detail, while the latter would be really musical, fast and involving....

I hate waiting!!!!!!

[audio amateur]

The hardest part about waiting for me, is that it gives me more time to second guess my decision... Now my brain is wondering what a setup of Revel F12, Creek Classic and Benchmark DAC1 USB would be like in comparison to the Monitor Audio RS8, Musical Fidelity X-T100 and X-DAC V8....

I imagine the former would be butter smooth neutral with good detail, while the latter would be really musical, fast and involving....

I hate waiting!!!!!!

D'you have anything to play with in the meantime?
Until 2 weeks ago, all I had were earphones and my laptop's speakers.. That lasted several months. I almost went nuts

[Ajani]

D'you have anything to play with in the meantime?
Until 2 weeks ago, all I had were earphones and my laptop's speakers.. That lasted several months. I almost went nuts

I'm slowly going nuts, all I've got is my laptop and some earphones...

[audio amateur]

oh sh*t...

[Ajani]

oh sh*t...

Yep... I'm up a creek about now.... trying to get by on iTunes on some earphones is pretty much torture... so I have loads of time to research just about every brand in my price range and dream up new combos and second, third and fourth guess my decisions...

[audio amateur]

Yep... I'm up a creek about now.... trying to get by on iTunes on some earphones is pretty much torture... so I have loads of time to research just about every brand in my price range and dream up new combos and second, third and fourth guess my decisions...

Well... you do have something nice to look forward to in the end. So it's not ALL bad. But listening to earphones/headphones or whatever simply didn't cut it for me. That's why I used my laptop in-builts quite alot toward the end. That's probably what made my speakers sound so good when I finally got them
I think you'll be happy with RS8's

[Ajani]

Hey, has anyone tried the Arcam Solo???

I just realized that beauty is in my price range as well..... I "assume" that since it also has a built in CD player and Tuner, that it's likely not the best integrated amp in my price range, but I imagine it has a good CD player and hopefully a good preamp section so I could upgrade later.....

[basite]

Hey, has anyone tried the Arcam Solo???

I just realized that beauty is in my price range as well..... I "assume" that since it also has a built in CD player and Tuner, that it's likely not the best integrated amp in my price range, but I imagine it has a good CD player and hopefully a good preamp section so I could upgrade later.....

arcam has good products, their solo can't touch their other products though...

[Ajani]

arcam has good products, their solo can't touch their other products though...

Oh, that's really lame.... the Diva A70 Integrated Amp + the CD73 costs $1750, while the Solo is $1600... since the CD section is essentially the same and both the Solo and the A70 are 50 watts per channel, I would have thought the solo would be pretty much a one box combo of the A70 and the CD73...

EDIT: Have you tried the Diva Range?

[Mr Peabody]

Arcam does sound pretty good and their amps can drive some amazing speaker loads for their size, however, their power ratings used to be into 4 ohms and 50 watts sounded like barely 50 watts. So don't think it's rated at 50 and will sound like 100. The exception was my FMJ 3 channel rated at 100x3, this drove my Dyn's in a HT set up and It was a fairly strong 100 watts. A big improvement over the Alpha 10 integrated I tried rated at 100 watts. Arcam will be a bit leaner and more agressive than the MF though, it depends on what sound you are trying to achieve.

I heard a Solo once but they were coming out of the pre outs into the Martin Logan amplified speakers. The sound was really good which speaks good for the CD and preamp but I didn't get to hear how strong the internal Solo amp was.

[Ajani]

Arcam does sound pretty good and their amps can drive some amazing speaker loads for their size, however, their power ratings used to be into 4 ohms and 50 watts sounded like barely 50 watts. So don't think it's rated at 50 and will sound like 100. The exception was my FMJ 3 channel rated at 100x3, this drove my Dyn's in a HT set up and It was a fairly strong 100 watts. A big improvement over the Alpha 10 integrated I tried rated at 100 watts. Arcam will be a bit leaner and more agressive than the MF though, it depends on what sound you are trying to achieve.

I heard a Solo once but they were coming out of the pre outs into the Martin Logan amplified speakers. The sound was really good which speaks good for the CD and preamp but I didn't get to hear how strong the internal Solo amp was.

Hmmmm, the CD and Preamp are the most intersting parts to me... since I can always upgrade the amp later if it's too wimpy (It is measured at 50 watts at 8 ohms, 75 at 4 ohms)....

Looks like I've got one more option to consider.....

[Mr Peabody]

Arcam has always had excellent digital playback. Will the Solo give you any USB connection?

[Ajani]

Arcam has always had excellent digital playback. Will the Solo give you any USB connection?

Unfortunately not... but at least, I'd be able to compare the CD playback from the Solo with my computer and DVD player... so I can know whether buying a USB DAC would be worthwhile.....

The only Integrated amp I can think of around my price range with a USB input is the Musical Fidelity A1 (should cost under $2K when it comes out).... but it only has 20 watts (which would probably still be more than enough power, but it's hard to convince myself to spend that much for so few watts)....

[cmarchiano]

Would like to know where to get the Parasound 5125 amp and the P3 pre amp for 1.5k? The best that I have seen was 2.8k.

[O'Shag]

Ajani,

If I was in your spot, there are two serious contenders I would look at given the price range:

1. The Naim Nait 5i Integrated @1,495.00 US
2. The Cayin A-50T @ $1,295.00 US

The Naim Nait 5i will excel with exceptional punch. What makes the Nait 5i so interesting, is that the Naim engineers have managed to capture some of the magic of their very expensive amp/preamp in this 'humble' integrated. Namely, it excels in the area of pace, rhythm, and timing - PRaT. I've not owned one but one of my audio buddies has one, and I was very impressed. It is solid state, but does not sound overly bright or etched - hence a very good match for the Monitor Audio Gold Reference 20s. The Nait 5i sounds more powerful than its 50watts, which leads me to believe it has very generous current available to drive a reasonably efficient speaker load such as the .GR20s.

The second option, the Cayin A-50T, is a helluva lot of amp for the money, especially if you like the tube sound - as I do (its much easier for a signal to pass through a vacuum than slog its way through silicon). The A-50T is built to a very high standard given its price. Its 35 watts in ultralinear mode is adequate given that the GR20s at 6ohms nominal / 89db are not too difficult a load to drive. There is also the option to use triode, but the power drops to 15watts a bit on the wimpy side. A pity really because a powerful triode amp sounds awesome. The A-50T won't have the magic of the Nait in terms of that exceptional sense of pace and control, but it will offer the midrange magic of tubes ie lots of body, harmonic completeness etc etc. that the Nait will not deliver in the same way I think. But I can;t be sure as I've not yet heard the A-50T myself. But it Defintiely is a great buy.

These are the two amps I would strongly consider buying new at your price range.

If you could spend more (which you probably won't want to), and were willing to buy slightly used, then the Marsh Sound Design amps/preamps are awesome for the money. I'm dying to see what Luvin Da Blues thinks of his new Marsh gear. He just bought the 2000B preamp and A200 amp I think.

Cheers big ears

[Mr Peabody]

Nothing like more choices but O'Shag brought a couple very good ones to the table. Naim is very good, like Britain's answer to Krell. I haven't actually heard Cayin. I've been very curious to hear a couple of their integrated amps, one they claim has a sonic signature of a Mac tube and the other they say mocks the Marantz 7 or 9, it's been some time since I read about them so forgive the non-specifics.

[Luvin Da Blues]

If you could spend more (which you probably won't want to), and were willing to buy slightly used, then the Marsh Sound Design amps/preamps are awesome for the money. I'm dying to see what Luvin Da Blues thinks of his new Marsh gear. He just bought the 2000B preamp and A200 amp I think.

What can I say.... . Actually I bought the A400s amp (200wpc A/B, balanced inputs). This amp is one solid performer. The most noticeable thing about this amp is the ease and detail in which the background vocals and instruments are presented. It is huge tho, it won't fit inside to many std. cabinets. I though that it would show the limitations of my psb G-Designs but it makes them "sing" like I've never heard them. I originally had them wired with #12 awg but decided to bi-wire with #10awg which really opened up the imaging and soundstage not to mention more low end "slam". Goes to show what decent electronics can do.

The matching P200b (balanced outputs) is perfect for synergy (of course) as they were designed to work as a matching system. The P200b has limited connectivity but this is fine for me as I'm going back to the basics with my current system. I do feel ripped off not getting any tone controls...LOL, trust me, with my current setup they are not needed but then I didn't use the EQ or any tone adjustments with my Denon either.

I will post some pics when I get my camera fixed.

[Ajani]

Would like to know where to get the Parasound 5125 amp and the P3 pre amp for 1.5k? The best that I have seen was 2.8k.

Ummm... I actually said I can get the P3 Pre amp + A23 Amp for $1.5K (retail is $1.65K)....

[Ajani]

Ajani,

If I was in your spot, there are two serious contenders I would look at given the price range:

1. The Naim Nait 5i Integrated @1,495.00 US
2. The Cayin A-50T @ $1,295.00 US

The Naim Nait 5i will excel with exceptional punch. What makes the Nait 5i so interesting, is that the Naim engineers have managed to capture some of the magic of their very expensive amp/preamp in this 'humble' integrated. Namely, it excels in the area of pace, rhythm, and timing - PRaT. I've not owned one but one of my audio buddies has one, and I was very impressed. It is solid state, but does not sound overly bright or etched - hence a very good match for the Monitor Audio Gold Reference 20s. The Nait 5i sounds more powerful than its 50watts, which leads me to believe it has very generous current available to drive a reasonably efficient speaker load such as the .GR20s.

The second option, the Cayin A-50T, is a helluva lot of amp for the money, especially if you like the tube sound - as I do (its much easier for a signal to pass through a vacuum than slog its way through silicon). The A-50T is built to a very high standard given its price. Its 35 watts in ultralinear mode is adequate given that the GR20s at 6ohms nominal / 89db are not too difficult a load to drive. There is also the option to use triode, but the power drops to 15watts a bit on the wimpy side. A pity really because a powerful triode amp sounds awesome. The A-50T won't have the magic of the Nait in terms of that exceptional sense of pace and control, but it will offer the midrange magic of tubes ie lots of body, harmonic completeness etc etc. that the Nait will not deliver in the same way I think. But I can;t be sure as I've not yet heard the A-50T myself. But it Defintiely is a great buy.

These are the two amps I would strongly consider buying new at your price range.

If you could spend more (which you probably won't want to), and were willing to buy slightly used, then the Marsh Sound Design amps/preamps are awesome for the money. I'm dying to see what Luvin Da Blues thinks of his new Marsh gear. He just bought the 2000B preamp and A200 amp I think.

Cheers big ears

Thanks.... I've wondered about Naim for awhile, but I've never had the chance to audition any of their products... well that's 2 more products on my list.... This is gonna be a lot of work.... lol