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Integrated advice

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all doing well. I am considering moving some of my rig to my office system, so I may have an opening at home for an integrated. I'm happy with my current speakers - Golden Ear Triton 7 - that have an 89db sensitivity and a minimum of 3.7ohms. The front end is digital - Oppo 105 (may move to the Sony HAP Z1es, but nonetheless it will be digital). I've been using a Hegel H80, which I find to be a very nice sounding amp. However, more headroom/power would be a nice thing to have, especially because the Triton 7 has a nicely controlled deep bass.

I'm looking at a budget around $2,000-$3000 and want balanced inputs. I don't need a DAC or phono input. At this price point, I've seen a few possibilities that look interesting:

a. Wyred 4 Sound STI-500 (or the 1000)
b. Krell s300i
c. Musical Fidelity M6i (if I can find it used)

Wondering if you might give me your thoughts on any of the above. There are no dealers around here, so I won't have a chance to listen to it. However, I'll be sure to buy from a site with a return policy.

I appreciate your input and wish you all a good evening,
Scott
smrex13
dweller's avatar
dweller
2,152 posts
 
My "go to" integrated is a BAT VK-300SE.
300 watts/ch @ 4 ohms, XLR in/outs, 6H30 driver tubes (used
by Audio Research, et al), pre-outs (for you subwoofer(s)),
and, oh yes, it sounds like music!
These have been selling for fire-sale prices lately (?).
$1800 - $2500
For low miles, make sure the serial number ends "4XX" or higher.
I hear the new BAT int will sell around $9000.
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
1,621 posts
 

I have a better idea, the Nuprime IDA 16 which is a massive 200 watt integrated with very nigh headroom.

The Ice amps do not have the midrange liquidity of the Nuforce and the Nuprime product is Nuforce's re-emergence back into the high end market.

The older Nuforce Ref series of amps and preamp which cost about $9,000.00 and were very highly rated and the Nuprime integrated brings a lot of the same sound quality and design down to a much lower price point and the amp has a fantastic dac built in which will also do DSD as well as 24/192 sampling all for $2,300.00 so you could radically improve the sound of the Oppo and you could save money over the Sony player and but a nice Mac Mini instead and just direct connect to to the Amp via USB.

I am ordering one and I can let you know after I have it how good it is. The older Nuforce stuff was incredible sounding and to this date I still remember how effortless and dynamic those amplifiers were.
Ag insider logo xs@2x
alton454
9 posts
 
Check out the Musical Fidelity M6500i. There are 2 on AUDIOGON forsale. I own one and wouldn't change. Plenty of power,finesse,low heat. Check their website and review their specs. You won't be disappointed.

Alton454
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
5,112 posts
 
The Ayre is a big step up from Wyred for Sound
austinbob
198 posts
 
Well, it's a poor frog that won't praise its own pond, but I'm very happy with my Luxman 505ux integrated. It replaced an Ayre AX-7E and it was a noticeable improvement with my Harbeth SHL5 speakers. It has one set of balanced inputs that I use with my DAC. The onboard phono preamp is surprisingly good although I use an outboard PS Audico GCPH. Wonderful build quality, flexible, great remote. I even like the loudness control for low-volume listening, although you can go "line straight" and bypass all tonal correction features. You can also easily integrate into a A/V system if you decide to go that route. List is $4000, I bought mine for $3400, used you should be able to find well under $3000.
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