Look into Accuphase and Mcintosh - I own both and they are great! |
The Creek 5350SE is excellent. However, it is only 85 watts per side. I would question the ability to get the most out of you Theils. And especially if you are going to want to drive planars. You will want more power. Muscial Fidelity makes the A300 which is 150 watts per side. That might be a better match and give you the ability to swap different speakers in and out. |
The Acurus is not a bad choice. Some will say it sounds no good, but I beg to differ. In a way I believe you get what you pay for. The one I am speaking of is the Acurus DIA-150.
It is also much less than you were thinking of spending at around $750. Look at this review : http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_8_3/acurus-dia-150-integrated-amplifier-7-2001.html
If anyone knows of a more powerful integrated than this one you should tell us. I would like to hear also.
As far as separates go, would you consider those too?
You could afford to get a top-of-the-line acurus set up, probably under $1000.
Then you would have 200x2 into 8 ohms, 300x2 into 4 ohms.
Dont believe all the negative comments you hear about Acurus from others who will soon be saying it doesn't sound good at all. It is made by the same people who make Aragon and the goal they had when making it was to make it very transparent. I currently use their top-of-the-line set up, Acurus A200 amp & Acurus RL-11 preamp, and although I am thinking of moving on to Aragon, this is not in your price range, is not integrated, and once again I feel that the Acurus is pretty good too.
As for experience, I have been into this for 10 years, but am sure their are many much more experienced opinions out there than mine. .02 |
I have the Plinius 8200 and a good friend has the 8100(less power). My friend is driving Thiel 2-2's, the previous version of your speaker. Both of us agree that the Plinius sounds fantastic! My other buddy, the original owner of the Thiels, said they need a lot of power to make them really sing. If that is true, that would make the 8200 the obvious choice among the two (175 vs 100 watts).
Enjoy,
TIC |
Magnum Dynalab MD308? New is high $2300 (100 watts/channel)
Perreaux E160i Integrated Amp $1800. (160 watts/channel) |
Check out the Sim I-5 used. I've had one for about 6 mo's and while it's only rated at 70w/ch, it sounds much much bigger. I'm driving a pair of Hales Rev 3's and can't decide whether to keep the I-5 or a Llano S-100 (which is a great solid state amp. |
The Pliunis 8100 is a great little integrated. It is based off the SA topography. It is a great sounding intergated amp coupled with dunlavy speakers. |
Might try Classe Cap 150, or YBA though the Passion is probably out of your price range. |
Primare A30 integrated could be found discounted/demo etc. for that money. It should work extremly well with 2.3s |
I have owned the Simaudio Moon I-5 and Electrocompaniet ECI-3 and liked them both. Just as Woodman mentioned, the I-5 sounds stronger than 70wpc, but so does the ECI-3. However, I don't know how either would fair with planars. The I-5 has the more neutral presentation, and is also more transparent. The ECI-3 is a bit smoother. But I should add that they sound very similar, and this really surprised me. If you get a chance to audition the Electrocomapniet, try to listen to the ECI-4 which is their 120wpc integrated.
The market for integrateds has never been better. There are many many great amps out there. Enjoy!! |
I have a Redgum RGi120s integrated amplifier, and have been impressed with it since day one. I checked out Primare, Roksan, Rega, NAD, Arcam, Plinius, Creek, etc when purchasing my amp. I am extremely happy with what the Redgum brings to my system(Soliloquy 6.3, Arcam cd92). The retail is 2k, but a demo could be had for about 1500. One word of advise, the pictures don't do this unit justice, the wood faceplate is stunning. |
The Plinius 8150/8200 is a good choice. I love my 8150. It drives B&W 803s with ease. Used $1600-1800. |
I should have mentioned that I want this amp to have a phono stage. I will spend up to $2500 as i would like to have it for a long time. I appreciate all the feedback. |
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Lots of good recommendations. I don't know the size of your room nor listening levels, but some of the respondents may be right that the smaller units may not be satisfactory to you - especially if you go planar. Of the higher output models listed, I know the Classe and Musical Fidelity have phono stages - not sure about all the others. In addition to these rec's, you can usually find a couple Krell 300i's around here. You nay get real lucky and find a used Rowland Concentra at the upper end of your range. You'd keep more options open if you get an outboard phono, or even consider separates. And I know you asked for SS, but if you consider tubes, at this price range a Rogue Tempest is hard to beat and has the features you want. Good luck! |
I am adding a second vote for the LFD Mistral SE. I have the one Sam Tellig used for his review (paid $1,250, I think)and I am very happy. The SE is rated for 80 WPC but plays much larger. Mine does not have a phono stage, so I got a Rega FONO (Brit to Brit seems to work the best in my system). This is the only part of my set-up that I am not considering up-grading.
You may want to test drive one to see how it performs with the planars, I am not familiar enough with them to advise one way or the other.
Dave |
If you will spend up to $2500 new and want phono, then add the YBA Integre DT to your list. |
