The PASS INT-150, SimAudio I-7 and BAT VK-300xse are all nice sounding and moderately powerful Integrated Amplfiers that are reasonably priced at around $7K (msrp), with that said none will get you off the "amplfier merry-go-round" as mid-level seperates will. The excitment of these Integrateds wears-off rather quickly, and you soon start hearing, and overly-focusing on their sonic-compromises and power limitations. The main problem is that they are simply not powerful enough to cleanly/sufficiently drive most modern full-range loudspeakers in today's Home's over-sized Living Rooms.
What I've found in this hobby, is that it is best to wait and save, and then buy once and buy right - you'll save a lot of money and aggrevation in the long run.
You could easily get a decade's worth of listening enjoyment out of a near-reference (mid-level) Preamp. & Amp. vs swapping-out Int. Amps twice-a-year, as many people do. When you amortize the cost of buying quailty seperates, over 10-yrs of ownership, the cost becomes very reasonable, plus the happiness that comes with getting what you really want (virtually uncompromised sonics).
for example: I don't know of any Int. Amp. that sounds as good and is as powerful as a PASS X1 Preamp. and X250.5 Amp., and these 2 components can be had used (1-2-yrs old) for around $6K - that's just 50% more than a used PASS INT-150, even at only 5 short years of ownership - the difference is only $400 a year, and only $200 a year over a reasonable 10-yrs of ownership.
Mid-level (near-reference) seperates will get you a lot closer to the sonic performance of cost-no-object Amplifiers, than nearly any top-of-the-line Int. Amp. would...
note: The above opinion is based soley on my personal experiences in this hobby over the years, and is a non-scientific observation.
What I've found in this hobby, is that it is best to wait and save, and then buy once and buy right - you'll save a lot of money and aggrevation in the long run.
You could easily get a decade's worth of listening enjoyment out of a near-reference (mid-level) Preamp. & Amp. vs swapping-out Int. Amps twice-a-year, as many people do. When you amortize the cost of buying quailty seperates, over 10-yrs of ownership, the cost becomes very reasonable, plus the happiness that comes with getting what you really want (virtually uncompromised sonics).
for example: I don't know of any Int. Amp. that sounds as good and is as powerful as a PASS X1 Preamp. and X250.5 Amp., and these 2 components can be had used (1-2-yrs old) for around $6K - that's just 50% more than a used PASS INT-150, even at only 5 short years of ownership - the difference is only $400 a year, and only $200 a year over a reasonable 10-yrs of ownership.
Mid-level (near-reference) seperates will get you a lot closer to the sonic performance of cost-no-object Amplifiers, than nearly any top-of-the-line Int. Amp. would...
note: The above opinion is based soley on my personal experiences in this hobby over the years, and is a non-scientific observation.