Why the facination with integrated amps?

Based on what others (pro and non-pro reviewers) have said, the Gryphon Diablo 300’s sound quality cannot be matched by separates at this price-point.  So for me it is sound quality and value.  At my budget I struggle to find seperates that have audiophile grade transparency and imaging and yet also have a good bass foundation, presence and with overall musicality driven by drive, timing, attack, decay and dynamics.  I’ve been finding lots of options that achieve the transparency and imaging but seem to fall short in some or all of the other areas.  Another thing is that I find some audiophile grade components to have not the right amount of bloom to certain tones to suit my tastes.  In other words they sound too lean, cold, and dry and not as musically engaging.

I’m completely open to seperates if I can beat the Diablo’s SQ for the same price.

They reason the value is there is you don’t have to factor in the cost of the chassis.  I saw some mfr (could have been McIntosh) say that a major portion of cost of a component is attributed to the chassis.

That said, I still have yet to audition the Gryphon Diablo so I am at this point relying on what (many) others have said.  It sounds like it will tick off all the boxes I’m looking at.  I will be testing it over the next two weeks sometime to decide for myself.

Agreed inna, for me it’s pretty simple - why would I pay the same amount of cash for seperates that have lesser sound quality versus the Gryphon Diablo?  Only reason may be to sacrifice some sound quality now for the sake of future flexibility facilitated by seperates.

That said, I’ve been trying and failing at finding separates that give me the type of sound I’m looking for - detailed and transparent with great sounstaging and dynamics, with well defined bass and good overall drive and timing.  And enough bloom on certain tones so that it doesn’t sound too dry and lean and non-musical, and yet having the right tones “pop” with immediacy and air and space, like with vocals.  And tonal evenness so that sibilants or sharp upper mids are reigned in and do not totally ruin lesser recordings.  Is that too much to ask?  So far at my price point I’ve found products that excel at some of these elements but not all of them, and because of that these products take me out of the “flow” of the music.  If the Diablo can check all the boxes above it will be worth every penny and will offer an experience I can’t get with separates.

Of note, last night on a whim I in-home demoed a Simaudio 600i integrated with my B&W 803 D2’s, and was totally dazzled by the detail and soundstage the amp offered.  But it was also dry and cold, shy on bass (but what bass was there was uber-well defined) and presence across the band, and rather cold and boring.  Not what I would call engaging....  Maybe just because my 803’s need more power, but something tells my the Simaudio is all about surgically presenting just the raw  facts and nothing more, which I don’t think is quite enough for me to stay connected with the music.