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Choosing a Solid State Class A/B integrated amp

I have been committed to Integrated amps for over 10 years and have had a few, mainly Class a tube amps. I love what tubes, SET amps in particular, have to offer. The speed , mid range clarity and neutrality, can be pretty addictive. I have 2 integrated amps I use at the moment,both excellent, an Ayon Spark 20 watt SET and 50 watt hybrid Class A Pathos Inpol2.

The rest of the system is:
Mac Mini into an Ayre QB9 DAC for digital
TW Accustic Raven one/Ortofon 309D arm/Benz Micro LP cartridge
Daedalus DA-RMA speakers

Music choice is pretty eclectic, classical,Jazz,blues, singer Songwriter, not much rock, as such.

The system is great, but I know Lou at Daedalus likes higher ouput amps, particularly Modwright, despite his speakers being high sensitivity, so I would like to swap one of my amps for a higher output SS, or tube unit. .

My only exposure to a Class A/B SS integrated, was not a success. I tried the Karan K180 integrated and found it dull, slow and lifeless in my system, despite it's good reputation. Likewise, I have'nt often enjoyed the higher output push/pull tube units I have heard.

Any suggestions then for an integrated amp under $10000 new, though I would probably buy it cheaper, second hand. My ideal would be a Dartzeel H8550, which I have loved, every time I have heard it, but it's too expensive for me, even second hand. The new Modwright K200, is an obvious candidate. The reviews say is it is on the warm side of neutral, which I would like, but I have'nt heard it.

Give me some suggestions guys, thanks
david12
david12 OP
1,398 posts
 
Thanks for that Charles. I had a Pass Aleph 3 many years ago and it's one of the items I regretted selling.

I should have made something else clear. I have an itch to get a pair of quality 2 way standmounts , like the SF Cremona. For that, I would need more grunt than my current amps have.
donjr
1,311 posts
 
You might want to hold off until December and hear what the new Ayre AX5 sounds like. 125 watts and coming in slightly below 10k. I've read in Absolte Sound that several people at RMAF liked the Ayre room the best and they were showcasing the AX5. Not sure if that's enough power for you.
4musica44107
520 posts
 
GamuT Di-150. In my system, it easily outperformed my former ARC Ref-3 paired first with my Accuphase P-3000 and then with my Nagra PSA. With the Di-150, I continue to hear things from my Verity Fidelio Encores that I had never heard before! Best Regards, Steven
jdoris
852 posts
 
I've got the same question as the OP: I have a Pass INT-30A, which is a lovely piece, but I'd like more speaker flexibility than its 30 watts allows. I also favor "warm" over "neutral." So please do keep your thoughts on integrateds with grunt coming!

John
rtilden
156 posts
 
I was very happy with my CODA CSi integrated amp. Plenty of power with nice sonics. Also fully remote-controlled. Only reason for selling was moving to separates and a CODA 15.0 amp.
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