1. Home
  2. amps-preamps
  3. 125923-20253

Would you go all 1 brand for electronics?

When I was younger I used to dream of stacks. Especially Tandberg. The sexy black and chrome gear was amazingly sexy, and sleek. Ahead of it’s time really in that respect. Kyocera, Studer, Sumo, Amber, Hitachi, Yamaha, Technics, were all making gear that stacked beautifully together. Of course, so was McIntosh.

Then I got to hear a demo of Conrad Johnson gear driving a Martin Logan single panel speaker. It was good, but as soon as the CJ amp got switched out for a solid state amp, it was absolutely magical. That broke the spell for me. When I got older I found myself mixing and matching more and more, as well as often wishing there wasn’t a single damn cable in the system and it all just worked. :)

I tried going all 1 brand with Parasound, but then I discovered great sounding digital amps and instead of going with many Parasounds I went with little monoblocks, and the whole stack idea was broken. They don’t make sources anyway.

So my question for all of you, especially those of you who do not have all 1 brand stacks of gear. If you had to choose, from source to amp, a single brand, what would it be? Of course your paying for it, so keep the cost in mind. :)

I think we should reasonably exclude record players, though some like McIntosh DO make them.


Best,


Erik


erik_squires
theothergreg
219 posts
 
Some say that built-in phonos can be as good as a stand alone (DarTZeel, Audio Note, Luxman for instance), but I have not personally heard them.

My C1100 preamp is superb in every way except for the built-in phono.  I tried really to love it but just couldn't, so ended up getting a stand alone from another brand.  I have not heard the new stand alone Mac phono but have absolutely no desire to replace mine now. 
erik_squires OP
5,268 posts
 
Can be, and ARE as good is not the same thing. Devil is always in the implementation. I mean, I am open to the idea of a preamp with a great built-in phono stage, like I am open to the idea of an integrated with a great built-in DAC, but I'd be constantly worried about missing out.

Slightly off topic is the idea of the universal integrated amp. Not just one brand, but one piece of gear! :)

If some one said "Erik, get rid of all this crap, and get down to 1 piece of electronics" I might go with the Parasound Integrated. Their Zdac was quite good for the price, I would hope the Integrated kept that tradition alive.

PrimaLuna, AR , Cary, and Bryston also make very nice integrateds, mostly sans-DAC.

erik_squires OP
5,268 posts
 
My bad, I was thinking of Perreaux, which it turns out is from New Zealand, not France!
erik_squires OP
5,268 posts
 
I think besides MBL we're missing the big guns too, no one has really stood up for modern Krell, Mark Levinson (did I miss it?) Boulder or Ayre.

I'm really surprised, since I usually like what I hear from Ayre. Never heard Boulder or ML.  Can you believe it? :)

Best,


Erik
Post removed 
More to discover