Best Integrated, period.

What about Grant Fidelity Rita 880....A audio dealer that has sold some of the best tube gear on the market said on the Grant Fidelity forum that the Rita 880 is the best that he has ever heard....And you can get a Demo RITA 880 for only.. $3,300 1-888-477-5379

Hifisoundguy all i can say is i have a RITA-880 driving a pair of 82db Acoustat 1+1s and doing a great job this is no regular 45 watts per channel amplifier it replaced a Bow Wazoo XL 75 watts per channel very good amplifier BUT for my tastes i prefer the RITA-880 and it,s believe it or not MORE powerful than the Bow Wazoo XL AND ALL THIS WITH ONLY 170 hours on the unit i was told it will reach it,s full potential after 300 hours even if the sound stays the way it is now i would be very pleased.

Have to add my two cents. The McIntosh MA6600. Sound is awesome, great and useable features. Built well and classic good looks. A nust audition at any price.

Last year I bought a Gryphon Diablo integrated amplifier after spending more than six months evaluating options including the Jeff Rowland Continuum C-500, the GamuT DI-150; the AMR AM-77; the Unison Research Unico 200 and the Plinius Hiato (to name some). I wrote about my experience in detail Here

Almost a year on there has not been a single moment of buyers remorse – other than when I tried to pair the Gryphon with an ESL speaker which did not work out. No problem. I also own valve amplification which was better for that specific task. Currently the Gryphon is driving dynamic speakers from Eben Acoustics (Raidho) and the pairing is simply wonderful. There must be something in the water in Denmark. The Danes seem to create some awesome audio products.

Kiwi, thanks for the update. I read your reviews pretty thoroughly while on my quest to purchase one of the best (if not *the* best) integrated amp.

For some reason, I thought you were partial to the Gamut over the Gryphon.

Anyway, I ended up buying the Gryphon Diablo too. On my short list was the Gamut, the Pass Labs INT-150, and the Dartzeel integrated. The Diablo's sound is absolutely superb, but I also really appreciate the power on-hand, as well as the fact that it has an on-board phono stage. The Dartzeel was the only other integrated on my short list that had a phono stage. For me, the phono stage was a pretty crucial element to my selection process.

Anyway, I run my Diablo with Quad ESL 57s and also with JBL L300 Summits. Within the next year or two, I would like to buy some of the higher-end Rockports to match it up with.