Integrated Amplifier - The One To Rule Them All!

A friend asked me this question - which is the integrated amp currently in production that's the mother of 'em all? One that you buy, place in your system and forget about upgrading because it'll drive just about anything, is future-proof as much as a product can be for now, and built to last?

Got me thinking ....

Pass? McIntosh? NAD M Series? Bladelius? ... In fact, is there anything like this in the market?

Let me know what you think, and let's not get sidetracked into the merits of pre/power vs integrated or ss vs tubes ... a complete holistic view instead ... something one can enjoy for years and years and years ...

Audio gd A500. no clear review and emerging market stuff, no CE approval. Rumour to have sound quality of premium krell int have to offer, with one third the price. Damn, i still cant afford.
No guarantee to last forever though.
Or if u have money, the luxman filled with features isnt bad too.

One intergrated Amplifier I cld live with and own forever wld be the Audio Note Ongaku.

Damn, if only I cld afford one.

Having heard the entire range of Exposure integrated amplifiers, from the 1010 to the 2010s2 (which I own) and the 3010s2, I believe that any one of those correctly matched would be a bang-for-buck giant killer choice.

I've heard various sources played through the amps, driving a small, but diverse range of speakers and I think that Exposure have done some things right.

BR, going by the gears you've owned and those amps that you've have sampled all over the years, perhaps you might want to check out Simaudio 600i or 700i integrated amps. I'd happily live with either model.

Narrowed down my choice when i downgraded to a new int amp last month. It was between Bladelius Thor mk3 and Krell s300i. Well, i chose the Krell because it was within my budget. Used to own Musical Fidelity Tri Vista 300, another smooth awesome beast.

If there is a such thing as The One amplifier, it must be from Musical Fidelity M6, AMS or Titan series. Why, you ask me?

Because my ears said so heheheheh.

Gryphon Diablo. Hope to hear one in future. Rated one of the best in the world! Anybody own one in Malaysia?

Just for sharing purposes:- I have searched & have audition through a number of integrated amplifiers (both new or used) for the past 6 months to replace my old Audiolab 8000A. My budget was around RM5k and i needed an amplifier that is neutral (or slightly warm) but smooth, detailed (but not too analytical), punchy (when called upon), able to produce a wide & deep soundstage and most importantly, to match my setup (Krell Kav300i is an excellent int amp but is too fast & furious for my setup IMHO, so i hope you see what i am looking for). Well, after 6 months of searching & after having listened to Exposure, Roksan Kandy, Alchemist, XTZ, Audio Space (pre & power), Unison Research (anniversary tube amp), counterpoint (pre & power) and many others (as well as after some good & nice dealers who let me take home their amp for me to audition in my system), i started to doubt that there are such an integrated amplifier with the above attributes that really exists!

However, 2 days before Chinese New Year, i saw this in the Equipment for sale section of our forum: http://www.hifi4sale.net/t23915-avi-laboratory-series-int-amp-soldd

Basically, the brand of the amp is totally unknown to me and there is not too many review in the internet for this amp (and price tag rivals the Krell Kav300i ) . I consulted my friend who is a partimer in our local chinese Hifi magazine and he told me this amp was once sold by Highway Laser and it was not well received. He further added that this is a 'back yard machine' and not something that is valued for money. Nevertheless, i went to see, i listen & ... i paid.

It is now sitting proudly in my humble room ...

The tonality produced by this amp is excellent, even to the extent of being sweet. The bass produced is clean, punchy yet extremely control. The stage is wide and deep. I hear details that i didn't know it was there before this. The harshness that i used to hear from my system are now gone. It is slightly laid back but still with enough dynamic to 'move your body' when called upon. In short, to me, it is far from being a 'back yard made machinery'. So, don't believed everything those reviewer tell you ya, listen to it with your own ears and form your own judgement.

So, is this the perfect integrated amplifier or 'the one to rule them all'? It is for me (in fact, i called it the poor man's Mark Levinson) but i doubt it is everyone's cup of tea. Everything HIFI is just like food and women - it depends on one's preferences, individual taste and in my context, system matching. I always remind myself that "one man's meat is another man's poison."

Thanks for reading and have a happy weekend.

p.s. thanks to Boxer to putting up this AVI amplifier up for sale. Hope i will be able to afford a system such as the one in your bedroom in the near future ...

Hey kychoo! Great post! Enjoy reading it

Hi kychoo, this is no ordinary amp man. It won what hifi amp of the year for 2002 or 2003. Thought this amp never glance our shore here. Nice write out from u.

Hey, guys, great feedback. All sorts of tastes and opinions. Let me narrow it down further - remember I said "future-proof" ...? Well, this amp would also have a DAC onboard to cater to today's and future needs. Maybe there's no such amp yet? Or are amps like the NAD Master series and Pathos Ethos (the DAC onboard version) making a pitch for the title?

Then, of course, there's the Devialet D-Premier, which seems to promise much - I've heard it drive big and costlier Solution speakers without fear ... the Brits seem to think it's the king of integrated amps (and you know how the Brits hate the French, ha ha ...)

If only this amp looked like a serious piece of hi-fi gear ....

The Exposure 3010s2 is a great piece of work, as is the Krell s-300. Heard good things about the AVI but never got to test it.

BR,

The mid and high end amps nowdays are equipped with at least a USB DAC. I know MF M6i do have one.

But if we are talking coax/optical/AES digital input directly onto an integrated amp, I have not had heard one but I know Chord Scamp, XTZ Class-A100D3 and Peach Tree Audio Nova have them.

i think the devialet fits the bill.

it has a built-in dac and phonostage and can handle wifi at hi-res.

sounds very good, but costs plenty $$$$$

The Devialet is about 10,000 pounds, here about RM50k+ .... not so much metal for the money, but I suppose what's inside the metal makes it count!

I have the McIntosh MA2275 int amp and I couldn't be happier based upon what I want ie. small listening room, Harbeth C7.

That said, after hearing the Kondo Ongaku in one of the AV shows 2 years back, that is really one to aspire to.

Solis State - Accuphase E Series
Tube - Leben CS Series

or

DIY - just give the spec

fizi wrote:Solis State - Accuphase E Series
Tube - Leben CS Series

or

DIY - just give the spec

Ya Leben Cs300 + ProAc D1

or

Leben Cs600 + ProAc D2

cyh wrote:Hey kychoo! Great post! Enjoy reading it

Hi Cyh, glad that you like it - i enjoyed it as much in sharing it.

adrian4454 wrote:Hi kychoo, this is no ordinary amp man. It won what hifi amp of the year for 2002 or 2003. Thought this amp never glance our shore here. Nice write out from u.

Hi Adrian, indeed the AVI was the amp of the year before (declared by WHATHIFI, i think) but i personally have been disappointed often enough by products that received rave reviews (and actually never live up to those reviews when we actually listen to it with our own ears). So, the end result of this rather low profile product (not one single remarks about this brand / amp in our forum before this as well as the short of reviews in the internet) have rather taken me by surprise.

bassraptor wrote:Hey, guys, great feedback. All sorts of tastes and opinions. Let me narrow it down further - remember I said "future-proof" ...? Well, this amp would also have a DAC onboard to cater to today's and future needs. Maybe there's no such amp yet? Or are amps like the NAD Master series and Pathos Ethos (the DAC onboard version) making a pitch for the title?

Well, IMHO & again just for sharing purposes without any malicious intention, "future proof" may not necessary mean that a certain amp must be more features, have onboard DAC, balanced input, HDMI, WIFI support etc etc. That is because i still see that today, at year 2012 (so many years after the evolution of modern hifi), we still have plenty of fellow audiophiles that listened only to LPs, we have countless of people who still wanted to experience that 'tube magic' and we still have many poor guy like myself who still couldn't afford balanced cable and is still using single ended RCA . Hence, IMHO more might not be better and is certainly not more "future proof" coz that poor guy who have to forged out many more thousands for that amp with that extra input, DAC or WIFI features, might end up not using it and still believed the old ways is still the best. To me, an amp that is able to power up my next speaker upgrade and my next next speaker upgrade might be more "future proof". Well, but that is just me and again it is my preferences and my definition of things. Without sounding like a cave man or stir up any more ... I bid you good night & enjoy your hifi.

It may not be future proof - but I think my current favorite integrated amps + reasonable price in relation to a VERY high level sonics are as below. To my knowledge these are very well implemented and engineering integrated amps. Vitus & Karan are Class A amps except for MBL class D
1. Vitus Audio (Denmark) SS 010 - do not be smitten by a low 25 watts class A
2. Karan KA S 180 Mk2 integrated (Yugoslavia) - "Dark horse" but super powerful yet refined
3. New MBL Corona C51 series integrated amp. (German)
Price Listing about ( I think) 20-30K range. One will get a trickle down technology from their expensive lines; a "superclass" engineered preamp + volume control ( Highly critical) + power amps; notable Class A amp signature with extremely low distortion and a very wide bandwidth amplification with a detail , open , full of weight and body sound.
The only limitation it will drive only reasonable sensitive speakers with ease and by the room size due to the power ratings. But it can better most of those general 150- 250 watts amps due to their design amplification + consistent -high current topology These three units can better most separates at only a fraction of a price . They are mere MYR 10-20K more than those middle of the road integrated amps which are normally weaker than their separates. GOOGLe for reviews as a guide. Based on my assumptions they are world class and can better some separates in a big margin
I am sure there are other brands that are of the same class in audio performance but these three are my favourite selection at the current moment in terms of performance that I can live for a long time.

To KYChoo, amazing as it may sound, I used to own one of those AVI Lab Series integrateds. It really is an excellent amp to have. The only reason why I gave it and my Harbeth Monitor 30s up was because after searching for passives systems that excelled in most areas instead of outstanding in specific areas (ie. mids, voice, bass, speed, lush, etc - you know, all those euphemisms) - I bit the bullet and went active speakers by the same manufacturer - AVI. The integrated is really good actually, having a good combination of speed, power, and finesse. It has been compared to the Chord super amps (see the AVI website) and was quite favourably reviewed and that says something about it. Only catch is that its not so well known. To Mr Lee of Vitagen, who bought my amp 2 months ago I hope it has worked out well with your ProAcs!

Naim SuperNait

Like my Primare I30 very much thank you but I wouldn't call it the One Integrated to Rule Them All

ok, i just heard another candidate for 'integrated amp - the one to rule them all'.

it's the bfa tulip.
bfa stands for beyond frontiers audio. the designer/owner was with sonic frontiers (hence beyond frontiers).
it's a tube/solid state hybrid integrated amp with built-in 24/192 dac with usb input as well.
cost? around RM60k - about the same as the devialet.

Ha! Onkyo TX-NR 3009.
Drives 9 channels plus 2 subs, 3 zones.
HDMI 8 in(v1.4a), 2 out
Digital/optical in,
Phono mm! in,
Streaming from PC, USB capable,
Audyssey, USB, iPod/iPad connectivity, 3d video, stereo, internet radio....Oh! RTFM!
Add speakers as and when funds allow, in this room or next, or upstairs....