In this Day & Age of all great gear ????

2bigears · « **on:** 6 Oct 2017, 03:24 pm »

hi all. Was thinking of buying a 7000 dollar integrated. This is used of course. Big and powerful.
The unit is a design and build of past years of course. ( 10 years +- ) Still hi quality no doubt,but ,,,,,
Can separates still kick butt ?? looking to get some better sound. I have an Anthem 225 now. It's ok ,, but ,,,,

P.S. -- if anyone has a good combo for sale ,, or know of a stereohead selling ,, please give a shout-out.
P.S.-- P.S.-- thanks for any help and recommends ..

:

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #1 on:** 6 Oct 2017, 03:54 pm »

10+ years old and I'd be concerned about the caps.

If you're in the Kelowna area, you need to hear my new butt kicking amps!

.

mick wolfe · « **Reply #2 on:** 6 Oct 2017, 03:56 pm »

Some of today's integrateds are undoubtedly superb. That said, with 7K to spend, I'd probably be leaning to separates. Just more versatile for experimentation, component swapping ,etc. Your call in the end though.

Early B. · « **Reply #3 on:** 6 Oct 2017, 03:59 pm »

Quote from: mick wolfe on 6 Oct 2017, 03:56 pm

Some of today's integrateds are undoubtedly superb. That said, with 7K to spend, I'd probably be leaning to separates. Just more versatile for experimentation, component swapping ,etc. Your call in the end though.

Yeah, for your budget, you could get into some serious separates.

witchdoctor · « **Reply #4 on:** 6 Oct 2017, 04:06 pm »

Quote from: 2bigears on 6 Oct 2017, 03:24 pm

hi all. Was thinking of buying a 7000 dollar integrated. This is used of course. Big and powerful.
The unit is a design and build of past years of course. ( 10 years +- ) Still hi quality no doubt,but ,,,,,
Can separates still kick butt ?? looking to get some better sound. I have an Anthem 225 now. It's ok ,, but ,,,,
P.S. -- if anyone has a good combo for sale ,, or know of a stereohead selling ,, please give a shout-out.
P.S.-- P.S.-- thanks for any help and recommends .. :

I'd recommend visiting a local dealer and auditioning separates vs integrated at home with your own system. Maybe get a 30 day audition from an online dealer if you don't have local dealer. I would NOT recommend making an irrevocable decision out the gate. I would recommend auditioning the Parasound Integrated which is less than $2000 as a part of the process. I have a full stack of Parasound separate Z components which are also amazing for my desktop system.

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/parasound-halo-integrated-amplifier/

2bigears · « **Reply #5 on:** 6 Oct 2017, 04:28 pm »

stereo shops means new ,,,, and i'm in a little town in the sticks. used is where the smart $$ goes. "I'm not tired if i don't buy a round",, just on a lo budget , ha

TomS · « **Reply #6 on:** 6 Oct 2017, 05:07 pm »

Perhaps a Devialet, many available used as people upgrade to latest and greatest.

Just one example... https://www.audiogon.com/listings/solid-state-new-in-box-2017-09-23-amplifiers

CSI · « **Reply #7 on:** 6 Oct 2017, 06:50 pm »

You might consider a Vinnie Rossi LIO. Within your budget, even new, and used ones come available from time to time. The only limitation may be the smallish modular amp (45 watts) if you have low efficiency speakers and/or a large room. Vinnie is about to announce a new more powerful amp module that would address that problem - if it is a problem.

A_shah · « **Reply #8 on:** 6 Oct 2017, 08:17 pm »

you will be very happy with a Parasound Halo Integrated or one of Vine Rossi amplifiers , I have Parasound Halo Int. plus a system that is fully separates how ever at the end of the day it costed me more than twice my budget
you could also try the Peachtree Nova 300 a class D amp it is also a very good integrated amp on a budget.

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #9 on:** 6 Oct 2017, 10:45 pm »

Don't under estimate Class D. It's come a long, long way in the last 10 years. My gut feeling is serious Class D has reached the point where it can go head to head with the best of the best, regardless of design and topology.

dB Cooper · « **Reply #10 on:** 6 Oct 2017, 10:50 pm »

Maybe if we had some clue as to what unit you're considering...

randytsuch · « **Reply #11 on:** 6 Oct 2017, 10:57 pm »

Wondering what's the rest of you system? Source and speakers.

Not that I'll have a recommendation, this is WAY out of my price range.

Delta77 · « **Reply #12 on:** 6 Oct 2017, 11:22 pm »

For that kind of cash I would look into some of these smaller companies that Personally Make the Amps / Preamps for you to order.. Yeah Baby ,
So many choices A/B , D , Tubes , DIY ..
So many brands Odyssey , Channel Islands , Cherry , Modwright , Van Alstine , Vinnie Ross..Ect..
Definitely go separates , a safer route IMO ,
My system, Tube Preamp / SS Amp.. (oppo 205) (odyssey) (tekton)..

From what I understand having separates Makes it easy to Roll Tubes to your taste or swap out the preamp all together with a different type ( tube , SS , Passive , )

Please don’t buy main stream ..
I just love my system & telling friends my amp was custom made for me by One Guy with 25+ years experience , not to mention the 20 year warranty..

rodge827 · « **Reply #13 on:** 6 Oct 2017, 11:41 pm »

2Big,

Are you looking at tubes or ss? Perhaps a better description of your room, speakers and associated gear would help?

Chris

2bigears · « **Reply #14 on:** 7 Oct 2017, 01:32 am »

my room will be decent. a little help with panels and corner treatments. Regards P9 TT and Mini T's for current speakers.
a good double rack so space is not a prob. 14,000.00 is kinda outta question , ha

JLM · « **Reply #15 on:** 7 Oct 2017, 02:44 am »

Go separates, especially at that price range. More flexibility, especially down the road.

Why not stay with Bryston? Should have good synergy.

2bigears · « **Reply #16 on:** 7 Oct 2017, 02:55 am »

. Hi ho Jeff. How you been ? Ok. I'll go for seps. All ears. Big ones ..

Elizabeth · « **Reply #17 on:** 7 Oct 2017, 03:07 am »

$7,000 as the price used?
What was the new price. and at 10 years old, the used price should be only about 40% 0f new retail, or LESS.
Is it a McIntosh? That is the only brand I can see some folks drooling over a 10 year old integrated.

I would say, just off the cuff. NO, buying it is a mistake.
$7,000 can buy a lot of used fine gear.

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #18 on:** 11 Oct 2017, 08:00 pm »

+1 as to what Elizabeth said.

Tyson · « **Reply #19 on:** 11 Oct 2017, 08:17 pm »

Do you have any room treatments? If not, I'd recommend putting part of your budget toward that. Treating an untreated room will give you very large improvements vs just upgrading the electronics.

Also, looking at the pic of your system here:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=gallery;area=browse;image=101359

I'd recommend a few other things that are pretty cheap. Change your rack so it's low and wide, rather than tall and skinny. The rack is really messing with your imaging from the speakers. Also the speakers are way, way too close to the back wall. Pull them out at least far enough to be 1 foot in front of your rack.

And it looks like you don't have much at all in the way of room treatments. If you want something that will treat your room and look nice at the same time, GIK Acoustics has very nice "Art Panels" that can be ordered. You need absorption on the wall behind your speakers, and on any side walls that your speakers are close to.

Also, if your chair is close to a rear wall, you really should have a nice diffuser behind you. All these things together will fool your brain into believing you are in a much bigger space.

Good news - these things are relatively cheap to do and will give you very, very big improvements in the sound you're hearing.