Planning to buy an Integrated Amplifier

[trambach]

What speakers are you intending to drive?

Right now I've narrowed it down to 3 bookshelf type speakers-

B&W 685

Paradigm Atom Monitor V.6

Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 SE

 

[jostenmeat]

Right now I've narrowed it down to 3 bookshelf type speakers-

B&W 685

Paradigm Atom Monitor V.6

Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 SE

Oh. Most any integrated should be just fine. I recently gathered a small list of $350 or less integrateds for someone, IIRC, but I was corrected in that the Cambridge was considerably more expensive, though they still make units in that price range.

With the speakers you are looking at, I would normally consider spending less on the integrated, and more on the speakers, but those 170SE are pretty good . . .

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showpost.php?p=636165&postcount=2

 

[Seth=L]

OP is doing two channel only. You can pipe analog 2 channel to an integrated amp and get fantastic sound from Blu-ray, he's not going full gauntlet to get 7.1 HD sound, just two speakers and maybe a subwoofer if he feels froggy.

A receiver will have unnecessary features for someone wanting to do strictly 2 channel listening. A receiver would offer no advantage in HDMI connectivity if only 1 or 2 sources are HDMI since most all TVs now have multiple HDMI inputs.

If the OP wants to buy a separate tuner than a receiver is pointless yet again.

If aesthetics are unimportant it sounds like the Yamaha AX-497 fits the bill. If they are important, how important are they? Are they important enough to spend more money on something that only looks a little nicer, or to spend the same on something else that performs half as well but looks nice?

To the OP, stay the path and seek out the integrated amplifier that you want. I wouldn't stray from that unless there is a feature or some other factor that makes you think you should change the direction of your approach.

 

[trambach]

OP is doing two channel only. You can pipe analog 2 channel to an integrated amp and get fantastic sound from Blu-ray, he's not going full gauntlet to get 7.1 HD sound, just two speakers and maybe a subwoofer if he feels froggy.

A receiver will have unnecessary features for someone wanting to do strictly 2 channel listening. A receiver would offer no advantage in HDMI connectivity if only 1 or 2 sources are HDMI since most all TVs now have multiple HDMI inputs.

If the OP wants to buy a separate tuner than a receiver is pointless yet again.

If aesthetics are unimportant it sounds like the Yamaha AX-497 fits the bill. If they are important, how important are they? Are they important enough to spend more money on something that only looks a little nicer, or to spend the same on something else that performs half as well but looks nice?

To the OP, stay the path and seek out the integrated amplifier that you want. I wouldn't stray from that unless there is a feature or some other factor that makes you think you should change the direction of your approach.

Wow this helps a lot. I will keep this in mind for the search of the perfect integrated amplifier for me.

 

[Josuah]

I've heard NAD's CD player and either pre-amp or integrated amp and wasn't particularly impressed.

I only have experience with Marantz's more expensive gear, but I do like the sound quality of Marantz over Yamaha by quite a large margin.

 

[walter duque]

If you can pick up a Belles on the used market for a decent price you would have a great amp. I have listened to this one and it did sound good. Check powermodule link below. Very well build. I have owened one of their poweramps for many years. Reliable as hell.
http://www.powermodules.com/power_modules/ia01_integrated.html