Integrated amp recommendations

[Macca]

Yes it is. But rare.

[yabadaba]

had an arcam(modern) and it wasnt warm.anything but.

Not sure exactly what words to describe how the A19 sounds to me...maybe neutral, clean? It's certainly not 'rich', or at least not in how I consider rich, which I guess is what I gravitate towards, even though it's likely not the most accurate sound. I tend to lump warm and rich broadly together so guess my experience is the same as yours. An example of how the Arcam doesn't sound right in my system is how there is no metallic edge to the sound of cymbals, instead a very polite rendering of them, but not what I think they are supposed to sound like...or at least much more recessed than on my NAD, or via my HD650 headphones with Atom amp.

[Macca]

Soft rather than warm would be a better description? I know what you mean about the cymbals. Some amps go too far the other way though.

[struth]

i thought it hard in some ways, but not nasty. was a good amp but didnt hit my funny spot personally.

[yabadaba]

Soft rather than warm would be a better description? I know what you mean about the cymbals. Some amps go too far the other way though.

Yes, I think that's right...soft is a better description as regards the Arcam's top end (in my setup)....and agree can go too far....wouldn't like that...don't want piercing at all.

[yabadaba]

i thought it hard in some ways, but not nasty. was a good amp but didnt hit my funny spot personally.

Thanks and yes, can relate to this.

[hifinutt]

Been working my way through integrated amps over past few months , so much less hassle than pre power and less cables with the taus horns which are sensitive

You might sqeeze into a naim sn1 at the ops budget but i had a sn2 and it was very muscular , very holographic but a teeny weeny bit steely at times . must try the sn3 soon

P1060091 by , on Flickr

Then a lovely sugden a21se , exceptional amp this one and would have one back with tannoys . very powerful , very fast , tremendous grunt and you could hear a pin drop . the attack was superb .

P1060525 by , on Flickr

Then recently a lovely lavardin IS reference which the owner is selling for around 1200 pounds , very warm amp, like a valve amp , no fatigue at all . no remote which is a pain but very well accomplished amp and higly recommended

P1060755 by , on Flickr

P1060753 by , on Flickr

The arcam a75 I have been using for past few months has surprised me , its somewhere betwwen the lavardin and the sugden . Obviously not the build quality on the first 3 but the remote is good. It matches the Taus like a glove , not easy to find a decent one now as i am always looking out for one as a spare . It has pep and warmth and great soundstage

P1060760 by , on Flickr

funnily enough its streets ahead of the a85 i have too , which i found sterile and boring with the taus . The a85 is supposed to be a more expensive version of the a75 ! just shows you

[walpurgis]

Creek Destiny 2. Superb sounding amplifier.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Creek-Des...EAAOSwVXZdE-DF

[hifinutt]

wonder if this would suit the spendors ? decent price maybe ??

https://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/.../#post-3756253

[yabadaba]

Been working my way through integrated amps over past few months , so much less hassle than pre power and less cables with the taus horns which are sensitive

You might sqeeze into a naim sn1 at the ops budget but i had a sn2 and it was very muscular , very holographic but a teeny weeny bit steely at times . must try the sn3 soon

P1060091 by , on Flickr

Then a lovely sugden a21se , exceptional amp this one and would have one back with tannoys . very powerful , very fast , tremendous grunt and you could hear a pin drop . the attack was superb .

P1060525 by , on Flickr

Then recently a lovely lavardin IS reference which the owner is selling for around 1200 pounds , very warm amp, like a valve amp , no fatigue at all . no remote which is a pain but very well accomplished amp and higly recommended

P1060755 by , on Flickr

P1060753 by , on Flickr

The arcam a75 I have been using for past few months has surprised me , its somewhere betwwen the lavardin and the sugden . Obviously not the build quality on the first 3 but the remote is good. It matches the Taus like a glove , not easy to find a decent one now as i am always looking out for one as a spare . It has pep and warmth and great soundstage

P1060760 by , on Flickr

funnily enough its streets ahead of the a85 i have too , which i found sterile and boring with the taus . The a85 is supposed to be a more expensive version of the a75 ! just shows you

Oh don't....I had an A21SE a few years ago (with the same speakers) and was really lovely....and I think the kind of sound I'm after again. I say 'think' because I've had a few different amps since then so difficult to recall the exact signature but I know I loved it and only sold it to try something different. it's one I regret selling. When you say your A75 is somewhere between the Sugden and Lavardin, how would you describe the differences between those two? the Lavardin may be of interest. The A19 doesn't remind me at all of the A21SE, so suspect maybe the sound signature with these newer Arcam's might have changed a little.