Suggestions and observations about an integrated amplifier upgrade

I owned one of “those” amplifiers and while it sounded quite good, I could NEVER get over the fact it made this noise.
After an expensive tube period, I finally ended up with a Rogue Sphinx V2 which could very well be a hard pause in my amplifier chase.


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@MikeT care to say what you like about the sphinx v2?
 
Well..... upgrading integrated amplifiers is easier said than done. Two trials, no joy. Interesting how different they've been.

I'm hesitant to discuss too much, there could be happy owners around somewhere and I'm not wanting to potentially slag their gear. Even though there's still a few things I would like a bit different with my current amp, this baby Moon Neo has seen off the challengers - with panache.

@airdronian

This has been a great thread and everyone is sharing their listening experiences here, in order to help you find the right integrated amp - and hopefully learn a bit more on their own journey.
None of us can audition every amp on the planet - and some of us can audition none at all - so it would be good if you could do the same with the amp trials you have been through; including the less successful trials.
Not trying to bust your chops here - just looking for a bit of reciprocal sharing...

As an aside, if I own the particular bit of gear that you didn't enjoy, I'm sure that you comments would either: -
A: Fall on deaf ears, if I love it; or
B: Provide a helpful confirmation, if I too am less than impressed with my purchase.

Either way I am happy and keen to hear more...
 
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@airdronian

This has been a great thread and everyone is sharing their listening experiences here, in order to help you find the right integrated amp - and hopefully learn a bit more on their own journey.
None of us can audition every amp on the planet - and some of us can audition none at all - so it would be good if you could do the same with the amp trials you have been through; including the less successful trials.
Not trying to bust your chops here - just looking for a bit of reciprocal sharing...
is
As an aside, if I own the particular bit of gear that you didn't enjoy, I'm sure that you comments would either: -
A: Fall on deaf ears, if I love it; or
B: Provide a helpful confirmation, if I too am less than impressed with my purchase.

Either way I am happy and keen to hear more...
Hey @SONDEKNZ , I guess I could flesh out the experience a bit. Definitely a learning curve happening here. For reference I am driving Harbeth C7ES-3.

I decided to try something I hadn't initially considered - a Class D amp in the form a Wyred4Sound STI-500 v2. It is on clearance from the manufacturer which made me give it a try. We get soaked on the exchange rate between CAD and USD, so the discount was a good thing. I'm assuming a new model will appear this year.

These amps are known to have a break-in period, which is mentioned in the owners manual. I ran it for four days at a low level 24/7 to help this along. It seemed to me to improve between 100 and 150 hours of use. One should definitely not try to form an opinion on a brand new unit - the top end will smooth out considerably.

The unit appears well made for the most part. Solid. Bags of power, which I liked. But near the end of the first month it became apparent that for my purposes it wasn't going to be a fit. I found that at lower volumes there was less detail than I am used to, and that I would have to increase the volume more than I'd like. Morning classical music - usually a low volume level time for me - needed to be louder than I'd want. I still wasn't comfortable with upper mids/low treble either.

The company website has full info on the amp and it has some interesting features. They include the ability to set two inputs as a loop, where you could insert EQ I suppose, but I started to think about adding DSP to correct what I didn't like. That's really when I put the brakes on - if I had to go to those lengths to make it work for me then that's a bridge too far. Not the right fit.

This amp will deliver over 400 wpc into 4 ohms, it might be an option for Maggies. But I'm not going there either.

One positive thing though was dealing with the Wyred folks. I had problems with the order on the website, and things were fixed asap. Good communication, and they were really good to deal with overall. No complaints with them whatsoever.

So I am changing focus a bit going forward. One thing about testing amps is that you get to see how they interact with your speakers. I am now definitely going to try some decoupling of the Harbeths to the floor. Too much energy is passing from the cabinet to the floor (suspended, with engineered hardwood) so that at times mid bass tones were practically making the floor hum.

And that is that for now.
 
@airdronian

Excellent and valuable feedback. Appreciated.

Your Wyred4Sound report mirrors our own findings with both a KingRex Class T amp and later, the highly regarded NuPrime ST-10 power amp.

To recall the NuPrime trial, we received a well burnt-in demo model for a home trial and left it for a few hours to percolate and settle. At that stage, we were partnering the NuPrime with our highly modified Transcendent Grounded Grid (tubed) preamp - very much a known quantity.

Once critical listening commenced, immediately something sounded not quite right from the midrange up. Plenty of power available, but no enjoyment at all. It was the same with our previous encounter with the similar KingRex amps. Kinda like eating McDonalds: load-up, but leave feeling a bit crook.

My wife - whose ears are considerably younger and better than mine - could not even stay in the same room with the NuPrime machine.

Needless to say, we passed on the NuPrime amp and have continued to decline subsequent Class D (and their ilk) trial opportunities.

I'm sure they will get this technology right - and by all reports, Vinnie Rossi evidently has made good progress... for a princely sum.

In the interim, to our ears, tubes seems to offer a much easier and affordable road to musical enjoyment.

Because all threads are more fun with pics... Here is one of our own affordable favorite integrated tube amps: Our BEWITCH 6550 amp. shown here with my dear old (RIP) Dad's hot-rodded Celestion Ditton 250 speakers. What a stunning combo that was!

CELESTION DITTON 250 With BEWITCH 2.JPG
 
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