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Integrateds have come an extremely long way in the past 5–10 years. Back then, I would probably have to give the proverbial nod to a pre/power setup but in today's market, you can spend considerably less on a great integrated, and in some instances, get great sound that may end up costing you three or four times more in a pre/power arrangement. You just can't beat that kind of quality for your buck. They're made by companies like Creek, Bryston, Magnum Dynalab, Musical Fidelity, Cary, Conrad Johnson, Rega, and the list goes on. Companies like these have answered the audiophile call for great affordable sound and the technology in integrateds has advanced to a point where it is really hard to tell which could be more advantageous in todays market. But after recently getting a chance to hear the new Mark Levinson 383 integrated and seeing (and hearing) how great an integrated component has become in its advanced design and overall presentation of sound reproduction, I may never go back to pre/power.

Had separates and loved the sound (NAD 2200PE power and Adcom 555 pre) but also had integrated amps and thought they sounded weaker but they had a lot to catch up to with the NAD power amp! I now own a vintage Marantz 2335 receiver that sounds as good as the separates I had and better than any integrated I ever had. The integrated amps are nice for one part, they don't pick up rf from the FM section and pass it thru the other sections. I have found that to be a problem in the cheaper receivers, but not my trusty Marantz! It shuts off the tuner when you select another source. I like the sound so much, I doubt I'll ever get a surround sound system! Sure there are more musical systems out there integrated or separates, but when you're on a yard sale budget, you have to deal with what you can find! I'm keeping my Marantz for now and that may be a long time. If you have the space and money get separates, you won't regret it, I never did!

Several years ago, my system consisted of a Harman-Kardon Award 500 integrated taht I had modified to have a bypass for the pre-amp section to drive a seperate power amp. The integrated sounded pretty good, but the bypass to the pre-amp section sounded a lot better wehn hooked up to a Hafler power amp.

I have a 16-year-old Accuphase E-205 and I'm still happy with it!

I was loaned a Musical Fidelity A220 and man, it smoked! I've always had bigger, finer, more expensive equipment, but I can't tell you how impressed I was with this $999 integated. 50Wpc of gorgeous presentation, not fine but so damn musical. Just for a lark, I auditioned the ARC CA50 and I gotta say, it was magnificent, the only problem with owning an integrated is, the bullshit's over. No tweaking, a good box that just sounds good will end my audiophile bullshit. I love playing with pre-amps. But, todays integrateds are magnificent, period.

I own a Primare A 30.1 because of its beautiful sound.

My first "high end" system consisted of an AR turntable, Advent speakers and a 30 watt integrated amp from SONY.(TA-4650?) It was the late 1970's and I remember thinking at the time that my rig sounded more musical than my friends -the heart of their system being a large Japanese receiver and an inexpensive direct drive turntable. I liked my amp when it worked. Unfortunately, the repairs were frequent and expensive.

Well, I guess my Bose Wave is integrated, but I don't think that's what is meant here. In any case, I aspire to move up to a good integrated system: Creek and Electrocompaniet integrated are two of my leading candidates, say coupled with Shahinian Hawks. But is this really better than a system based on the Linn Classik? I wish my subscription to Stereophile would help answer that question, but all it seems to do is confuse my selection process!

It is convenient. I am of the opinion that there is no reason to have separate units.

Room size and expense are factors. Also sound quality is more than adaquate with integrated.

Seemed like the logical and economical place to start.

I would certainly cosider an integrated amp in a sit- uation where limits on space and budget apply. Clearly, there is no need to compromise sonic quality these days with the current crop of such amps.

no

I used a Denon integrated awhile back and was very pleased with it until I upgraded to separates and home theater.

The Krell KAV300, sounds good to me

The nice thing about integrated amps is not worrying about component/cable matching between amp/pre-amp. The Naim Nait 2 was one of the best amps I've ever used. I wish I still had it.

I used to use a integrated but that was back before I knew what hi-fi was. Separates are always the way to go they nearly always sound better. There are exceptions like Mark Levinsons killer integrated or most Musical Fidelity integrated stuff.

As I have never tried separate ones, I cannot make the comparison. But my Krell KAV 300i sounds great.

I have the pleasure of owning the Musical Fidelity Nuvista M3 and consider this pre/power amp combination on par with any separates. Owing to the fact that separates require an additional interconnect, which can introduce noise and can potentially cost a lot, you have another plus for the integrated approach. Also the M3 has a big sweet spot and THD of 0.005 from DC to 100KHz. You would be hard pressed to beat that with a system at 4X to 5X the cost (still supplying transparent sonic qualities and all those other buzzwords). One last note is that this saves shelf space for an optional line conditioner and more CDs. But in the quest of a perfect system, shelf space is rarely in the equation.

Having a preamp and amp in one box says nothing about the quality of the preamp and the amount of power in the amp. Here's a test for an electrically inclined person: take an audiophile preamp and amp each out of their cases and put them together in one case. Compare. Benefits include: no interconnects and shared grounding. Jeff Rowland Concentra works real nice for me.

Use to have an OLD Kenwood w/Darlington circuitry, it was the bomb! Manufacturers need to be thinking about convergent technologies. Producing a standard to unify, computers & audio/vide, home theatre & gaming. I would like to see integrated amps w/outboard processors made by mainstream manufacturers.

The last integrated was a sony 'v-fet' I used to drive the Heil ESS-AMT1B. That was around 1975 and then it made some very good sound.

Integrateds present a very good starting point for budget-constrained audiophiles. Many outclass lower-priced separates. I'm using a Plinius 2100i and I am very satisfied. Though I know it stands no chance when compared with the likes of Bryston's 3BST or a DNA-125, I am content to know that I can upgrade later using the 2100i as preamp (or biamp possibly). I just need to stay away from these power amps for now to resist that urge and remain content with just an integrated.

The economy of an integrated can't be beat if one is on a budget. I purchased my first audio system when I was 18. It was a Sansui. Big and massive and all black, with rack handles. (That was all rage then, remember.) Sansui was a better company back then, but it was it true "High Fidelity?" No, by my tastes now, it's not. But the hours of pleasure it gave to me were the start of my journey going over the bridge and into the light. I wonder where that integrated amp is today? Today, my tastes are more refined, (all Audio Reseach) and I shudder at the thought of a another black face componet. Are any designers picking up on this?

used primarily for its versatility - older dual-mono H-K design with decent sound

I had a very sweet sounding Jolida 502 A a few years back.It sounded very nice and it had some real power.I miss it sometimes.

Never tried to use separate pre-amp and power amp. Will do so when my budget allows me.

Save money on interconnect cable and power cord, save space. Presently using Mark Levinson 383.

I got an Acoustic Research amp in college, and I'm still using it in an auxiliary system. It's bare bones in terms of features, but it still kicks out the music.

I've been using my old and reliable Yamaha CA-1010 integrated amp for years now. It still stands up to some separate amps costing $1000! To all budding (and old-timer) audiophiles: don't be put off by the negative stuff put out by audio snobs. There are good new and used integrated amps out there. Yamaha, Creek, Adcom, McIntosh, and others have demonstrated that intregrateds can't be all bad!