Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

Joe Mac said:

If you fancy doing something fun and altogether different you could try tubes.

I know you have had good deals from TMR and maybe something like this could fit your bill?

PrimaLuna Prologue Premium Stereo Tube Integrated Amplifier; MM Phono

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This and maybe 6 KT88 (4 for amp and 2 spare) would come in just over budget and 40W per channel tube should be enough for your speakers.

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Not sure I'm ready to go down that path yet

SnowmaNick said:

I like @Joe Mac ‘s Primaluna idea, but if tubes aren’t your thing you could get a used Parasound Hint 6 for around $2k. I had the original Hint (Halo INTegrated) and enjoyed it.

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Like what I'm seeing on that, but not finding any below $3k. I'm seeing the Halo P6 under $2k

ZiggsMBK said:

Glad you're enjoying the Prime Scout and other recent additions! As for amps, perhaps give something from Atoll Electronique a look. I recently heard their IN80 while auditioning my Fidelio (speakers), and it showed up my Moon 240i. Both were smooth and detailed, but the Atoll had noticeably more body and presence by comparison. I was impressed.

The IN100 Signature is probably where you'd want to look at a $2k budget, though I can't seem to find exact US prices.. It has home theatre bypass and a dual mono design, as well as 140 watts into 4 ohms and reputedly iron-fisted bass control, which might benefit those Luminas.

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Oooh, i like this one! Only hesitation I'm having, (well, 2 hesitations) is a review that said it wasn't great for headphone listening, which i do a fair bit of, and that Kinki Ex M1+ I mentioned above is just so sexy. Hmm

SMeekWoodworks said:

There is a Kinki on Reverb right now for $2500. I'm so intrigued. It's gorgeous. Would love to hear more why it's your pick

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If you don’t need a pre out for a sub or home theater bypass, then you could go for a regular Kinki EX-M1 i believe and save some money.

Edit: i see @Joe Mac laughing so assume that HT is needed…

Kinki also had open box deals a little while ago. Not sure if they still have them in stock. $2500 for the M1+ is probably a good deal with the op amps

SMeekWoodworks said:

There is a Kinki on Reverb right now for $2500. I'm so intrigued. It's gorgeous. Would love to hear more why it's your pick

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It’s easily the most robust build at their price point. It’s simple to use, in my opinion it puts the money in all the right places, and it can pretty easily power virtually anything you throw at it.

I wish they were easier to demo, but at $2500 also fairly safe that you could turn it around with little to no loss.

MikeH said:

If you don’t need a pre out for a sub or home theater bypass, then you could go for a regular Kinki EX-M1 i believe and save some money.

Edit: i see @Joe Mac laughing so assume that HT is needed…

Kinki also had open box deals a little while ago. Not sure if they still have them in stock. $2500 for the M1+ is probably a good deal with the op amps

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Haha! Yeah the original post looking for amp recommendations asked for a HT bypass lol.

SMeekWoodworks said:

Oooh, i like this one! Only hesitation I'm having, (well, 2 hesitations) is a review that said it wasn't great for headphone listening, which i do a fair bit of, and that Kinki Ex M1+ I mentioned above is just so sexy. Hmm

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Unfortunately, I didn't do any headphone listening, so I can't offer a helpful opinion there.

SMeekWoodworks said:

There is a Kinki on Reverb right now for $2500. I'm so intrigued. It's gorgeous. Would love to hear more why it's your pick

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I picked up my Kinki used a couple of years ago. There were some positive YT reviews and I had an upgrade itch. Prior to the Kinki I had a Yamaha as301 and a Cambridge Audio CXA81. Both of these are very good, but the Kinki is a noticeable upgrade.

The deal on the Kinki was good and I was drinking bourbon so I bought it.

Anyway, the Kinki is powerful and smooth. It has great soundstage and detail, but is not etched. There is treble energy, but no sibilance. The bass with my speakers is tight and controlled.

I never tire of listening to the Kinki amp. I have some other amps in my collection that i rotate through every couple of months. They all sound great, but when I cycle back through to the Kinki I question the need for my other setups. If I could only have 1 amp at this point it would be the Kinki.

One last thing about the Kinki that intrigued me is the ability to roll op amps. I have yet to do this, but I have recently acquired some op amps for my DAC (Geshelli J2S) and am going to try out adding them to my Kinki to see how they sound. The op amps raised the sound quality of my DAC noticeably.