Full respect for Andrew's Alchemical views as he found me mine (thank you, mate), but I'm not sure about modded kit. That item looks mint, and I wonder if it is the same one Smeagol owned a while back? But why mod it? The pre partner to it was sold by the same seller with similarly ludicrously over-the-top description for £400 a month or so back - oddly split.
The standard amp was so good, that I wonder why modding it and the pre was necessary? And, moreover, whether the mods contribute? A dangerous policy, I recon. It also means that bi-amping or dualing becomes difficult later, because the second amp has to be modded to suit, or the modded one put back to standard.
The seller also says it's better than an SS, which is almost certainly nonsense. Although the SS was 100W, not the 183W claimed for this one, it was dramatically different inside. Tim de P perfected it, and to do so he cut back the output from 150W to 100W, rather than increase it to 183W which is apparently the case with this modded one. Tim de P said losing 1dB in real volume was a no-brainer trade for the benefits in sonic quality and reliability that his myriad mods achieved. So why does a mod'er know so much better...?
The ultimate Forseti way forward is bi-amping the SSs (for power and quality). But the last SS Power amp on
eBay was offered 5 times over 4 months before it eventually sold last week, seemingly, with a buy-it-now of £750. It was unboxed and scruffy. It's last true bid at auction was under £400 a month earlier before the seller clearly bid on it himself (again). And last week's buy-it-now price was £130 less than it apparently sold for 4 months prior. So gawd knows what these things are really worth.
My point is, that at £400-500 for the Integrated, compared to two-to-three times that for the pre-power, and that's before a recap for both units... it makes the Integrated a snip in my book.
