Anyone ‘downsized’ to a Super Integrated amp?

TheFlash

Also available in pink
Wammer
Jun 22, 2013
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Rural Leics [system 1] & Kendal [systems 2 & 3]
AKA
Nigel
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I have the Audia Flight FLS10. A 36kg Class A beast with excellent optional DAC board fitted, fantastic connectivity (I also have the additional 2xRCA board) and a cracking headphone amp.
Check out Elite and Audio Emotion (quite a price discrepancy unless I'm misreading).
Absolutely stonking amp. I believe Mike @yoda900 still has my first one, sold under employment gap duress... and replaced as soon as my next gig came along.

http://www.audia.it/products/fls-8/integrated_amplifiers-11/f_l_s_10-19.html

"Library" pics as they say:
audiaflight-fls10.cover_-678x509.jpg

audiaflight-fls10.2.jpg
 

Thetiminator

Painfully Virile
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Nov 12, 2012
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In the doghouse :(
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Interesting Flash thanks. Must admit I’ve been looking at that amp. About 20 years ago I dem’d the DCS Debussy. I thought it was good but a bit bright. The dealer stuck on an Audia Flight CD player, which was in a different league. One of my top 3 stand out demo’s ever. I didn’t buy as I didn’t need a CD player….regretted ever since…
 

TheFlash

Also available in pink
Wammer
Jun 22, 2013
12,479
8,343
208
Rural Leics [system 1] & Kendal [systems 2 & 3]
AKA
Nigel
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Interesting Flash thanks. Must admit I’ve been looking at that amp. About 20 years ago I dem’d the DCS Debussy. I thought it was good but a bit bright. The dealer stuck on an Audia Flight CD player, which was in a different league. One of my top 3 stand out demo’s ever. I didn’t buy as I didn’t need a CD player….regretted ever since…
Well if ever you find yourself planning to pass through or near the Kendal area, give me a buzz. I’m there for a few days to a week most months and the FLS10 is driving my Posselt Albatrosses.
 

TheFlash

Also available in pink
Wammer
Jun 22, 2013
12,479
8,343
208
Rural Leics [system 1] & Kendal [systems 2 & 3]
AKA
Nigel
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
We downsized from a KONDO Overture, which is a truly spectacular amplifier, to a norma IPA 70B. Although almost a tenth of the price, The norma is also a spectacular amplifier. We haven’t looked back!
Ah, MOSFETs I believe. That’s an impressive amp/DAC right there. HiFi Corner appear to have an ex-demo one available… would love to hear this.
 
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hiesteem

peacebro
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Feb 6, 2019
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AKA
Pete
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Did this a very long time ago. Chopped in my naim hicap, 62, 250 for my now 24-year-old Restek Fantasy integrated. Been fully serviced and had a lot of parts replaced. They no longer make this amp but I fear I would have to look at Audionet integrated territory to get similar levels of power, dynamics and detail. Keep going baby🙏.
I also agree with getting the amp/speaker compatibility right, regarding the performance of most systems.
 

Paul L

Newbie
New Wammer
Jan 1, 2023
3
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8
Surrey
HiFi Trade?
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I’ve run a Yamaha AS3000 for the past 2 years with no thoughts of changing it. Previously over about 30 years I had Naim 42/110, Linn LK1 and LK2-75 and then Kairn and Klout, Unison SR1 and then S6, First Audio 2A3 monoblocks and then a Cyrus 8XPDQX
 

Nativebon

MUZIC FIRST
Wammer Plus
Aug 9, 2018
1,351
1,240
183
London UK
AKA
Ian
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I have the Audia Flight FLS10. A 36kg Class A beast with excellent optional DAC board fitted, fantastic connectivity (I also have the additional 2xRCA board) and a cracking headphone amp.
Check out Elite and Audio Emotion (quite a price discrepancy unless I'm misreading).
Absolutely stonking amp. I believe Mike @yoda900 still has my first one, sold under employment gap duress... and replaced as soon as my next gig came along.

http://www.audia.it/products/fls-8/integrated_amplifiers-11/f_l_s_10-19.html

"Library" pics as they say:
audiaflight-fls10.cover_-678x509.jpg

audiaflight-fls10.2.jpg
I can only wonder how the FLS10 sounds... Even the entry level FL three S I got sounds really good. Rich yet detailed sound.
 

hearhere

Wammer
Wammer
Apr 9, 2013
1,373
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158
Portsmouth, UK
AKA
Peter
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Try a Hegel H390 or H590 very good amps and have a great inbuilt DAC I can't rate these highly enough.
I'm seriously considering these Hegels too, though I'm not going from multiple boxes to an integrated, but from an all-in-one to a 2-box solution. The Mark Levinson 5802 / 5805 is also on my short-list as are a couple of AVMs.
 

aardvarkaudio

Wammer
Wammer
Apr 23, 2014
814
729
98
I recently did this, going from a source-power amp direct setup, to a high end integrated, and so far I'm over the moon.

Originally I had a Mark Levinson 390S CD into a 334 power amp and loved it for 20 years, but moving towards streaming I swapped the CD player for a Linn Akurate DSM3 which was poor by comparison, and didn't last more than 18 months with me.

I decided a proper pre was the way, so got a 5206 and sound-wise it's superb especially at lower volume where the Linn really fell apart. Unfortunately I had display faults and made me keep looking for alternatives. With some man maths applied and counsel from a fellow WAMMER, I decided to up the game to the 585.5 integrated, though the Gryphon Diablo 300 was also in the mix.

The ML integrated includes their better DAC and volume control, but my worry was that it wouldn't have the performance of the power amp. Suffice to say there was no need to worry (probably where 20 years of evolution come in).

I'm sure the new separate alternatives would be even better, especially for power isolation etc, but would be 3 times the price so that's a non starter. This feels like a slice of that tier for less outlay. It's stunning. Plus I need 1 less power cable and will be selling my interconnect soon which will help take the wallet sting out.

Having one remote and not having to walk over to turn the power amp on is an overlooked benefit as you near 50! The only obvious downside is that it's a bit wasteful with one source.

That's a long answer to a short question, but I've been vacillating over this for a long time as purchases of this level will likely be with you for many years they need to be thought through. That's my excuse anyway 😄
 
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hexx

Wammer
Wammer
Aug 18, 2015
519
233
63
London
AKA
pav
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I haven’t “downsized”, but consolidated. Had Boulder 865 integrated and Hegel HD30 DAC.

Replaced both with Boulder 866 Integrated with optional DAC.
 

Pedro2

Pedro2
Wammer
Sep 9, 2018
779
609
113
High Peak
AKA
Peter
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I recently did this, going from a source-power amp direct setup, to a high end integrated, and so far I'm over the moon.

Originally I had a Mark Levinson 390S CD into a 334 power amp and loved it for 20 years, but moving towards streaming I swapped the CD player for a Linn Akurate DSM3 which was poor by comparison, and didn't last more than 18 months with me.

I decided a proper pre was the way, so got a 5206 and sound-wise it's superb especially at lower volume where the Linn really fell apart. Unfortunately I had display faults and made me keep looking for alternatives. With some man maths applied and counsel from a fellow WAMMER, I decided to up the game to the 585.5 integrated, though the Gryphon Diablo 300 was also in the mix.

The ML integrated includes their better DAC and volume control, but my worry was that it wouldn't have the performance of the power amp. Suffice to say there was no need to worry (probably where 20 years of evolution come in).

I'm sure the new separate alternatives would be even better, especially for power isolation etc, but would be 3 times the price so that's a non starter. This feels like a slice of that tier for less outlay. It's stunning. Plus I need 1 less power cable and will be selling my interconnect soon which will help take the wallet sting out.

Having one remote and not having to walk over to turn the power amp on is an overlooked benefit as you near 50! The only obvious downside is that it's a bit wasteful with one source.

That's a long answer to a short question, but I've been vacillating over this for a long time as purchases of this level will likely be with you for many years they need to be thought through. That's my excuse anyway 😄
I’m interested in how the Linn Akurate fell short. I’m looking at alternatives in the future as Linn no longer make the Akurate. Recently tried a Chord Dac into a Quad pre but it lacked the open sound and the mid range was also lacking compared to the Linn. I presume that a very high quality pre is the answer?
 

naka

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Wammer
Apr 24, 2015
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Like many, my preference goes without a doubt to integrated amps, but I would keep the (ever evolving) dac a separate component.
From Accuphase, Luxman, Plinius, McIntosh, Hegel, Norma… to ASR Emitter (a multi-box integrated!) there are a lot of marvelous integrated amps to choose.
 
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cotes-du-rhone

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Feb 27, 2014
79
85
23
West Yorks
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
You have to be a bit eccentric to see my first watt stuff as high end, but in the right system it does well. But it was nice to get rid of streamer + pwr supply and phono stage + pwr supply, and DAC + pwr supply and preamp + pwr supply plus a couple of first watt power amps and replace them with a bel canto integrated. Some days I’m happy, some days less so, so that, at least, hasn’t changed!😀
 
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aardvarkaudio

Wammer
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Apr 23, 2014
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I’m interested in how the Linn Akurate fell short. I’m looking at alternatives in the future as Linn no longer make the Akurate. Recently tried a Chord Dac into a Quad pre but it lacked the open sound and the mid range was also lacking compared to the Linn. I presume that a very high quality pre is the answer?

Wasn't just one element, but a few issues.

Subjectively the Linn's Katalyst produced a lot of information output but always felt clinical, and once replaced to the ML5206 dac the 'boogie' came back, and the 585.5 dac has brought even more detail than the Linn as far as my memory can tell, even using a modest raspberry Pi to feed the USB.

Objectively the low volume made the presentation sound obviously processed, and the app was flakey.
 
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hexx

Wammer
Wammer
Aug 18, 2015
519
233
63
London
AKA
pav
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
How are you enjoying the 866? I remember reading this review https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/boulder-866-integrated and thinking it was pretty much the ‘perfect’ amplifier!
Really love it. Can’t quite imagine how much money I’d need to spend to upgrade it in a way that the sound would be better across the board.

Listened to 11xx series pre/power at UK HiFi Show Live and yes, it was better but at what cost. Also was happy to learn that the character of what I heard there and what 866 produces is similar - just more of everything in pre/power combo.
 
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Nopiano

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Jul 19, 2016
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Monmouthshire, Wales
AKA
Nick
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Really love it. Can’t quite imagine how much money I’d need to spend to upgrade it in a way that the sound would be better across the board.

Listened to 11xx series pre/power at UK HiFi Show Live and yes, it was better but at what cost. Also was happy to learn that the character of what I heard there and what 866 produces is similar - just more of everything in pre/power combo.
Thanks! I saw Boulder there yesterday and that’s what intrigued me. Amazing designs just to look at.
 
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hexx

Wammer
Wammer
Aug 18, 2015
519
233
63
London
AKA
pav
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Thanks! I saw Boulder there yesterday and that’s what intrigued me. Amazing designs just to look at.
There was also 866 connected to, I believe, smallest YB speakers on offer - not ideal conditions but sounded still great considering the size of the speakers.
 
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