Help choosing integrated amplifier

[junvvin]

I need help choosing an integrated amplifier.

1. Can anybody who has experience with both smsl ao300 and audiolab 6000a comment on the sound quality/performance? I have the option of buying a used audiolab 6000A for $650 and a new smsl AO300 for $325. Does the price difference warrant the extra performance? Will it be a considerable upgrade in terms of sound quality or they are similar?

2. I also have smsl a300 with smsl su-1 dac. Is it worth upgrading to the AO300 or they are similar in terms of sound?

3. I also have quad vena integrated amp as well, will I be better off getting a better DAC like smsl do300ex / d300 or topping e70/e70 velvet rather than going for 1 and 2 mentioned above.

4. My speakers - wharfedale diamond 12.2 and dali oberon 5.

5. Purpose - Casual listening and movies. Only streaming from Spotify, Youtube, Apple music and Tidal. (no flac/dsd/offline playback even on PC)

6. Bluetooth streaming / streaming from PC for the time being. Will get wiim ultra once it is out. I had wiim pro connected to topping e70 dac via optical for wifi streaming before, but I much much prefer the bluetooth sound from ifi zen blue v2/ifi zen one signature (just thought i would mention this)

7. Smsl AO300 or A300 with smsl do300ex/d300 DAC or Quad vena with external dac or Audiolab 6000a with external dac?

Kindly help.

 

[Dunring]

I have an AO300 and A300 and like the AO300 better and the menu display is much easier to navigate. I currently use a DO300ex for a DAC and it's really good with 5.2v output and the headphone amp is just 1 watt into 32ohm but it powers quite a few headphones, just not the heavy hitters with a preamp reduction.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

3. I also have quad vena integrated amp as well, will I be better off getting a better DAC like smsl do300ex / d300 or topping e70/e70 velvet rather than going for 1 and 2 mentioned above

How do you feel about the Quad Vena? Does it meet your needs at the moment?

I might be wrong, but it reads a bit like you are doing some "sideways" changes rather than a planned upgrade. If your system has a limitation, prioritize fixing that, would be my advice.

 

[Mikig]

I have some integrated ones that I use on occasion when I don't feel like my main system.
The two I prefer are Onix a55 and Musical Fidelity M3. I find the latter very good, it drives well even speakers that are not exactly easy.

However, if I were to decide to get another used integrated amplifier to replace mine, I would go for Musical Fidelity M5 or Yamaha AS2000.

 

[junvvin]

How do you feel about the Quad Vena? Does it meet your needs at the moment?

I might be wrong, but it reads a bit like you are doing some "sideways" changes rather than a planned upgrade. If your system has a limitation, prioritize fixing that, would be my advice.

I don't know how to put it in words but in short I prefer the quad vena for certain speakers over the class D amps, and the class d amps over the vena in some speakers. For example, the vena does not sound as congested but the vocals/mids are a bit laid back in comparison to the class d amps, and the subwoofer connected via the pre out on vena is weaker as against the dedicated sub out on the smsls. Indeed I have wasted a lot of time and energy on doing sidegrades. The quad vena/smsl/topping amps all have more than enough power for my listening though.

 

[junvvin]

I have an AO300 and A300 and like the AO300 better and the menu display is much easier to navigate. I currently use a DO300ex for a DAC and it's really good with 5.2v output and the headphone amp is just 1 watt into 32ohm but it powers quite a few headphones, just not the heavy hitters with a preamp reduction.

Is the ao300 similar in terms of sound to the a300? I have a300 and da9 and i prefer the da9 over the a300. The sub out on a300 is very weak and the high pass filter does not make any noticeable difference at all when turned on/off. i have two units of a300 btw. The sub out on DA9 is noticeably powerful in my setup. I am also planning to get the do300ex. Hopefully it is an upgrade from the D300.

 

[Dunring]

I just use passive bookshelf speakers, so don't have a comparison on sub performance. I think the AO300 sounds better, but didn't do a volume matched test of both. Just on stock settings the thing I noticed was vocal tracks sounded better, but don't have high end speakers or a sub to really do a fair test. Also I might be jaded by the nice display on the AO300 and having to hold the manual "decoder book" to figure out the A300 which was just a hassle. Both are on a shelf waiting for replacement remote controls to come in. With the filter and color choices, the DO300EX is really fun to experiment with the different settings. Same IPS display and the Hifiman HE5xx I use daily are always in low gain on the headphone jack. It's the same HP out as the original JDS Atom amplifier, so it's no problem with most things.

 

[junvvin]

Anyone who has experience the Rose Technics RT5000 DAC has any idea whether it will pair well with the Dali Oberon 5? Will it be excessively bright? Asking because I am allergic to brightness.