Vincent SV237mk, Marantz PM14s1 or PM-KI Ruby?

The OP is looking for an integrated amplifier not a power amp.

 

Good catch.... I guess my brain is still on OD from to much turkey, I wasn't thinking straight.....

 

Thanks for the correction F1, ok, looking for an Integrated, not power amp. I might suggest the very nice, well built Parasound HINT, all new design, great product, plenty of power. If you want a pride of ownership piece, I might try a McIntosh MA-5300, beautiful piece of equipment. The AS-2100 would also be a brilliant choice.

 

I am a believer is high wattage high current amps. Hard to go wrong with the A21, next step up would be Pass Labs.

I use an older 1st generation Emotiva XPA-2, which is a straight class A/B power amp, that cnd easily drive 4-Ohm loads at 400-Watts or 250-Watts into 8-Ohms.

I can't say enough good things about the Polk LSiM product line. I have the 707's for my front towers both for stereo and HT. They do like plenty of power and an amplifier that can deliver a lot of current.

I don't think there is a better deal on a quality tower speaker than the LSiM707 at these sale prices.

 

When I was just doing this I narrowed it down to the a-s2100, PM-Ki Ruby, Hint6, Belles Aria, Hegel H190, and did listen to the Nait 2 and Nait 3. The Nait 3 was out of my price range and I really liked the Nait 2. In the end I choose the a-s2100. It was comparable in every way to the Hegel and Nait amps. The Marantz was very nice but a bit to on the dark side for me, I preferred the still tube like but more lively presentation of the Yamaha. I felt it was a clear step above the Hint 6 and Belles Aria.

 

Yeah...so I guess I'm just going to have to be patient and wait for what I want to show up on the used market. I'll probably place a wanted ad or two.

I'm still not sure about Class D, so I'm forgetting about the newer Marantz Reference products. I'd say my want list goes something like this...

Marantz PM-11s3
Luxman L-505ux
Yamaha AS-2100
Marantz PM-KI Pearl or PM-14s1
Then maybe a McIntosh from Audio Classics

I thought I had a hit on the 1st two in the list...the seller decided not to sell the PM-11s3 and the Luxman I received no replies. The last 3 on the list are much easier to come by, except for the Pearl, which there is one available now but I keep holding off since I'd rather have the PM-11s3

 

I think I'd go with a class A/B as well. I haven't heard a class D amp in person and people say they can sound good but not sure I'm ready to go that way. Good luck finding what you want. I have the 705's too and will be on a search as well when funds permit.

 

That PM 11S3 ia one great amp.

 

My experience with Vincent gear is great. I have the 236mkII for 10 years now and its wonderful. Replaced the 3 12ax7 tubes with Mullard long plate mc, Telefunken smooth plates, and or Philips Bugle boy Amperex (all from 1957-61) and the Vincent took on a sound that to me , my audio pals and a dealer could not believe.
However the tubes are incorporated and hopefully my Wima caps are real the sound is comparable to every amp I ever had and better in most cases. Playing their integrated amps into efficient speakers is the way to go, and its pure class A for the first 10 watts or so. I
I think the new 237 is the way to go but can understand the whole Chinese thing and the worry of counterfeit parts. Not to rationalize but almost everything nowadays has some Chinese part in them. Have fun, John M.

 

I think some cats don't understand this is a global market now. You can get B.S. from any continent inclusing the Americas.

 

Incoming!!



Thanks to Jesse aka F1nut for spotting one for sale for me yesterday.

 

As I mentioned at the other post I just got my Marantzs Ruby both the sacd and amp. To cut things short I love the new set up. Initially I installed the sacd with rogue sphinx driving the Kef LS50. Already better imaging and much smoother sounding compare to my old cd setup, which consist of oppo 103D with Music fidelity V90 dac via Qed digital. But it is not until I hook up the Ruby intergrated I realize the full potential of the system. The LS50 has really come alive I swear the scale it portrays, turned itself into a tower speakers. Low end of organ recording has just filled my 360 sq ft living room! Initially I was skeptical since the 8 ohm rating of both the intergrated are both 100w......It was not until I read from some testing that the ruby actual rating has 170 at 8 ohm and at least 280 at 4 ohm that I decided to give it a shot.......Well I am not disappointed and I am confident it has the power of what the report has suggested.......

I have also ordered the Q acoustics concept 500 since Ken ishiwata used them during ruby demo with good result.....

Just give it a listen better yet try it with your speakers set up......end of the day it comes down to system matching......

Winsome

 

Hello! I own Q acoustics concept 500 and I want to upgrade my amp (currently owning harman kardon hk 990), I was thinking about ruby so I would like to ask if you finally bought the concepts and if so how do they sound together.

My concern would be the fact that concepts sound to the warm side of neutral and generally marantz amps (I used to own pm15s2) sound also dark/warm so I would expect a result maybe too warm for my ears but I haven't tried ruby.

Waiting your thoughts.

 

Yes I have installed both the ruby sacd and amp to pair with the Q500. Plenty of power to drive the Q500 as well and it delivers detailed and balance tone. I was surprised by how good the vocal and strings are. Since the ls50 delivered such outstanding quality in these area I was worry with such large cabinet the Q 500 might not be able to generate similar refinement. Well guess I was worry too much not only do they create incredible sound from DSD even when streaming tidal with track such as Louis Armstrong, they sounded great. Large scale Orchestral works is delivered with good energy and precise soundstage as well. All and all I am very happy with the pairing with such price tag you really have to good much higher to best it. Hope you add a turntable as well because the phone stage is beautifully design in the system as well.......
What stopping a lot of people I guess it was the Class D operation but after I study and talked to a Marantz engineer the kind of sound tuning that has gone into the system should not stop anyone from having a carefully evaluation........
Hope these help!! Oh and kind of childish but when I open the boxes of the ruby and touch it for the first time I cannot stop admiring the incredible finishing of the system. for the money its a steal in hi fi world!!

cheers!

 

Yeap I have read that the phono stage is excellent. I own marantz tt-15s1 which is good too.

I finally ordered ruby hope to like it. A good dac will be the final add.

Thanks.

 

Itzikia please share your experience once you pair up the ruby and 500 thanks!

 

I found that a good DAC in an integrated amp benefits of the support and dampening by the mass of the integrated, as well as having short circuiting. I also replaced the feet of my amp (Vincent SV700) for extra dampening. The integrated DAC beats the DAC of my CD player and external DAC I tried by miles!

 

Hi, if you find your amp a bit on the warm/dark side, have you tried to reverse the phase of the power connection of the amp (just turn it around and plug in)?
Power pollution could also be a culprit, in this case you would need to try a power filter.

 

Finally I got it.

After several hours of listening is for sure better and more balanced than my Harman kardon hk 990.

Big soundstage, delicacy, nice vocals, guitars, piano etc sound indeed very good. It doesn't sound like previous marantz reference models.

It is less warm/dark but still warm, it reminds me of an arcam I've heard in the past. It has lots of detail, good tight bass and airy clear highs without fatiguing. Sometimes I felt I want a little more bass but I can set it from tone controls.

Overall the combination of ruby and concepts is great, almost ideal.

To be honest I didn't hear other amps in this price league (4.000 euros) to say if there are better options or not but the result is beautiful.

So I cannot conclude if it worths the asking price compared to others.

It is certain that it is a beautiful sounding amplifier.

 

Forgot to verify that the onboard phono stage is indeed excellent.

 

Congratulations, hope you enjoy the Ruby as much as I enjoy mine.

 

Congrat on getting the Ruby.
BTW at the beginning I installed the speaker wire at LF both positive and negative. I just changed to positive to HF and negative to LF, overall tonal balance is more natural and sounded more open. I left the speaker treble setting at normal. Also I managed 1 meter from rear wall with good bass response.
After listening to Ruby I really think Marantz has taken class D to another level now. In fact the ruby sounded tube like in its presentation.......

 

How bout a pic of that fine setup?

 

I will try it next days because I am moving to a new house and now I am in a mess. Even now that the room is bad the result is beautiful.

I think it will be improved at my new place.

 

This duo is enthralling. The more I listen the more I get amazed.

These speakers are stunning, even with the Cambridge audio cxa80 (I had in the past) were great, now with marantz sound even better. More open, more 3-dimensional. Guitars, vocals , piano sound magic.

Because the germ of upgrade will difficultly disappear I would like in the future to try a Luxman, an Accuphase, a Macintosh to see how much these speakers will improve and if they are a serious step up from marantz.

Now I want to add a dac but I think if it worths to buy later the sa-ki ruby even I have a few CDs. How does its dac sound?