HiFi Rose RA280

It's been said before, but the essential truth remains as shiny as a new 2A3 tube: A well-made, good-sounding integrated amplifier is a sonic marvel, a triumph of audio engineering. Sound quality is just the beginning.

- KEN MICALLEF

Consider economics. An integrated amplifier is gentler on the wallet than often-cumbersome separate pre and power amplifiers. It’s the Marie Kondo of the audio world, decluttering your hi-fi rack with hardnosed efficiency. Fewer connections mean even more value—fewer expensive cables—less fuss, and a refined, all-inclusive electrical architecture tucked into one (often but not always sleek) chassis. Sometimes they're as powerful as standalone amplifiers if not more so. We live in an era where watts are cheap, now more than ever. The latest iteration, class-D, has taken its place as a high-fidelity source to be reckoned with.

The modern integrated amplifier goes back to hi-fi’s first golden age, beginning in 1958 with the H.H. Scott Type 299, which had custom output transformers, machined-aluminum knobs, and a pair of 7189 output tubes (a higher-power EL84) per channel. Solid state amplifiers followed in the early 1970s—the Sansui AU-555A, Marantz 1060, Yamaha CA-1000, Pioneer SA-7500—paving the way for today’s class-D integrateds.

Some audiophiles still turn up their noses at class-D amplification, but they're refusing to smell the coffee. My very first Stereophile review, in 2016, was of the Spec RPA-W7EX Real-Sound power amplifier. That Spec amp sounded startlingly like my preferred analog. In fact, as I wrote at the time, “The amplifier had sonic qualities I usually associate with tube amplification: sweet'n'saturated tonal colors and palpable instrumental textures, coupled to startling microdynamics that left me slack-jawed in wonder, enjoying LPs anew for hours on end. Disc after disc, I felt I was experiencing fresh musical truths.”