For those of you new to home audio, an integrated amp is a combination of two pieces of gear: a stereo preamplifier and stereo power amplifier. The job of a preamp is to switch your inputs and adjust the volume before sending the signal off to the power amp. It just handles all of the source signals which are at a low level. A power amp provides the power that actually drives your speakers.

Preamps vary in the number and type of inputs. Some may have a phono input, digital inputs with a built-in Digital to Analog Converter, and a few models have a Bluetooth receiver built-in as well.

When you combine the amp and preamp into one box, it becomes an integrated amp.

Music lovers prefer integrated amps over home theater receivers as they typically have a more musical sound. The companies making integrated amplifiers usually have a background in high-performance audio and put more emphasis on sound and simple circuitry than lots of features.

Most people who upgrade to a new integrated amp usually tell us they heard a marked improvement in audio quality. And with their simple design, most integrated amplifiers will last you for decades.

The first step in picking out the best integrated amplifier for your needs is to think about the sources you will want to connect up to it and the type of speakers you might want to use now or in the future.

These sources might include a turntable, in which case you will want to get an integrated amp with a phono input. Or if the one you like does not have a phono input, you can always buy an even better separate phono preamp that would connect to an auxiliary input. Most integrated amps have several of these auxiliary-type analog inputs which handle phono preamps, CD players, cassette decks, and more. Some even have digital inputs for a connection from your TV.

How powerful an amp you need will depend on the speakers you are looking to drive. You’ll notice a lot of these amps do not have what seems like a high power rating. However, what they do have is a lot of current, which is what really determines how well an amplifier can drive your speakers. But even so, you still would not want to pair up a pair of speakers with a low sensitivity rating in a large room with a low-powered amp. We consider anything below 88 dB to be on the low side for sensitivity for a speaker rating.

So with all that in mind, let’s dive in and look at our top five suggestions under $1,500.

NAD C316BEE V2 Integrated Amplifier

But the real reason people love the C316BEE V2 is on the inside. NAD’s PowerDrive circuit has been around for years in all of their amps. It uses computer intelligence to optimize the power supply settings to deliver the best performance for playing back actual music. It makes this little jewel sound far bigger and more robust than you would think for its 50-watt per channel rating. You even get a large toroidal power transformer, heavy duty fully discrete output transistors, and expensive smoothing capacitors. It really has all of the hallmarks you would expect from a much more expensive unit.

NAD’s proven audio tech is one reason the earlier 316 won so many awards and now with a great phono preamp, it is very hard to beat for the money.

Rotel A11MK II Integrated Amp

If you pop the cover, you will see a very clean design with a large power supply which uses a toroidal transformer all on one side with the low level circuitry on the other. You’ll also see the large heatsinks for the discrete Class AB power amp rated very conservatively at 50 watts per channel.

This is a very smooth-sounding amp, as a matter of fact, “sweet” is the first term that we all agreed on when the first demo cut started playing.

For those of you who appreciate a few more features and want to stay well south of $1,000, the A11MKII is a great choice.

Marantz Stereo 70s

The DACs inside the Stereo 70S can handle Hi-Res Audio up to 24/192 and DSD up to 5.6 megahertz. The power amp portion is very similar to what they use in their more expensive audio-only integrated amps. The power amp section is a fully discrete Class A/B design rated at 75 watts per channel just like what you find in high-performance separate power amplifiers.

But the real magic came in with the addition of HDAM. Marantz developed HDAM or High Dynamic Amplifier Modules back in 1992. They consist of fully discrete circuitry with hand-selected components to give you the quietest possible signal path in the preamp stage of their products. This is the first time HDAM has shown up in a Marantz slimline 2-channel receiver. Units we have heard with HDAM have an almost completely silent background which helps allow all of those tiny details in your music to come to life.

When we looked at all of these features with the fact Marantz has paid a lot of attention to the audio performance, we felt this unit deserves serious consideration if you want more than a basic stereo system.

Arcam Radia A25

You probably noticed all the small, often quieter, details in the song that a lesser-quality setup wouldn’t reveal. The true magic behind superb audio reproduction isn’t the loud parts but rather those minute details that come alive and make you experience the music on a whole new level. This is where Class G amplification comes in as a clever solution.

Class A has always been considered the very best type of amplifier, but it's very expensive to make one with enough power to drive speakers to loud levels.

Class G inside the A25 uses dual windings, which enables it to be pure Class A up to 15W with zero crossover distortion. Then, when it needs more power, it will cross over to Class AB. This makes it a very efficient design as the additional power is only used when required and can switch instantly with virtually zero lag. ARCAM has been constantly developing and improving its Class G amps for years. The Class G amp inside the A25 is their fifth and newest generation, so you can be sure you have the best-sounding ARCAM Class G amp on the market.

If you have speakers that are a little hard or difficult to drive, you will be amazed at how the Arcam A25 will wake them up!

We hope this overview will help you pick the best amp when it comes time to upgrade your system. If you have further questions, contact our experts via chat, phone, or email. Or simply visit one of our world-class showrooms to experience speakers, projectors, TVs, and everything in between for yourself before you make a purchase!

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