This is my first go at a quality System. At some point I will update my amp to seperates but at this point I am totally happy. Amber seems to drive Mani's well except Rock & Roll at excessive volume's get's a bit muddy and clipping can occur. Only at more than 95% of amp output. I mostly listen to Blues and world so plenty of volume for that. The Amp upgrades in mind are Plinius SA 250 MK 4 or 300 , Sim audio W-5, Music Fidelity KW 500 . Haven't looked into Pre yet. Speakers are moved into marked spots on floor when listening. Speaker placement has been tricky as the room is open on one side and large sliding glass doors on the other.
The Line filters made a huge difference. Not only did they bring my platform noise level down to nil but also.... I run my mani's 10.5 feet apart, the filters really filled out the soundstage but the most noticible difference was how much more Bass I got out of my speakers. The bass seemed to tighten up and grow and the difference was easily ditinguishable. You did not have to listen hard to notice it.
I'm not sure there would be much change from my Amber to the I-7 as the Amber is made by Sim Audio and modeled after the I-5 with a little more power and more stable at heavy load. The I-7 is only 25 Watts more per channel while the W-5 is 50 watts more. If I get the chance I will Demo one anyway.
