No single best amplifier here. What decides it is what you have to drive, what you need to plug in, and how much of the system you want in one box.
| Area | Better | Why |
|---|
| Power | evenly matched | Effectively the same output - 135W against 110W into 8 ohms is under 1dB, which is not an audible difference in loudness. |
| Built-in DAC | B | Both decode on board, but only Integra DTM-7.4 handles DSD. |
| Analogue inputs | A | Emotiva BasX TA2+ takes more analogue sources - 4 against 3. |
| Use with a TV | depends | Only Integra DTM-7.4 has HDMI ARC, so the television can drive it directly and one remote controls the volume. If the system is for music only, this changes nothing. |
| Room to grow | evenly matched | The same expansion options on both. |
| Amplifier class | depends | Emotiva BasX TA2+ is Class A/B and Integra DTM-7.4 is Class G. Class A/B runs warm and is the long-established mainstream choice; Class G/H switches its supply rails to cut the heat a Class A/B design wastes. Modern examples of both measure well - judge by the rest of the page. |
| Price | B | Integra DTM-7.4 costs less - $950 against $1,299 at list. |
A Emotiva BasX TA2+ B Integra DTM-7.4
depends neither is better in the abstract - it turns on your room, your system or how you will use them. Only specs published for both amplifiers are judged; anything missing on either side is left out rather than guessed.
Which should you choose?
Neither runs away with it - they trade advantages. Let the "depends" rows and the speakers you already own settle it. If this sits under a television, Integra DTM-7.4 is the one to buy - HDMI ARC means the TV remote controls the volume and there is no second box in the way. Think about the whole system: the roughly $349 saved by taking the cheaper one would buy better speakers or a subwoofer, which does more for the sound than the difference between two competent amplifiers.
What a spec sheet cannot show: how either sounds with your speakers, how the controls feel day to day, and what the app is like to live with - which is where most all-in-one amplifiers are actually won or lost. Power figures are the manufacturers' own and are not measured to a common standard, so treat small differences as noise. If you can hear both, that will tell you more than any row above.