Dorm Room Amp/Preamp


Hi, I'm a budding audiophile about to go to college and leave behind my Paradigm Reference Studio 60s so I originally bought a used pair of Paradigm Monitor 3s and a NuForce Icon after seeing the glowing review of it in stereophile. The NuForce was too much trouble with the rj45 to speaker wire connector and new power supply so I returned it. I have about $800 left to spend on amp/preamp. Any suggestions on what to buy? I obviously don't need a lot of wattage and something with USB in would be nice. Thanks for your help.
vmain13
used Cayin, tubes. Will drive anything you fit in a dorm room. Of course, the tubes will be cool, cool, cool. Enjoy
Agree with Jaybo about the Peachtree Decco. Tubed preamp, amp and Scott Nixon-designed DAC with USB input in a nice package. Also works well as a DAC/preamp for an external power amp if you want to experiment with tubes later on.
Winsome Labs' Mouse-30/45W and musical.Small chassis.Been very impressed with mine driving full-range monitors.Alps Blue-Velvet volume is recommended.
Yeah thanks a lot for your responses guys. I've been leaning towards Peachtree Audio Decco looks gorgeous and has all the features I need but I haven't really heard much about them. But I've also heard a lot about Music Hall's offerings. Anybody have firsthand experience with them?
Excuse me. They are no longer called 'dorm rooms'. The preferred term now is 'residence hall room.'