Nice to see you back Tom/Tpsonic. Adcom is as good of a place as any for you to start, Ivyinvestor. Lots of us started with Adcom. i started with Audio Alchemy, which is abotu the same thing, but just a tad more lush sounding (and a bit more unreliable). rotel, parasound also make separates in the same price range, and should hold their values well at resale time. A little farther up the food chain is Bryston, McCormack (SMc audio), and Odyssey. Klaus sells the Odyssey stuff direct, so the prices are reasonable, but still higher than used Adcom separates.
You can look at the used prices of the above brands and seel what you are comfortable spending. $250 for a preamp (without phonostage) and $500-650 for a power amp (1200-1600 retail) would be a nice place to start at. You can spend more if you like, but that will give you a taste of what decent gear can do. you can also spend less, but you'll have to shop very carefully. It's a lot harder to find a decent $200 amp, for example.
You can look at the used prices of the above brands and seel what you are comfortable spending. $250 for a preamp (without phonostage) and $500-650 for a power amp (1200-1600 retail) would be a nice place to start at. You can spend more if you like, but that will give you a taste of what decent gear can do. you can also spend less, but you'll have to shop very carefully. It's a lot harder to find a decent $200 amp, for example.