08-27-13: Jkman
al- yeah I'm a goober and just thought separate amp and pre would be better performance wise. I also thought the arc 150 was the max wattage which I believe was the max on the speakers. I guess you don't match speakers and amps that way.
Jim, yes 150 watts is a reasonable power rating to be using with those speakers, although there are many other factors that are involved in matching amplifiers and speakers (some of which I touched upon in my previous post). But the price of those ARC components is absurd for use with the Gallo Strada's, unless as I said you envision ultimately upgrading the speakers.
Check out Modwright.com for some pre, power, and integrated amplifiers that would, at a very small fraction of the price of those ARC components, provide you with similar power ratings, and in combination with the Gallo speakers would undoubtedly provide you with sonics that are just as good, albeit probably a bit different. Even those components, though, might be overkill for use with the $2K Gallo speakers.
Regards,
-- Al