Power Amp for newbie

Either stick with the ACURUS setup and get the power amp to match the rest of the system.Or go for ARAGON or SONOGRAPHE which is made by Conrad Johnson.

I agree with Martice, an Acurus amp with the other Acurus gear may tend to sound a bit bright/harsh (I've owned some of it). I'd lean toward an amp that was a bit more laid back, like a B&K or Aragon if you have the money.

While several people point out that Aragon, McCormack and some other amps would be better, the weak link that I see is the preamp. I'm not familiar with the sound of the CDP, but have heard that it can be very bright, lean and harsh sounding. I have owned an Acurus Audio L-10 preamp, and if its performance (coherent & detailed, but very lean, analytical and a bit harsh...with a ST-140, no less!) is indicative of the Acurus pre's, I'd definitely upgrade that unit. Buy a used A150 amp $350-500, and use the money saved to upgrade the preamp...the amps are a great value. Maybe an inexpensive DAC (Adcom GDA-600/700) to help smooth the "edges" on the CDP.