pre-amp and amp for 1K

I would love to get the Rogue, heard a 88 magnum with a McCormack amp hooked up to the same speakers I have. That's what sold me on the speakers.

However, with a Ski Trip and a wedding comming up, I would rather buy used. I'll spend $1500 or a little more if it's buying me an amp that went for $3000 new a couple of years ago, but $1200 for a new Rogue pre. Hell, I can get that anyday.

if you are willing to suffer w/two separate volume controls for the times you are doing the home-theatre thing, any preamp w/a tape loop will work - just plug the h-t receivers' outputs into the preamps' tape inputs.

i'd recommend a melos sha-1 preamp, and electrocompaniet amplification. both steals for the sonics, even when new, imo. when purchased used, it's *really* a steal! :>)

melos f/s for $425 on agon:

http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?preatube&1015803332

a *steal* on TWO electrocompaniet amps for $1300 the pair:

http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?ampstran&1015431268

another decent ec amp deal - one for $800:

http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?ampstran&1015949449

doug s.

By far the best sonic combo that I can think of that you can get for anywhere near the price range you are talking is the Odyssey Stratos amp and perhaps their Tempest pre-amp. Check out the reviews on audioreview.com. Out of about 90 consumers, last time I checked the Stratos was rated a 5 out of a possible 5. Not one flaw. Website is Odysseyaudio.com I believe. They should have some reviews there also. Each component sells for $999 each. But again, they are some of the best made for anything under $5000 per component. Buy one now and one later or perhaps Odyssey can give you a bit of a deal.

If you must, must stay under $1200 and need both right now, you might want to look for a Sherwood Newcastle pre and amp used on audiogon or Perhaps a Sony TA9000ES pre which sells new for I think $700. The Sony TA90000Es is supposed to be pretty good, but the Sherwood Newcastle stuff, though decent looking, is supposedly a definite step down sonically.

IMO

-John

With your 90db. sensitivity speakers,tubes should be the ticket! I'd consider a rogue 88 amp used($800.) and either a Audio Electronics Supply ae3 used pre($350.)or a rogue 66 used pre($750.). Rogue also makes a integrated amp that is called the "tempest", which might also suit you nicely. Good luck and keep us posted!

right now I'm thinking of finding a used Rogue pre-amp and matching it with a good amp a few months down the road. I called Rogue and they said could add a HT-passthrough for $100. Also said alot of people had matched thier pre-amps with Odyssey amps with good results.

Made an offer on a used Rogue 99 pre but guess it wasn't good enough because I never heard back.

I guess you can see the $1K budget isn't firm, but I'm looking for value here. I'm sure the Tempest is a great integrated but I think seperates may allow an easier upgrade path in the future.

The one thing in the back of mind though is I'm not sure of the difference in the various HT-passthrough/processer loop designs. I bet the Rogue would have better 2-channel sound but I'm wondering if I wouldn't be better off with a 5-channel pre like new Audio Refinement Outlaw Audio 950.