Moving to separates

You might try Musical Fidelity. Notwithstanding negative reactions from some who believe Stereophile has prostituted itself to them or that they "upgrade" their line too often, they actually make stuff that sounds pretty good. While frequent upgrades may hurt resale values if you buy new, you can get used or "close-out" equipment at reasonable prices. Try searching on it here and you'll find all sorts of things.

Thanks so much for your responses thus far. You folks have given me some good points to study.

As for budget, since this is my first set of kit, I was thinking along the lines of $1200-1600, but wasn't really sure what was reasonable

Re: speakers, I don't really know yet. Gallo's Ref IIIs and Mag 1.6s sound great on paper, but I live in an area where Def Tech is considered super exotic, with Boston Acoustics and Polk considered very high line. Unfortunately, not too many good places to really try anything out.

Also, I've never bought anything used in my life...Have your experiences with gear been satisfactory? I find it a little difficult to trust someone who I don't know in dealings that might ramp to a fairly significant expenditure--especially this first time! ;)

Thanks again for further recomendations...and understanding.

If you deal with people with positive feedback you'll find you can get much more for your money on the used market. I love this place. The only place where new may be a good idea is a digital front end. Five years ago I was pretty wary but have been pleasantly surprised that most people are honest. Of course there's a few but as long as you stay with people with positive feedback you'll be ok. Another thing is to make sure they have at least five or six transactions.

For recommendations in separates in electronics excellent value can be found in Parasound and Rotel products. If you decide you need a tuner check out fmtunerinfo.com. Vintage tuners, especially modded ones, are the best values. Modded ones compete one on one with the best the modern era has to offer for a fraction of the cost.

Powered monitors are often an over-looked yet affordable, viable option for separates. Don't buy cheap computer speakers though. Go to Sweetwater or Musician's Friend and order a decend pair of powered monitors from the Pro Market. The only drawback is most of them do not come with grills. But some of them have an excellent apperance without the need for grilles.

Hi!

For solid state the Cambridge Audio Azur 640A integrated amp and 640C cd player are hard to beat at their asking prices.

If you want to go tubes, the Sound Quest SQ-88 integrated tube amplifier is a bargain at it's asking price. I have had excellent results with a variety of speakers, including the Von Schweikert VR-4jr.

Have fun!