2. amps-preamps
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Finally stepping into the hobby after 30 years of watching from the sidelines

Ok, so I hope you are all ok with a longwinded post from a first time user of the forum.  I have been obsessed with vinyl and tubes since my dad played records for me as a 5 year old.  My wife and I are finally in a place that we can take the leap into the scene.  We want to grow our system over time and may even create 2-3 systems along the way as we have a bed and breakfast where we want to make analog part of the theme. 

We have made up our mind that our first speakers will be Vandersteen 2CE sigs.  That is about as far as we have gotten.  We definitely want to power them with tubes and have very little idea of where to start.  Obviously the mainstream option would be a Mcintosh mc275 and our local HiFi salesman would LOVE to sell us a pair of those.  However, we know that there are several cheeper/better options out there and would love some input from the board.  We'd like to keep the first amp under $3,000, but we aren't locked into that.  Keep in mind that we are ok starting with a single amp and then adding a second one along the way to mono them.  Also, we would love some help with a table/arm/cartridge!  One with an integrated phono stage is fine to start with and we would again be open to upgrading and adding a stand alone phono stage later on.  

We will be doing some electrical work soon to run a 40 amp fuse to the BnBs espresso machine and would be open to setting up a dedicated line for our main system at that time so that we can have clean power.  Has any one had any experience with this?  Any ideas or recommendations that you may have would be a big help here! 

Thank you all in advance, and we are really excited to finally be part of the scene! 
128x128cottguy
cottguy's avatar
cottguy OP
56 posts
 
Well, I unfortunately missed the deal on the Cronus Magnum ii, because our travels over the holiday got a bit crazy. In addition, we were faced with the option of opening up a second BnB location that would have eliminated our stereo budget. We had to kind of back away for a while and make a big decision.

On the bright side, I now have a slightly larger stereo budget (8-10K) as we decided to pass on the second location :-) Based on the new budget, if I am able to find some decent used gear, i should have a nice system to start with.

Unfortunately, I may be asking you all for a bit more advice moving forward.  I really appreciate all of the help and recommendations so far!

Time for me to start doing a little more research...


inna
7,354 posts
 
I could suggest you audition Vienna speakers, in addition to Vandersteen. I heard  a few models driven by both solid state and tube electronics. It was quite nice in either case. 
When buying used patience is the virtue. On the other hand, if you know what you are looking for, the price appears to be about right and seller reliable, one must be prepared to decide quickly. Some pieces are rare and may sell within an hour or two. If going with the Rogue, probably buying new from a reputable dealer with full warranty would be a better move.
cottguy's avatar
cottguy OP
56 posts
 
@inna I learned my lesson the hard way on that.  I was actually sitting down with my wife to make a decision on the VAC last night and it was gone.  I found the same amp listed on another forum from the same seller, but I doubt it is still available.  
oleschool's avatar
oleschool
722 posts
 
      When a rare piece comes up here and is mentioned on the forum it is gone! The forum readers say hhmmm dam i,m buying it( there are some very well off gon readers and a few g is not a big deal  to them ).I had a post on cd players someone mentioned a specific Bel Canto ,I hesitated for a day and it was gone.That  vac was a great piece and I also almost snagged it myself .This hobby will keep you constantly upgrading until you go broke( unless you are very fortunate in that case you will have 200k in your system lol) or finnally realize it's really about the music and eventually if you still have your sanity you will start to focus on your collection and the listening process. Again i strongly suggest dilligence with your search here it will pay off ,look everyday things revolve here all the time ,i would most certainly buy used gear .You will get so much more in the end if you do your homework ..
respect and good luck
..P.S you missed out on a great amp ...    : (    but there are many many more ...
gdnrbob
4,459 posts
 
There will always be another 'deal'. Patience is a virtue when buying used.
I just scored a pair of Vandy VSM's on Ebay for $200 bucks.
Things just appear sometimes and you need to grab them before the next guy.
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