Starting from scratch and say $5000


my original post (written, edited, then lost to the cloud) was: "Will I regret selling my McIntosh gear"  I will let it remain in the netherworld and rephrase as above. Truth is I bought an MC2155, C33, and XRT 18 speakers about 15 years ago but because of moves and family stuff, never got a chance to deploy them until this last fall when we became an empty nesters (not the speakers; bad surrounds). Lugging the heavy McIntosh amp told me I needed to sell it because I expect to be moving again soon and it is just too much of a beast that I'm also afraid to damage. But now that it is playing I am enjoying it, even driving mediocre 90s Acoustic Research AR208 speakers I had previously dismissed until hearing them with the MC power. Anyway. contemplating a completely new system to be financed with the sale of the Mc gear and even though I know this is an absolutely unanswerable newbie question, I need the therapy of talking about it to get any sort of orientation in the hundreds of brands and technologies of today. So here goes: I would like to put together a pre+amp+speakers somewhere around $7000 and have no idea where to start.

thanks in advance and apologies for such a vague question. details can follow

ps I like the sound signature of the mc but don't really know anything better; curious about class D. used is fine but not so much vintage unless it is still a value/performance contender. I like diy and projects but hitting 60 next year and starting to value my time in early (unplanned) retirement 

kidcreole123

@kidcreole123  As nonoise noted above, I am a dealer for Revival.  Feel free to reach out with questions.  

thanks nonoise, but I had already done that search and my search like yours (at least my results) shows the us distributor but does not list the dealers. and the toneimports page did not show dealers either. but thanks for the link to them

toneimports is the dealer. You would have to contact them. Their web page is not great to say the least.

I am not inclined to make a specific recommendation at this time. That said:

In your position I would consider an integrated amplifier. There are many great ones available that would fit into a system supported by your budget. 

I also would consider exploring the speaker market prior to considering amplification. Consider speakers that are not difficult to drive, having a reasonable sensitivity and impedance curve across the frequency range. The choice of amplifier is often driven by the speakers under use.

You didn't mention what sources(s) you will be using. What are they?