2. amps-preamps
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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
Post removed 
kidcreole123 OP
20 posts
 

lots of really good help/info here; thanks. I might have to spend some more time in the speaker section of the forum because it looks like the surrounds on the old ARs are definitely failing, so maybe I should stick with the consensus and start with some speakers that go well enough with the Mc gear and then go from there when the downsizing gets more official. Still like the idea of "start from scratch" though because it will force me to decide on inputs, etc. 

I guess it is a silly question in the amps/pre-amps area, but how many people really use the active speaker route? seems ok short term and good for people minimizing gear, but bit of a tradeoff in flexibility and long term issues

grislybutter
3,107 posts
 

active speakers - according to the youtubers - are the future (from yesterday).

Well, not for tweakers which is most of audiophiles. They can sound great, it take the matching out the equation,  but then where is the fun, the cables, the shiny gear?

stanleylocke
240 posts
 

Just add shipping.

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649896079-dynaudio-focus-380-high-performance-speakers-no-boxes-will-not-ship/

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649968145-krell-400xi-black/

panzrwagn's avatar
panzrwagn
533 posts
 

Your budget means doing some serious value - oriented shopping. And that means finding a decent Preamp/DAC/Power Amp + 2 sets of interconnects  combination with a reasonable WAF for under $3K. Tough shopping there. So I'd look at integrated amps:

Marantz Model 40 - $2495 

 80 W/Ch 8 Ohms/ 120 W/Ch 4 Ohms

 Streamer

 Phono Preamp

Monitor Audio Silver 300 7G  $2850

 2X6" Woofer  6" Mid  1"Tweet

Half a dozen 'Best of ...' Awards in the US and Worldwide. Absolute Sound Editor's Choice, StoundStage Recommended reference Component, etc, etc, 

No bigger foot print than a standmount 

Gorgeous Finish 

That leaves you around $2K for a second/third source (Marantz CD 60 @ $999) For Vinyl, I'd go with a Rega Planar 3 or the really awesome Audio Technica AT-LP2022  For the WOW!, To keep the price down a bit, the Audio Technica AT-LP7 or Pro-Ject Debut Pro Turntable are not exactly peasant fare.

A pair of speaker cables and you're done. If you went to a single source for all this I'll bet you'd could geta pretty sweet system price to boot, easily under $7k - with tax. You could even hold off on the CD and Turntable and bring it home for around $5K if you just wanted to stream. 

And you would have a very serious mid-priced system with none of the service concerns you'd have with smaller boutique brands.

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