Tube amps under $7500

I wished I would had listened years ago when someone suggested to me MCintosh ,ARC or CJ as a preamp. I kiss a lot of frogs on my journey.Listen to the words of wisdom @ghdprentice ​​​​​​he is like the good cool uncle at the bbq .One of my biggest regrets is buying gear thinking that is just as good as what I really wanted . It's a reason why McIntosh,ARC and Cj gear is over 10 years old still demanding a decent price . 

Recently someone was crying about how hard it was to sell a Roque pre amp. Prima luma you see them for sale almost new all the time 

This sounds like a nice testimonial, if it were true. I will just pick on Mcintosh. 

Fact is right now on Canuck Audio Mart there are 27 listings for Mcintosh Pre-amps- just 2 examples for newer preamps:

• 53 day old listing for a C2700: $12000 retail asking $6900
• 153 day old C49 with DAC $9000 retail asking $5500. 

So yes, you are going to get as soaked selling a used Mcintosh pre as much as anything else, maybe more. 

At time of writing there are zero Primaluna Pre amp listings on Canuck Audiomart. 

(Yes, of course Mcintosh have been producing them for many more years and have sold a disproportionate amount compared to Primaluna- just providing a contrary viewpoint in favour of Primaluna)

@audition__audio OTL amps are out of the question for my speakers. I’m sure that with some, OTL amplification would be perfect.

@mdalton @larryi @darkblacksmoke Your insights come as a reminder that I am working with humble $10k speakers plus a modest amp upgrade budget. Need to forget bi-amping, leave my subs offline, choose the best one-chassis solution (more to this decision than pure SQ) and think more about what to do when my DAC dies.

@mclinnguy 

RE: McIntosh Resale Value

Like anything, certain models hold more value than others. Rolex is a strong analog for McIntosh in that regard. Undoubtedly which models and how much those models retain in value is impacted by the size and quality of the market in which they are marketed and sold. I just sold an MC302 in less than a week for close to what I bought it for new six years ago. But I'm in the US not Canada.

I certainly agree, however, that McIntosh resale value is often touted as some kind of golden absolute with no wrong choices, when it is anything but.

it’s very much like a net present value calculation of an investment that yields income.  the npv = discounted cash flows + resale value.  so for a piece of gear, the “cash flows” are the annual benefits of enjoying the gear.  so, one piece of gear could have higher annual cash flows (greater enjoyment), but lower resale.  because of those cash flows, it may actually be a much better investment.  In other words, resale value tends to be overrated.  As as with any investment,  it often depends on what discount rate you assume, lol!

@mdalton 

Something tells me that's not your first time putting that formula into play. No matter, I couldn't agree more. While price (and resale price) is a consideration, it's a rather distant cousin to the priority of value. At least for me. I'm often surprised by how often people fail to make the distinction.