Build me a killer Rock/Metal Rig for 1K

David,

I am sorry you have had problems and had to divest. It is important to have music in your life. If I were in your situation, I would strongly consider a Superphon RevelationII preamp ($350) and PS Audio 200C ($375) on Agon right now. Both products were designed by Stan Warren and repersent excellent values. The Superphon has a superb phono stage should you ever get back into vinyl. The PS Audio is 200 watts per channel and should mate well with the Thiel's. There is also a Sumo Andromeda II for $500 and White monobloc 250 watt amps also $500. But for just over $700, the Superphon and PS Audio combo leaves you money for the Sony and a cheap tuner if you want. Or maybe for some music. No tubes and no remote, but a reasonable compromise imho.

Good luck. Let us know what you decide.

Regards,
Paul

INfact, not only do I KNOW that no tube amp at his budget, for his purposes will work for him with those Thiels, but I would suggest CALLING THIEL!!! I would suggest picking the people at Thiel's brain (probably get Sheri on the Phone, but also talk to a tech or Jim Thiel or some one). I bet you anything they would suggest like a used TUBE PREAMP with solid state amp! for his budget!

I agree with the posts that say you cannot do what you want with what you have.

Having said that, for what you want you should slay the "Thiel beast" by dumping them and buy Klipshorns. With the leftover money (if you are lucky) and your 1k buy a Manley Stingray integrated amp and and an Ah tjoeb 4000 cd player. This system will destroy your Thiels plus whatever amp and cd player you can get for 1k.

Now you are talking "killer rock/metal rig."

I read'em all; alot of people here have certainly put forth some effort. I'm not going to tell him to bail since he does have to listen to something. The Aragon hifiguy recommends is a good choice. I'm not big into balancing the coloration "du jour" as one person put it--you just need good accurate gear for cheap that can drive your pair of relatively inefficient demanding speakers. A nice SS amp for the Thiels would be the way to go-espeically since you need power. I think B&K and Aragon are generally a cut above Adcom and Paraound. Brystons also another (there's a few over there for <$500). If you insist on having tubes in the system get it in the preamp-- but forget about the remote, its too much a stretch at your budget. For a front end I've owned a Parasound c/dp 1000 and it was a good unit--you could get one for between $100 and $160 used. Parasound doesn't make cd players anymore so you won't find a new one anyhow. It also has a coax digital out so you can upgrade the DAC later. That way you'll have something to listen to and when you upgrade you won't have lost a penny on this initial purchase. SACD is not a great format you might not want to get to caught up in it: a standard CD actually has better High Frequency capability and DVD-A is really the winner over SACD and CD. And with all the varying quality of different DACs it turns into apples v oranges real quick and you don't know what's to blame for the sound. The recordings can dominate it all: a good recording on Metal Cassette tape on a Nakamich dragon could outperform a poor SACD recording. I would forget about the cables too. If anything build some yourself and/or wait 'til later for what you want to do there.

CD Player $100-$150 (w/ digital out so you can upgrade later)
Amplifier $500 (Aragon, Bryston, B&K, Van Alstine,etc.)
Preamplifier $350 (Aragon, Van Alstine, others)

Use 14g cable from either Audioadvisor at $.30ft or check out apexjr.com--there stuff is all under $.50ft too. Pauls equipment recommendations are good too. Audiolab has had some decent budget pieces also. Don't get too hung up on power ratings. Shoot for around 100watts. But the difference between 120 wpc and 160wpc is only marginally audible--especially the way some speakers start to compress at higher volumes and you might only walk away with a 1 db at best with those extra 40 watts depeding on specifics.