Stereophile Class A

The Rogue 88 (tubes) is excellent for the money. Can be purchased for under $1000. Can be updated later to Magnum series. Look at an Anthem Pre1L for about $400. Tubes and a great deal at the used price. If you want to keep the cost down look at Cambridge Audio solid state gear. They are an excellent value for the money.

I agree with DR Joe meitner 101 monos are under priced on the used market, very musical, my experience is that most cheap solid state and alot of expensive ss really sounds horrible. be carefull. class a is important for resale but try to be objective many class a components are junk.

How about a quality integrated amplifier, tuner, and cd player all for $1k used? The Linn Classik T goes for $1k used all the time. Add a decent pair of speakers and you're "in business." Cheers!

Pass Labs Aleph-3 "Beyond Class A" $2500 retail.No longer in production.Used $900-$1200 Will drive all but the most difficult speaker.

Abstract7 made the important distinction between Class A operation and Stereophile's rating system. If you're talking about the Stereophile system, that is defined at the beginning of the April and Oct. component rating issues, and of course in this case, Stereophile defines the classes.

I can strongly recommend the McCormack DNA-0.5 and DNA-1 amps. They operate in A/B mode-- this means that the first few watts are biased into pure class A output. Class A output means that the amp is running "wide open" with only one regulation device. These are both Stereophile Class B amps. The Deluxe models are slightly better. The .5 can be found used for $600-700., and the DNA-1 about $1000. A nice aspect of the McCormack amps is that Steve McCormack of SMc can up-grade them to standards that will easily meet or exceed Stereophile's Class A standards, as your budget allows.

I had a pair of DNA-2DXs up-graded to Revision A, and they are fantastic with great bass and a tube-like mid-range and treble. Good Luck. Craig