Thanks again all. My goal is to put together a system piece by piece over the next 3-6 months. Budget for the whole system would be $4-5 K. I started with the Rotel receiver and agree it is not the best but wanted something to hold me over until I can afford higher end stuff. I thought I would get speakers next(spending $2500 or less), then upgrade to better electronics. Since I could use the Rotel as a pre-amp I thought a better amp would make a difference. What I'm hearing is I should probably reconsider the Rotel. I've listened to CD players from NAD, Linn and Marantz. Linn was by far the best. I have heard alot about the Rega Planet but have not auditioned it yet.