Entry into tubes

Charlie, I agree with some of the above posts, and I am also a tube lover. All of the components in my system except for the speakers and the transport contain tubes. I am a previous owner of maggies (before wife & kids) A couple of suggestions to think about... Beware of powering the maggies with tubes and a budget - I did it (with MG-1As) unsatisfactorily with 50W (Audio Research VT-60) for a while and then switched to 100W (Audio Research VT100) - which was enough power. Also beware of powering maggies with anything EL-34 based - good EL-34 tubes are getting rare and expensive and maggies eat them fast (pre-AR amp I owned) Maggies tend to be rough on tubes because their impedance can dip pretty low, and they are relatively inefficient. I do not have any suggestions for integrated solutions ~$1500, but if you have the patience, audiogon has been turning VT100s in the low 2K range (not for the MKII)....And upgrade with a preamp when more $$ are available.. If you do not have to drive maggies, I would give a the Rogue a shot, or look for a used Audio Research CA-50. If you haven't detected my bias, I am an AR lover, and no -- I have no affiliation with them. I have received no flawless service out of all the various AR gear I have owned for the past 10yrs. Never had to check out the world class service center other than for tubes every 2000hrs. Last suggestion is to spend ~$1200 for a AR VT-60, and an old counterpoint 7.1 pre-amp ~$300 - Easier to upgrade later, the VT-60 is holding value well, can be used as balanced monoblocks with custom cable connections for future upgrades. My humble biased opinions John

YO, I live in Charleston SC (you cant be more than 3 hours away) and there are a couple of dealers in here. Both carry tubed integrated amps, both are run by good people. At your price I would suggest a SS amp to drive the Maggies, though. I was at one of the above-mentioned dealers today, and we put together a nice system using the Maggie 1.6. However it took A PAIR of the Conrad Johnson MV-55s (GREAT AMP)to drive them. These speakers "lika the peppere" if you know what I mean. Another tip, though take my comment with a grain of salt, as you shoult take all others: Be wary of dealing with one dealer and one dealer only. People have a tendency to exhibit a sort of hyper-loyalty to a specific brand, without actually comparing it to anything else. IF it sounds better than what you already have, why should you not buy?? SIMPLE. Because what you have may sound horrible (relatively) and what you want to buy may sound better, but it may be worse than everything else at the same price. I have friends in the business, but I realize that it's in their best interests to sell their gear. Trust their opinions at your descretion, BUT ALWAYS TRUST YOURT EARS AND WALLET FIRST!!!! If you want info on my local shops, feel free to email me. good luck

sedond your opinon is baseless.You where crying about the Rogue before you put 5 hours on it.I have Rouge 66 and 120 Mono's.As for bass i have no problems.They give me more than enough.your problem is the Mid FI Adcom Junk you are using its not the Rogue.Bottom line is it sounds like you dont know what you want and are slagging the Rogue's.like I said you whinned about the Pre before it was even brokin in.Have you put a couple of hundred hours on it yet.

Be patient and find someone willing to sell you the Audio Research VT100 for your price. You will find someone. It will drive just about anything and it is phenominal. Great soundstage and so easy to listen to.

I can't speak for others and all choices available. It appears that you may require a little more power with Maggies than what you might find in an all tube integrated especially at your 1500.00 price point. It that is indeed the case your choices are very limited indeed. The VT 100 whether a Mk1 or Mk2 is a budget buster but is indeed a superb amp. You MIGHT find a Mk 1 just South of 2K but I haven't seen one. So you still need a pre-amp. I would look at a D-90 or D-115 Mk 2. I have the D-115 Mk2 and it DOES compare favorably with any of their current products albeit a smaller power supply than the VT-100 Mk2 but comparable with the Mk1 (280 joules). The big plus is I have seen the amp as cheap as 1150 on Audiogon and believe me that is a good deal for that amp. It sounds superb, wonderful extended highs, a glorious midrange and well defined bass, you know that word that is so commonly used "musical", fits like a glove. I can't imagine you doing better for the dough, only make sure the output tubes are recent. Now you still need a pre-amp. Depending on your needs; a phono stage unit Conrad Johnson PV-5 for around 500-600; ARC SP-6 series for 600-700. Line stage only maybe a little less ARC LS-2 600.00. NOW you have got a good tube set-up close to your budget. Fair warning the D series amps run HOT, and that D-115 needs space if you want to prolong tube life. But you'll love it. Good luck.