step up from rotel?

Waiting to hear what everything sounds like in a new place is sage advice. You might forgoe any exchanges then… or not.

The 1080 is a nice amp. Good bass, a tick on the warm side. Not huge and weighty. Easy to manage and can be run xlr or se. there are any number of different sounding amps, and arguably many better sounding amps too. If that $1,000 on hand funding for another amp does not include the resale of the 1080, you might add that in too and your chances for a definite step up improve a lot. Otherwise, you’ll be gaining perhaps not a lot better sound, but in exchange, simply a different sounding amp.

It would also be a good idea to wait and see, so you can get a feel for your DIY speakers needs… and be better able to more precisely feret out the direction your preffs an speaker needs will take you then.

I recently upgraded from my Rotel RB-1092 and RC-1082. I spent 8 months auditioning various makes, and as mentioned above, Rotel is a good bang for the buck component. I listened to Krell, Bryston, Classe, W4S, Edge, Bel Canto and finally settled on McIntosh (C2200 pre and MC252amp). I had to spend substantially more than my inital Rotel costs to improve on the sonics. My Rotel eqipment retailed for $3800 and the McIntosh retailed for $9900. I bought the preamp used so my real out-of pocket after deducting what I got for my Rotel equipment was $5300. My point is it will be hard to upgrade for $1000.

My rotel is a rb980 not 1080. So a belles 150 hot rod wouldn't be much of a upgrade? There was a ayre v3 for 1250 wouldn't that be a substantial upgrade? There are numerous tube amp for a 1000 or less

Different is not necessarily better.

Invest the grand in a money market to get it out of your hot little hands and wait for the new space.

nobody's pockets are deep enough to change gear THAT often. Or at least non that I actually know.

I don't follow, I was giving examples not saying I was going to buy all of those amps. As far as hot little hands I am still saving up and am researching at the moment. Is that clear?