What amp $1000 for Rockport Tech Mira Mon?


I have bought (shipping is pending) a pair of Rockport Technologies Mira Monitor speakers (here on Audiogon).

I am looking at choices in an amplifier. Sensitivity on these is 85 dB. But I will not be driving them loud anyway, so don't be afraid to recommend a 30 watt tube.

I know everyone will say that I just need to listen. Right. I know that. But my local audio shop (about the only in town) doesn't carry any amps with less than 5 channels. Whatever I get will be ordered and auditioned, and then sold if not liked.

I kinda broke the bank on these speakers, so I'd like to stay under $1500, preferably under $1000 for this amp. I have at home in other systems a tiny NAD power amp (I think it's 20wpc), and a Sunfire Cinema Grand. I will take a listen with those when I get the speakers, just because I won't be able to wait.

I have a passable Nikko Pre-Amp right now. My eventual plan for this system is a nice pre-amp with digital inputs and a good DAC.
sivert
I'm just curious: What specifically did he recommmend?
-Kurt_tank
He basically said that he didn't have any personal experience with units in the range I'm talking about, so he didn't want to speculate." I didn't push him.
... get financially creative. You committed yourself to this path once you purchased those speakers. In the long run, you'll be happy you did the right thing now. Best of luck.
-Phaelon
haha interesting response. I love it!

After the Shema, the theme of my life is probably, "Everything has room for improvement." I will upgrade in the future. If I spend more now, where will be the fun in the future of upgrading?

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Right now, my top runners are:
a VT-100 here on Audiogon - are Gold Lion KT88's really an upgrade?
A Bel Canto S300iu Integrated (I like the USB input) (recommended by the firm selling the Miras) - this one depends on the price. But he would do this as a demo, so it might be good.
An old Classe. There's one on Audiogon now.
"If I spend more now, where will be the fun in the future of upgrading?"

Sivert, I completely understand your position, but trust me on this one thing: No matter how much you spend on upgrades, as long as Audiogon lives, that fun will always be there.
While looking for an Amp, I found a VT-100 MkIII for a good enough deal that I should be able to do a turn-around if I don't love it and not lose anything.

The VT-100 arrived today, so, more to come . . .
It took me a while to get the thing extricated from the two boxes and plastic wrap. Then I removed the top cover, opened the foam-wrapped vacuum tubes and seated them. After finally getting the top cover back on, I hefted thing onto the table I'm using for an amp stand and on the way over to it, something metal slides inside! That's weird. About this time my parents came over. So we took the top cover off and eventually found two washers sitting in the bottom of the unit. Well, "I'm glad I found that before I turned it on," I thought. We looked around and couldn't see any similar washers anywhere in the unit. Weird. Then I decided we better make sure there's nothing else. So two of us picked up the unit and tipped it in several directions. Sure enough, a small click-tinkle of metal was heard coming from the right side of the unit. So we took the side panel off. There was an inch long bolt - well, an inch of a longer bolt - with a nut on it sitting on the circuit board! I'm really glad I found that one!
So now I have a broken bolt, a nut, and two washers loose in my new treasure. After looking more, I found that there are four bolts that mount the main power transformer. One broke off. After assuring myself that all the pieces associated with that bolt were accounted for, I hooked up the amp, powered it up, and . . .

owhw-howhwh . . . that's nice.

Listened to several familiar pieces and sound is lovely.

I'll do some more listening with my wife tomorrow.

Now, I suppose I need to replace that bolt . . .
Great that you got a nice amp for your speakers (also a Rockport Fan). How is it coming along/does it all sound?

Thx