The following opinions are strictly my own and referenced on my personal experience....
Pubil57 is on the right track. Acquire as much quality in your speakers first as they are the life support system for everything else.
A quality speaker product on the used market after some judicious searching will determine how efficient your amp/pre-amp has to be from a technical viewpoint.
Also, if possible try to preview a number of speakers prior to making your decision. From my position, I previewed a set of Klipschorns first. I acquired a set in Birch with no finish and with somewhat of a ratty appearance for $600. I was running some excellent Carver gear at the time and that was my introduction to mid level Hi Fi.
I still have some of my older gear from 20 years ago, my wife stated we could have our own episode of 'Hoarders' with my hi fi equipment alone, and I would gladly part with it for a fraction of what I paid for it.
The interesting thing is that in looking at the newer state of the art solid state amps, I cannot hear the difference from my Carver 1.5t. At 350 wpc with peak power at 1,000 wpc you can hear a raindrop hit the ground or scissors snipping with absolute clarity.
To recreate that today you are into something like the $2,000 range but if you take a time travel view and look at some of the older stuff you caq acquire it at prices like $100 to $300 for the amp and the same for an older pre-amp. Consider that the original Carver P2000 pre-amp went for something like $4,000 and that was when $4,000 was real money....
The current pricing for new is like buying a car. Once you have it home, it is worth half. A new Krell pair of mono-blocks in the $40,000 range are available for less than $20,000. While these seem like out of this world prices, remember that the quality of the sound is there as well if you have paid attention to your speakers which are the delivery of all your invested money.
I think that if you look around you will even find someone who will sell you some nice stuff on a money back deal at times allowing you to preview stuff at home. I am a staunch advocate in auditioning equipment, be it a power cord or a set of the top of the line Acapella Reference offerings at $455,000.
Just remember that with the new, you may not get what you are paying for or looking to accomplish. As long as you are careful, you will do just fine. Most of the other responses are in my opinion very well met, and are most likely based on their personal experience.
Remember that we all started out at square one somewhere in then past.
One last thing, find yourself a quality coach who knows hi fi. And, one who knows hi fi in the environment that you are going to be purchasing to.
With good fortune I have been able to move into some exotic items and am also moving into retirement, house paid for, two new cars paid for, College paid for, just waiting for the grandchildren as I have given him the green light..... So I am combining my hobbies into feeding my disease of Audiophilia. My wife pointed out that Heroin would be a cheaper direction...
Good luck
Ballisticman
