Meta-ThaT's a tough one. I would buy the best amp, because you can always- down the road -get some cords but it may be tougher to get a better amp, being stuck with your old one. Yes, IME, I bought a used V.A.C. triode amp (knowing the weakness' of this amp) and just fell in love with the voicing. I have been pleasantly surprised in tweaking its sound with both N.O.S. tubes AND after-market power cords; 1st E.s.P. "ESSENSE", 2ND Shunyata BLK Mamba, 3rd Shunyata Sidewinder and finally Shunyata Viper v2. The E.s.P. & Sidewinder I still own the BLK Mamba was upgraded to the V2. So, in the short-term I think you could possibly get a better sound with a nice amp AND a nice PC, over a real nice amp with a stock cord, but that route in the long-term may be more limiting. This is highly speculative, in terms that it is extremely dependant on the choice of equipment, what its hooked up to and listener bias. Make sense? Mike
Amp+Cords or New Amp, best bang for $$$
If I have ONLY $4k to spend on an amp, should I get a less expensive amp and put the rest to Power Cords or should I spend the whole enchilada on an amp. I currently have a BAT VK-500 with BAT PAK and PS Audio Lab Cables but am very curious about the Levinson 333. This isn't necessarily about my specific choices, but rather the wisdom of spending $1k or more on cables prior to upgrading an amp. I sometimes wonder if it isn't a lot like those hopped-up toyotas. Like many of you, I use Audiogon as my listenening room so I'm looking for some feed-back prior to "using my ears" to decide. FYI- Sonic Frontiers T3/P3, BAT Vk5i, Dynaudio Confidence 5, Kimber KCTG ICs and Cardas Golden Cross Speaker Cables.