Amp, preamp & tuner for $4K

After additional thought, let's just forget the tuner for now - so it's $4K for a NEW amp/preamp combo.

Buy the Pass Alpha P preamp now on Agon for $950 or so, see the ad then look for an amp like the McCormack DNA-1s.

On a good/better/best line of thought with your speakers and cdp here is what I think. Good: Odyssey audio amp and preamp, this is a great hi-end bang for buck company with top notch after sale support should you ever need it. This would be a new system, the other two are used and or new. Better: Musical Fidelity integrated, if you buy used or dealer demo you should be able to get top of the line model which would be very match I would think. Best: This would be used amp and new pre (passive), I would pick up a Pass labs x-150 used, this is great amp with S.O.T.A. sound. Your cdp player has very high output and I would use a passive pre in this system, this would take this system's sound to it's highest level. Two passives that would be great are: Bent audio Tvc-102 or Placette, these would be bought new. These are both SOTA passives with the Bent sounding a little more laid back and a little deeper in the bass department which could sound best in a brighter system. The Placette has a little more air around instruments which could sound better in darker systems. Both company's will arrange 30 day trial. With the Bent unit I would go with balanced connections all the way in this system as there is no extra cost for this option on the bent unit and may be better match for pass amp. The placette can also be had with balanced in/out's but at extra cost. This may or may not be of any matter with your high output cary, try before you buy. Guy at Placette and John at Bent are both very nice people to deal with. All of these systems can be had at or below your price range, hope this helps.

Sogood51 – I appreciate your detailed response.

Initially, I thought that I would just go out and buy a new Adcom GFP-750 (to replace my old one) and spend the remaining money on a new amplifier. After additional consideration, however, I thought that I should solicit some ideas from Audiogon members to add things to my list that I probably wouldn’t have thought of.

Does anyone else have a suggestion or two?

Hi,

As I dealer who spends much of his time comparing, evaluating and discussing equipment I would suggest the wonderful sounding Belles 250 integrated although it does have one tube in the preamp section but that is part of the amps' magic in addition to the 125 watt solid state amp. It uses an outboard power supply to separate the transformer from the circuit boards for better performance. The 250 is very close in performance to the top of the line highly acclaimed Power Modules 350A and 20 preamp. To stay totally solid state the Consonance C-1 integrated (120watts) is a great choice. It was used to drive the Buggtussel speakers at CES2003 and was picked by Positive Feedback as one of the four top rooms at the show. For a tuner I would suggest the new Consonance 1.1. It offers outstanding AM and FM performance.

Enjoy!
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