Lots of good suggestions here. I would throw in that the preamp/amp is a combination and should be considered together. Now you have a Rotel pre/amp combo that is probably very equivalent and compatible. If you upgrade one and not the other, you may see little gain. Even if you can't buy both at once, an upgrade path is good to have. Also, to me, the difficulty in buying used gear is typically that lack of ability to audition with your own gear. If you are happy with your Revels, perhaps you could get a feel for the type of pre/amp that works well with them to yours ears: neutral, warm, SS, tubes, etc. Then you could post "Neutral SS amp recomendations for $X". Personally, I like to start with speakers and move upstream. Others make valid points - garbage in, garbage out - but to me, the speakers have the largest impact to the overall style of your sound.
Amp vs. preamp
Hopefully, your expertise can help me out. I can not stop upgrading and i'd been thinking about this for some time. I am relatively new to this hobby and have heard many things regarding amps and preamps. What is more important in the overall scheme of things for home theater and music. The amp or preamp assuming you have really good speakers. Would you guys invest more money into 5.1 processor or the amp? Seeing a lot of these used high end gear in reasonable prices is so tempting to upgrade. I use my system for both music and movies. I also realize room acoustics makes a big difference but i will worry about that later in terms of treating it.
1) Will there be a noticeable difference if i was to step up to a used krell preamp vs. my rotel 1068
2) Or use my rotel preamp and get a better amp.
If the difference is considerable, i might go in that direction. Or just be happy with what i have. Im using revel performa speakers right now.
1) Will there be a noticeable difference if i was to step up to a used krell preamp vs. my rotel 1068
2) Or use my rotel preamp and get a better amp.
If the difference is considerable, i might go in that direction. Or just be happy with what i have. Im using revel performa speakers right now.