Best $1000 set up for Avalon Evolution NP speaker?


Dear all,

I'm a newbie audiophile and have been lurking on Audiogon and ilk forums for the past six weeks learning loads and gleaning advice. Thought I'd out myself, joing the community, and ask some specific advice from you all who know so much more than I.

Anyway, after much research and some demoing I purchased a nice pair Avalon Evolution demo speakers for a great price (had also been considering Focal Chorus 714v and Monitor RX6 and wondering if you all think I made the best choice--and I know, much of it is personal preference!).

But now that I have the Avalons, I'm looking for the best set up to drive the speakers. I'm primarily--almost exclusively--interested in the best 2 Channel sound for music, but ideally I'd like to hook up the speakers to the TV as well. So far, from what research I've done, I'm thinking about putting my money towards a good 2-channel amp to drive 4 Ohms speakers and then connect it to a used, older model Marantz SR series with pre outs (should be able to pick one up for $100-200). I've been looking into some used Rotels, Adcoms, and Onkyo amps but am thinking an Emotiva XPA 200 or the more power Emotiva XPA 2 might be my best option in terms of my budget and interests.

So this is what I've come up with as a possible set up, but I'd love to hear what might be better to build around the Avalons. Again, I'm primarily interested in some good, clean power to drive the speakers and mainly looking at a used receiveer as a temporary fix. I might later go to a strictly stereo set up and am wondering if any stereo specific amps hook up (well) to TVs or if there's a better musically desiged receiver on the used market such as Yamaha or Pioneer with pre outs.

thanks very much for your advice!

128x128jjbarton
I recently purchased the XPA 200 from Emotiva. It is driven by an ARC preamp and sounds fantastic. A very well engineered and great sounding amplifier.
I use Naim 5i-2 Integrated and CD with my Avalon Evolutions in a small room and it sounds amazingly good.