PRE and AMPS same brand ? or different brand?

I did just that with Classe and run all the same brand electronics. There are huge benefits by doing this. I have found the Classe preamps sounds great and their amps sounds great but together they are unbeleavable. Its total is greater then the sum of its parts.

Its also a great starting point. How do you know something sounds better then all one brand unless you have heard an all one brand system. The problem in synergy is that it really takes time to get a feel to know what goes with what and even then you really dont know what you are getting until the money is already spent. Buying all one brand is a LOT easier.

That said I think that its probably best to mismatch brands. There is no way one company can be the best in everything. You of course still have to match synergy but there are so many brands out there that there are endless combinations.

I decided to go with all one brand to start and now I will switch and swap. Its important to have a good refrence to compare to. If you are unsure, and you wouldnt have posted this if you werent, I would go with an all one brand system to start. At least match the preamp and amp to start and then you can play with cd players from there.

First of all I would say if you had to decide over a nice amp or preamp to start I would go with the nice preamp. Especially if it is for home theater. The preamp is the heart of your system and it actualy amplifies the signal (percentage wise) more then your amplifier.

Amplifiers are also much more adaptable to upgrades. You can start with one and then later add a second one and bridge them or bi amp them. You can also move them around. Get a better amp down the road and put the old one on the rear channel.

Dont get overwelmed by synergy and enjoy the learning and tweeking of components. Audio Nirvana is an endless journey and its the journey itself that is the fun.