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Amp evolution ques. - what comes after a Harmon K?

Hi All
Just getting started in this. I bought a pair of I.Q. TED 400 floor speakers(used - from Germany) and power it with a 1994 Harman Kardon AVR 20 rated at 65 watts. System seems to play well, but i want to explore a little and have decided to try some different power before i go replace the speakers. i read the personal amp evolution thread to get some of the brand names. I will only buy used as i expect to trade around for a while; min 100 watts. Right now the local used shop has some Rotel, NAD, Adcom and a Haefler. A used 200c Cayin is also in the area. Or should i just wait and buy the next level up?
fivefasts
gonglee3
304 posts
 
I would plan on picking up a nice Pre-amp in the used market if you do get the Musical Fidelity - Pre does make a quite a bit of difference...

You don't want a low-fi unit holding you back, in your nice mid-fi system, and that's what the HK would do.

Especially true with LP. Make sure the Pre you do get in the future support LP, not all of them do these days.
fivefasts OP
27 posts
 
Anybody have comments on an AMC 2445 amp?
gonglee3
304 posts
 
Amc is not bad, but it's $400 amp, and musical fidelity is in a different league (higher).
fivefasts OP
27 posts
 
My concern is that the Musical Fidelity (MF)seems to be quite old (also, whats up with its dimensions??? its so thin, I think its about 2" high where most higher end equipment seems to be quite a bit larger than low fi equip)

I don't have the budget yet for the MF and a pre-amp. Is the HK going to hold back the MF amp so much that i won't notice the hi-fi amp? I should be able to get the new pre-amp in the next few months. Or would you recommend the Adcom set instead?
gonglee3
304 posts
 
MF will be a niticeable improvement over what you have now - even with HK pre-amp.

Adcom has great reviews - you can google search for them. That will be ok too. Can you bring them home and give it a try, before buying, with your speakers ?

That would be the best thing - try to bring the MF too, and hook it up to Adcom pre, and see which amp you like more - Adcom or MF.
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