Budget amp for NHT 2.5i - suggestions?

I see. I think I will be on the look out for a McCormack DNA-0.5. From what I've seen so far it doesn't look like they are too hard to find, so that's good. I'll also be on the lookout for a used Decco or maybe Decco 2 (anybody know how much better the DAC in the Decco 2 is?). These might be a little bit tougher to find, but I have plenty of time to keep searching. I know the Signal Path website currently has refurbished Deccos for $499 also.

Anyways, as of right now the McCormack power amp and Decco DAC/pre-amp seems like the perfect combo. Looks like it will probably end up being around $1,000 or a little more for both (as long as I can find them) which is more than I had initially planned on spending, seeing as how my speakers were so much cheaper than this, but I think that this would probably be the best way to go. Thanks for the help, and more suggestions/advice are always welcome!

Hi guys, so I ended up getting a Decco and a McCormack DNA 0.5 deluxe. I have yet to receive them/hook them up, but I had one more question. In using the power amp with the Decco, will the amp section of the Decco be bypassed? If the DNA is 100wpc and the Decco is 50wpc or so, will I be running 150wpc, or only the 100wpc from the power amp? Thanks.

You will be connecting the preamp output of the Decco to the McCormack amp....and not using the 50W amp. You will have 100Wpc.

Right that's what I had thought. Thanks! Excited to hear how this will sound. Hopefully 100wpc will be enough..for now at least. In the future I may bi-amp using the McCormack for the mid/tweeters and something else to drive the 8" woofers.

While I'm at it, just out of curiosity, any suggestions for amps for the woofers if I ever decide to bi-amp? Would NHT's SA-2 amps (two for stereo) be up to par with the McCormack? I figure it wouldn't make as much of a difference because it's just for the subs?

If you were to decide go that direction something you should consider would be using another McCormack 0.5 Deluxe and vertically bi-amping the NHT's. McCormack also makes a couple preamps that would work well in this situation the TLC-1 or the Micro Line Drive (MLD) that you can get for a couple hundred bucks here. Both of these are passive preamps, the TLC-1 has an additional output that's buffered while the MLD has an additional output that's an active out put but the output can adjusted +/- 3dbs. Both of these mate very well with the McCormack amps. One word of caution passive preamps require particular attention be paid to the type interconnects used because they will affect the sound. Lot of good information here on Audiogon and just search passive preamps, there also good information about this at SMc Audio.