I'd love some help/opinions

Forget the Rotel,get the Bryston and be sure to get a tube preamp,CJ,ARC whatever for 6-800 used and your set there for years.The speakers you;ll have to experiment with,good luck,Bob

Have you considered active speakers? This is the most recent trend in high quality low distortion designs (since the early 90's active speakers have gained popularity over passive speakers for discerning applications such as mix and mastering).

Dedicated amplifiers for each speaker driver with electronic crossovers that have precise phase control etc. over the crossover region. IMD distortion is reduced dramatically since IMD distortion from each amp/driver is restricted and does not pollute the whole audio spectrum. Effective SPL ouput is also increased by about 3 db compared to equivalent passive systems. Audiophiles stress the merits of proper synergy between components and an active speaker is just that; precisely engineered synergy by a designer often rigorously tested in their labs.

Only drawback is that you may miss out on the fun of "creating" your own sound. So it depends on your main audiophile objective; is it mainly music or the fun of trying out different combinations of gear.

Mike:

I've got a few minutes and will respond substantively to your questions.

Rotel is very respectable for the money, but has some mid-fi "grain" in the mids and highs. The Bryston sounds better in most systems and has great resale value due to its twenty-year transferrible warranty. It is not as powerful as its wattage rating suggests, however, as its power supplies are an obvious reflection of its price point. On the whole, however, the Bryston is better.

The Audio Research LS-3 preamp pairs very well with the 4B-ST. One of my dealers swore by the combo, and, after having owned it and moved on to much higher end equipment, I really can admire what that combo does at its price point. LS-3's tend to go for $550-$650 used.

If, however, I were getting into the game on your budget and wanted the very best sounding system I could assemble (soundstages really well, is highly resolving, is dynamic, and most importantly, is natural-sounding, i.e., sounds like live music), I would buy a pair of Meadlowlark Heron speakers (the "i" version) and a Sonic Frontiers Power 1 tube amp. The combo is supurb, and used prices on both are very low because both companies folded. That should not be offputting, however, because the Power 1 is really well built and won't break, and even if it did, PartsConnexion, which is owned by the principals of Sonic Frontiers, services all Sonic Frontiers gear. The Power 1 is constructed with the same types of parts as the $10k Power 3, but now goes for $1,000-$1,100 because people just don't know what these amps are. Meadowlark was a superb speaker builder and they are very serviceable in the event there would ever be a problem (in this regard, it really should be said that most warranties in high-end audio are nothing but a wish given the incredibly high failure rate of audio companies).

There are a number of options for preamp to mate with a Power 1, depending upon whether you need a remote, phono capability, etc.

Cabling is a complex question that would require additional information from you about your source components, listening room, etc.

There are an almost infinite number of possible combinations you could choose, but if you value naturalness and bang for the buck, the above suggestion is, I respectfully submit, a very good one.

I've owned the Bryston 4B ST and I will say it is a superb amp. Unbeatable warranty. Presently using an older dual-mono RB-960BX Rotel amp which is just fanastic especially for the price used. I'd personally plan to spend a little more for the spks. Bill

If I were to consider going with Rotel for amplification, I would opt for the older 970, 971, 980 or 991 amplifiers. The newer Rotels have lost that little bit of transient speed that separated them from the other British stuff. I don't know what they changed, but they clearly altered their amplifiers and are no longer the David vs Goliath overachievers. They don't sound bad by any means, they just lost the magic.