kentamcolin

I think the change is good for me and my wallet. I used to brouse the site often, which sometimes led to a purchase. I hate the new site and haven't looked in weeks, and hardly ever think to any more.

Cornwall's hands down over Heresy's, IMO.

I've had several vintage tables but always seemed to have one mechanical problem or another crop up. About a year ago I bought a used Rega P1 and fitted a new Denon DL-110 cartridge. This thing sounds great and simply works all the time. Total cash outlay was $400.

300B was too lush for me, not very exciting. 2A3 is very nice, but if you're looking for an amp that does not need to blow the roof off, my favorite would be a 45 SET. About 2 watts of tube magic. I used a Moth 45 SET with my Cornwalls and the sound was wonderful. Unfortunately for me, I more often want to blow the roof off and (regrettably) sold off the Moth. My favorite tube was the EML (Emission Labs) 45.

That's good news...I've been using a Zu Denon for almost two years now, after selling a Dynavector XX-2 in favor of the Zu!

I also say the Cornwall III, hands down. I've heard all three in a dealer demo room. The Cornwall is so dynamic, just really makes a big sound to match its size, and made it really fun to listen to music. You may also want to consider a different amp, though I've not heard yours. A solid state amp needs to be pretty darn smooth to sound good on these. They are extremely efficient and love tubes, however many have had great results with SS and I'm currently between amps and running mine with a Trends 10.1 T-amp.

Sweeeeeeet!

I'd recommend a Manley Stingray integrated. Run in triode for 20W which is more than enough power for your Khorns. This is one sweet sounding amp, cool looking and you can find the latest version with triode/ultralinear switch and sub out for well under $2K used (dealer demo just sold for $1650 at Audiogon).

Klipsch & McIntosh; hmmm, sure is a nice ring to that.

I too am looking to replace a 3 watt SET with something more powerful. The SET amp sounds wonderful but just not enough volume for really jamming. I'm actually thinking of giving a Trends digital amp a try.

I have a decent phono rig; VPI Scout, Zu Denon DL103 with step-up transformer, all playing into an Adcom GFP 565 preamp using the phono stage and out the tape loop. It sounds great and is dead quite. I've never felt the need to upgrade this piece and they can be found used for around $250 pretty regularly.

I've been in thrift stores where everything is junk, absolute junk. I've also found some good ones along the way. There was one a few years ago that had a bunch of LP's and they were all priced at $2 regardless of title or condition. Some were junk but I walked away with about 25 records in great condition, some almost unplayed, for $50. There were hundreds of titles and I spent a good hour or more looking thru it all but I was sure glad I stopped. If I'm out and about and find a thrift store I'll stop, run in and have a quick look and leave if I see nothing. Generally I'm only looking for records and they're pretty easy to find. I have about 500 records and at least half were bought second hand. I only buy records in great condition and I've built a nice music collection for not a lot of money by taking the time to scroung around.

I've got the same amp, and Si2A3H, switchable for 2A3 & 45 tubes. I use mine with Cornwalls and Grado GS1000 headphones.

I have Moth Cicada speakers in my living room powered by a restored Fisher 400 receiver. They sound good; really good considering I paid only $300 for them. I also use an Axiom sub to bolster the bottom; not using much volume from the sub, just enough to heare the bottom of the music and for some added bass impact. The Axiom sub was under $200 and the Fisher around $400, so for around a grand it's a great system.

I'm happy with my Cornwalls and am not in the market for speakers. Had I seen these in time however, I'd have grabbed them immediately (and asked for forgiveness later)! Congrats, that was the deal of the century.