B.Althaus

WOW!!!!....Dinner AND a show!!....I too am a drummer and spent a lot of time playing music through the years..it does give one a good sense of what a 22 in bass drum vs and 18 inch bass drum should sound like or the difference between a fretted and fretless bass. Recording and producing will also give one a geat sense of the instruments sound qualities..perhaps with much less bias( Zildjans are the ONLY cymbals I have ever bought and owned). I love the reproduction qualities of my Forte II's. I think we all agree that they are excellent speakers. While I have never heard them driven with tube gear I am sure that they would sound great. However I just dont think that I am going to go the tube route. I have spent countless hours listening to the full Orchestra rehearse un amplified as well as amplified, name a rock tour that has come through Louisville in the last 10 years and I have heard countless hours of room ring outs, line checks, sound checks, rehearsals and shows(primarily in mono of course). I toured on with a Broadway show for 18 months. Interestingly enough the biggest advancement in live sound reinforcement is.....wait for it....the trapezoidal cabinet, albeit a different design than PWK's. But I digress. Although I am not going to try to get 110db SPL in my living room it is nice to have the headroom agreed. The NAK stuff is nice to be sure and I have been looking for and looking at what I can find, which is not much, those that have it are hanging on to it. I have also been looking at Denon POA 1500's and POA 4400's, as well as keeping my eyes out for a McIntosh 2105 / 2125 / 2155 / 2205......just so darn pricey and still looking at some vintage Sansui BA / CA stuff. I greatly appreciate everyones input and think that for now I will lay low and keep my eyes peeled.

HiFiJim.. Believe it or not I have never even heard the C26...since I got it I have not had an amp to hook it up to. A music library was upgrading and throwing some of this stuff away!! I know one of the curators and asked if anything was available. The C26 and a Thorens TD125 mkII were. The Thorens works well...it is missing the cover though. I just cleaned the C26. I opened it up and was shocked!!! It was pristine looking even after sitting around the house for a couple of years.

Fenderbender brings up a good point, that i did mention in the original post. I am concerned about the availability of repair/maintainance parts and whatever i get i will more than likely try to get at least some replacement caps and transistors. I have already looked at the Outlaw equipment and the RR2150 is an interesting piece. I like the USB option but i already use an i-pod dock on the "B" system anyway. Although the mono amps could be used with a Denon DAP preamp that i have my eye on. decisions...decisions

I currently have a RX 303 and I used to have the Nak music bank cd player. I do like their gear. I have listened to NAD in the past but have never owned any. At this point in time I think that I will lay low and see what sorts of Nak gear surfaces. Twisted.. I did do a google on the PA-7 and got a look in from above as well as from a bit of an angle form the side. http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&rlz=1T4GGIH_enUS220US221&q=nakamichi+pa-7+pictures&start=21&sa=N&ndsp=21 basically a link to audio heritage.

Interesting indeed. run a little on the warm side huh? look at those heat sinks. I have been reading some very favorable things regarding these amps. Patience you say. hmmm ok!!! Afterall i am still able to listen my Forte' II's now.

i have not seen any PA-7's for sale. I have seen a PA-5. I am also looking at a couple of Denon amps and preamps.

Thanks for all of the input so far, as well as trying to stay on topic. I also love my Forte' IIs and will more than likely buy another pair when I get around to finishing the basement and the re-setting up the full HT (which wil be soon I hope). Twisted....thanks for the heads-up on the Sony and Nak suggestion. As for budget i am thinking somewhere in the $800.00 ish range. I am also thinking about selling my Mcintosh C26 in order to help offset the cost.....and keep my wife from ......well i dont really have to explain that part do i? As for the availibility of repair / maintenance parts.. Caps, Transistors etc... any thoughts on the mid 80's - early 90's gear? I know about Mouser, MCM, Digikey etc....thought someone might have some other sources.

I have just re-discovered this forum and this time i signed up! I have spent many hours over the past couple of days reading and enjoying all of the info. I am getting ready to take the Forte II's (which i have owned since 92 or so) out of the HT set up and go with a 2 Channel setup. On to my question(s) I was considering going with some semi-vintage SS seperates (Sony TA-x77es, Denon POA / DAP, Onkyo M 504/P 304 and just saw a Sansui CA / BA 2000 set go on ebay) Also I have no service manuals for any of these pieces of gear so i have no idea how available any repair/maintenance parts are. Anyone have any thoughts, comments? Thanks