Hifi jim Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 I am sure the NOS amps sound great but that kind of price ($2000 and up) is and will remain well beyond me. Audio Flynn gave some great advice in an attempt to show a short cut to audio nirvana. Most have been on the long and winding road to their own idea of audio bliss (I'm still trekking but the summit is in site), and Flynns suggestion is a good one. While vintage amps are great sounding, they leave room for improvement and notably in the areas that Flynn pointed out. The Chinese amps are a great deal for the money, but they will fall short of even matching the vintage gears sound IMO. Most people buy the inexpensive Chinese tube amp and then quickly sell. They upgrade the tubes a couple of times and then realize that the amp will have limitations. If vintage is not your speed then I would suggest one more alternative, buy some quality modern tube gear second hand. The Blueberry and VRD's are too rare (and loved) to find on the used market, and probably still too expensive. However, a Conrad Johnson PV-10 preamp and Wright 2A3 mono blocks are on Audiogon.com right now for $450 and $850 respectively. That's a lot of performance for little money. If you like them better, sell your Adcom gear and recoup some of your money. I'd buy them right now if I could and forget all about gear for a long, long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 ... that kind of price ($2000 and up) is and will remain well beyond me. You're a brass player alright...Another option for power is one of Mark Deneen's (Juicy Music Audio) modded Crown D-45 amps. 25wpc into 8 ohms. Now able to be driven by a tube pre. Still, you will put out some money and still need the preamp to go with it. The SS power amp would require no maintenance, and the tubes in the preamps last a long time and are rather maintenance free. If you don't need a phono (need to read the rest of the posts again), the JMA Merlin is also a wonderful preamp, and you might find one of those used. I have both a Merlin and a BBX. They are incredible. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 The little console amplifiers can look pretty good with a little work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhw59 Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 I'm looking for a integrated amp for my recently upgraded (munson) Heresys. Harry from this board and I have been trading emails and he, too, does not recommend Chinese integrated amps (I was considering a Jolida since I like my Jolida cd player). Would all this advice apply to my Heresys as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ69 Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 Used Quicksilver horn-monos or mini-monos would be near your price range and are very fine amps. Thanx, Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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