Greetings to the Forum

Bernard said:

Dave, is it not the other way round ? i.e. let your ears make you decide what to buy rather than first deciding on tubes or SS ? This of course coming from a tube aficionado

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"Correcto-Mundo" !!...... but then, you knew what I meant !!

Lotus said:

maybe my statement was not clear, when I say 4-5K max I am talking about the amp/preamp.
what you think about the AR PH5 and the Mcintosh 275 tubes combination?
I read a review on HI-FI NEWS that was run with those two.
anyone here who has heard / tried those?
thanks

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Sorry, my bad.

Thanks!!! I am getting (slowly) this fantastic new world, your comments really help.

Twich54, you are right, I did not realize that the ARC is for phono and not for CD.

Are you all giving me the thumb up on a integrated amp (would like to go ARC) or it is really a must to go pre and amp with my budget?

Well, I can finally say that I am a member of the ML community. I got my new Vantage yesterday and they are fantastic. They are a special version since they are in Bubinga (usually only offered on the Summit as far as I know).
Now it is time to finalize the system with a nice pre/amp and CD.

Way to go Lotus! Bubinga Vantages... Now its time for Crazy Town. Amp, Preamp, source(s) Turntable?, Cables and don't forget about Room Treatments!!!

Have fun and enjoy the ride...

Satch

ok, I am almost there for the amp. thinking about the MC275. some good old warm tech to balance my new Vantage...
Comments welcome! also negative.

Question for you all: given my budget of appr. 4,500 for the pre and amp, is it better to go very serious on the pre-amp (AR LS17) and save on the amp (used) or get a good amp (MC275) driven directly by the CD?
I cannot find find an anwer for this question...
Thanks

If CD is your only source, and it has a variable output control, by all means skip the preamp and drive the power amp directly by the CD. $4,500 will get you a very nice power amp.

Thanks Bernard, nice to get a straight point of view. I hear different opinion about this solution. someone says that I will get better audio and someone says the opposite.
which amp would you choose?
- Audio Research
- Macintosh

I do not have any experience with Macintosh, but really like ARC; that is what I use - check my system.

I bought my preamp new, but my monoblocks used.

Some say the MC275 has rolled off highs and poor bass with Martin Logans. Others say it is the holy grail. I think ARC has many backers and few detractors. The only way to know for sure which sound is for you is to compare them in your own system if that is possible.

Lotus said:

Question for you all: given my budget of appr. 4,500 for the pre and amp, is it better to go very serious on the pre-amp (AR LS17) and save on the amp (used) or get a good amp (MC275) driven directly by the CD?
I cannot find find an anwer for this question...
Thanks

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Unless your dead set on an all tube set-up, given your budget a nice tube preamp (used ARC, BAT, Cary) matched to a SS amp(Plinius Sa-102 would be superb) I think would do great justice to your system. If you wanted to save some coin there are plenty of folks on this forum that love the Sunfire combination with M/L's.

Also, FWIW, when I auditioned the MC275 last year against the Vantage's, while nice, I still felt the Pair of Rogue M-150's represented a better value / match.

Thank you all for the answers. Has anyone heard the ARC VSi55 with the Vantage? Just downloaded the review from HI-fi news from 2004 and it seems to be a great and fair solution (integrated).

Hi Lotus,

Two more peas for the pot regarding integrated possibilities. Arcam or Plinius. Both are well within your stated budget guidelines.

GG