Assuming you continue to desire speakers that are or are similar to the load of the VR4:
1) Buy the Stingray used. Those 40w are pretty good. They drove my one-time Ushers to massive SPLs at about 1/2 volume.
2) If the above is not strong enough but you like the Manley sound:
a) upgrade to the separates which give you double the power:
Shrimp pre and Snapper monos, 100 w of EL34 power. Retail about $6K, should be within your budget used., or
b) My choice, which would be wait around (while owning Stingray) for the new Mantaray integrated to appear, slated for mid-2007. Remote, iPod input, 100 w of EL34s, all in one chassis for about $4K.
As a one-time very satisfied user of the Stingray, and from reading testimonials of their other gear, hard to go wrong with Manley. I switched due to changing to very efficient speakers.
1) Buy the Stingray used. Those 40w are pretty good. They drove my one-time Ushers to massive SPLs at about 1/2 volume.
2) If the above is not strong enough but you like the Manley sound:
a) upgrade to the separates which give you double the power:
Shrimp pre and Snapper monos, 100 w of EL34 power. Retail about $6K, should be within your budget used., or
b) My choice, which would be wait around (while owning Stingray) for the new Mantaray integrated to appear, slated for mid-2007. Remote, iPod input, 100 w of EL34s, all in one chassis for about $4K.
As a one-time very satisfied user of the Stingray, and from reading testimonials of their other gear, hard to go wrong with Manley. I switched due to changing to very efficient speakers.