help me choose my next upgrade


I've slowly been in the process of going from a headphone-only setup to a stereo tube setup. I've finally just got the table I've been looking for and now it's either the pre-amp or speakers.

This is my current setup:

Sophia Electric Baby Amp
NAD 7240PE Receiver (used only for phono stage)
B&W 601 S3
Hsu VTF-2 MK-2
SOTA Sapphire (Original)
w/ SOTA isolation cones
Sumiko MMT S-shaped tonearm
Grado Reference Platinum cartridge

The catch is, this entire setup so far has only cost $1,750. I've been very patient and lucky with finding all of this stuff. I just recently got the SOTA table, with tonearm, cartridge, all original packaging, all original documents, notes, 3 extra armboards, spare parts and even the little plastic bags for $850.

I think the last two things I need to replace at this point are the speakers/stands and preamp. As far as speakers go, I'd like to stay away from large floor speakers because I move often and live in apartments.

I'm stumped on speakers and preamps though. I would like a decent tube phono preamp. I would like to keep the budget for both at around $1,000-1,400 and used gear isn't an issue.

here are some images to give you an idea of what i'm working with:

http://imgur.com/a/D34c5

Any suggestions welcome!
jknibbs

Showing 1 response by kiko65

My two cents,
At 88 dBs, your DM601 are not the most efficient speakes for your Baby amp and you may be missing valuable information. Shop for a more efficent full range speaker like the Zu Omen (97 dBs). You can find a used pair for around $1,000.00 and you won't need to use the VTF-2 anymore. Sell it for some cash. Also, the Bellari - VP130 tube phono preamp will be hard to beat at around $250.00.
Happy listening!