Ideas for Pre/Power $9000?

Here you go.

@mofojo 

I was in the process of looking at speakers when my current amp went down. So I had to switch gears. Unfortunately I don't have many options local to me. B&W, Paradigm are pretty much it. I'll have reevaluate my game plan.

Much appreciated to all who replied! 

I’m sure the Elacs are descent speakers and a better amp should make them sound their best. Just be careful what you choose so that it doesn’t limit your speaker choice down the road. Not knowing what speakers you would consider I would stick with something fairly powerful so don’t limit your choices down the road. 
 

On the other hand if you buy used and buy right then no worries. You can always get back what you have in it and move on to something else. Krell K300i would be another on my shortlist. 

@lfromsalem   Might I suggest you look for a used Hegel H390.  Should be able to find at half you budget?  Beautiful integrated amp with very good DAC.  IMHO 

Dang. I realize that the Elacs are not high-end, but I didn't guess I'd have to toss them out before upgrading the amps.

When in Portland stop by Pearl Audio as well. Look at the Pass INT-75 a fantastic integrated with exceptional rhythm and pace as well as great fidelity and slam. You might consider stretching to the INT - 250… which has much more power. But which you choose would be speaker dependent.

I'd split your budget in half.

Half for amplification and half for new speakers.

just start looking at Echo website..lots of great deals on many many brands of used gear…..

I'll definitely keep some form of room correction in mind. Thank you!

I'm a metal guy as well. I currently have a Lyngdorf TDIA 3400 and had the smaller 2170 a few years ago. Amazing sound quality IMO and the Room correction is a must have for me. Music especially metal sounds much better after room correction. There's a lot going on and its fast. Sounds like a blur comparatively with room perfect off. It's like it just times everything out perfectly when it hits your ears. Something to consider. Can pick up a loaded used one for around 4k. 8kish new. 

It would do wonders in your non treated regular ole family room! :-)

Integrated/receivers are all I've ever had. I figured going separates would offer better upgrade options for the digital side🤷‍♂️. 

Regarding my music preference, it seems like most folks write off modern metal as super compressed and low quality. I don't believe that is the case across the board. One of my favorite bands, Between the Buried and Me, are extremely dynamic and the recordings are quite good.

@lfromsalem 

A McIntosh MA 8950 will suit you fine. You should be able to buy new for $8K. Do not be afraid of an integrated. This unit has a killer DA2 DAC module and MM/MC phono stages. Although this is total overkill for your system, you can build upon this MAC well into the future. You would just need a streamer in addition, for which you would have an extra $1K if you were able to buy the McIntosh right. 

What are your reasons for not wanting an integrated? The time has come where integrateds are coming really close to separates performance and offer far more value than the expense of two chassis. 

You may be happier with an integrated.

Two directions you should investigate are McIntosh and Parasound, with polar opposite mid/treble sounds but robust power.

All the other brand combinations I can think of would be better for jazz, instrumental, folk, classical.

Another direction might be a top-end NAD integrated.

I'm absolutely open to used. As far as future speaker upgrades, I've only heard a couple B&W and they didn't really blow me away. 

As far as the MA5300, I don't really want to go with an integrated, but I'm not opposed to Mcintosh. 

I'd go with a new MA5300 for about $6K, and save the rest for a new set of speakers.  An amp of this caliber would deserve speakers at least in the $2-3K range.  

Also would you consider used? 

Do you have speakers in mind you want to upgrade to? For example a Klipsch and a Dynaudio likely would want very different amplification to sound their best. If going to spend up to 9k I would think you would want something that would work well with your eventual speaker upgrade IMO. 

Thanks! I'll try and contact them this week.

+++++ for Kurt and team at Echo… they have a sledgehammer Pass amp right now at a very attractive $$$$$ pair that w ARC preamp, some decent cables and you can run most any speaker WELL..on the planet

I'll have to try and check them out. Any suggestions on brands?

Head up to Portland and visit Echo Audio and Stereotypes, I am sure you can find what you want there.

Ouch. I'm working with what I could get at the time. I hope to upgrade my speakers in the future. Unfortunately my biggest concern is regarding the pre/power or an integrated amplifier for now.

Is this a real post? If so my apologies. 9k for power to a $500 Elac monitor does not make much sense. Also Elac monitor and a metal head does not make a lot of sense either.