Need help picking my first tube amp

Unless you get some screaming deal, the $650 USD is probably better off being saved up in the bank.

Just get a good Class-D and call it a day (IMO).

I have an Audible Illusions Pre (Modulus line stage).
It is not bad and used is just within your budget.

@pwerahera I ordered some new tubes… They have been in since the last millennium … But the whole thing sounds pretty nice, and I am not expecting an ah-ha moment. But it would be nice if it happened. (It really cannot get a lot better)

But maybe they drive them harder in units after 1998… I dunno.

My question is, to get the warm tube sound that I enjoy, do I get a tube preamp or power amp to start. I would also be interested to hear what everyone’s take on a good entry level component without having the budget constraint.

What gear do you have now?

It is probably easier on the budget to do a tube pre and class-D on the amp side. But adding to what you have is an evolutional way to get there.

I don’t think I am going to be of much help. (No experience with JBL nor those Mc units.)

But how are you doing the active crossover (Active-XO) for the bi-amping?

The new MiniDSP Flex would allow one to do the active-XO as L/R in and L-hi/L-low (etc) as it has 4 outputs.

That would keep most of the low freq (bass) power from needing to be amped up in the tweeter/horn side.