old components for new small system

I don't see why not! I replaced my Quicksilver m 60 mono blocks with some old Heathkit w4-AM mono blocks- Best move I ever made!

My first SS amp was a B&K EX140 (dual-mono predecessor to the very well-reviewed ST-140, and pretty rare and hard-to-find nowadays). I had that amp for eight years and it never failed to delight without even a hiccup in performance over that time. I'd agree with the previous poster that is a bit slow and soft for SS, but certainly in a pleasing way. Where my experience differs, is with Mwilson's comments on the ST202 with mini-monitors. Granted we are talking two different amps here, the EX140 is 70 wpc as is the ST140 (either would be a great choice for your smaller room BTW), which is half the power of the 202. I used mine with Spica TC50's with wonderful results. It did get my toes tappin' and head bobbin at times. I don't recall it being a champion of detail though, so I'd concur there. Overall, a great amp for the money in the budget market. It just kept on going for me. I was using it with a Superphon Revelation pre, which is also a nice pre for the money, and a good combination with the B&K. I also used a NYAL pre which was also nice, but did seem a bit slower than the Superphon.

Marco

ST202 - a nice classic B&K, and I concur with Reubent - sure you can reuse these for good (maybe even great) effect. But the 202 is what, 140w or so? And a little soft and slow perhaps. A nice and comfortable sound from solid-state, but if you're powering monitors with it, you're probably not going to get what many philes would consider great detail.

The ST202 gives you probably more juice than you need even for great headroom in a "small system". Don't get me wrong, I just bought another fella's 202+ (200w vers.) for one of my systems and love it, but for a monitor system, I'd probably think about an amp with more detail and swing than the B&K.

My experience with the B&K classics has been that they've sounded best on large floorstanders (cone/basket) of fair-to-high sensitivity. Didn't do it for me on horns or with monitors. You won't be putting yourself in any pinch to use it however - but if you're looking to play "small ball", the B&K probably isn't your leadoff hitter for detail etc. Their strengths really lie elsewhere I think.

Sure you can use them. I'll bet your existing components (if working properly) are better than what you can get for $1500 considering much of that will be dedicated to speakers.

You could get a pair of Green Mountain Europa monitors for about $550-$600 used and have plenty left over for a good CD player. Matter-o-fact, if you get a good CD player with built in volume control, you could get rid of the PAS 3 and go CD direct to amp. The Quad 99 CD-P and Cary CD-308 are excellent choices for CD players with remote volume control and they would be within your budget at about $800-$900.

Enjoy,

TIC