Power Amp recommendations

That P5 looks like a good preamp. It could be a sleeper.

Thanks for your comments and sorry for the late response- I sort of lost touch with this thread. The Rotel has been fixed and is working- when I initially posted the question, I hadn't received back it, yet. My repair guy had told me, though, that if the problem happens again- and this was my third round of repair- that I'd need to return it to the manufacturer, so I posted my question about replacement. I'm a far cry from an "amp of the month" sort- I used the components I bought in 1982 up until the past few years, when I've upgraded piece by piece from a Luxman receiver, KEF speakers, and Denon turntable. Earlier this year, I replaced the Denon, which was the plast piece left unreplaced, with the Music Hall. At any rate, I began to consider the possibility of replacing my Rotel.

As of this writing, the Rotel is staying, but in the process, I did decide to upgrade the Marantz P7001 to a Parasound Halo P5. That should do me for quite a long time, if not for good. Unfortunately, though, I have no way of auditioning equipment- there are no dealers of quality equipment within a couple of hundred miles of me. I was having the same discussion with my service guy- it's unfortunate there is no efficient way to audition equipment anymore. I do have high expectations that I'll be very happy with the Parasound, though.

Minorl makes a good point. If you have any local dealers, I would see what they have to offer. I lot of people complain about dealers, but most of the ones I know, are more than willing to bring equipment out to a customers house and set it up for a demo. If not that, they'll almost always let you "buy" a unit on display and keep it for a couple of days.

It is "fun" if you buy equipment that makes you enjoy the music and smile. It is definitely not "fun" buying equipment only to find that it doesn't work well at all in your system and you have to very shortly replace it with something else. I try not to be a member of the amp of the month club. this is why I will not buy without an in home audition of the equipment first. I realize that some of us are located very far away from dealers. But, it can't hurt to contact the manufacturer or dealer and request this type of consideration.

Also, forgive me, but if the Rotel has been fixed, then what is the problem? If it fails again, or sounds not quite right, then I would look for something else. But, if it is fixed, then it is fixed.

enjoy

ZD542'

LOL. Should've said "buying the amp that'll float your boat." Good point.

"Buying an amp is a greatly misunderstood process, even among some audiophiles."

What's so hard about buying an amp? I walk into the store, pick one out, and pay for it. It couldn't be easier.

Agree with a lot of what Vhiner says. Having said that, you are not marrying any of these and half the fun is owning and experimenting. For a SS amplifier you might consider the Rega Mira. Very solid performer and should easily beat the Rotel for authority.

VTL-85 is a terrific affordable tube amplifier. I would avoid most of the Chinese built cheaper tube amplifiers as most do not sound as good and have serious reliability problems in comparison. Hope this helps.

Buying an amp is a greatly misunderstood process, even among some audiophiles. You'll get a lot of opinions on this thread, but the best suggestions will come from those who have actually owned your model of speakers. Many years of experimentation has taught me that suggestions by those without direct experience usually amount to just speculation and questionable theory. Some combinations "should" work, but do not.

Speaker/amplifier synergy is *critical.* For example, I have owned your Marantz receiver but have never heard the F12s. Consequently, any suggestion I make about a particular amp would be theoretical at best.

It would also help people if they knew your price range and what kinds of sounds you like and don't like. Your best leads in this particular audio conundrum will come from Focal owners who have gone before you. Good luck on your search.

You should get a nice tube integrated. Rogue Audio has two nice ones with phono. The all tube Cronus Magnum or the hybrid Sphinx (solid state amp section) look real nice!