Some people actively participate but rarely if ever start a thread.

I too am over the hill. I have been reading this site for less than 2 years. So do not know how splendid it all was. The low end market is not to be avoided. This is how we got to entry level in the first place. To encourage young and money-less folk to avoid the errors we all made, so many years ago. We cannot tell these "excluded* folk they need SS monoblocks, and a valve pre amp. My kit is still under the value of $10,000. But as we all know, ask me again this time next year! The whole reason I am here is; I really do want a pair of mono blocks and a valve pre amp.

It is not a new thread, but I had to respond.

IAN.

P.S. I do not have a TT, and I never will. What a waste of money. That is how I feel.

You see, I did not have a relitavely comfortable lifestyle, where I could accumalate all my property from birth to death. Some of us wandered and lost the things we cherished. The Hi-Fi I now have, started just 20 years ago. Now I'm retired and no longer threatend with eviction.  I watched from the other side of the street, as all my possessions were loaded into a dump truck. You cannot take for granted that we all had it so good. And that is why I donate my unwanted kit to a charity.

Now you know something about me.

IAN.