2. amps-preamps
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Which amplifier???

I have a Rogue Audio preamp and Vandersteen 2CE speakers, and am wanting to replace my very old solid state amp with something newer and more musical. I'm wanting to spend less than $1000 and am thinking of a used Mccormack DNA-1, Aragon ST8008, or a Rogue Audio 88, and at this point am feeling neurotic and indecisive. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.
stmike
10 responses Add your response
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
if sell your preamp you can stretch o plinius 8100 or 8200 one of the integrated amps(8200 is with phono). they have a large margin working in class A and sound tubey and musical in midrange far more musical than DNA1.
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Vandersteen speakers sound pretty nice with McCormack amps in my set-up. Unless your room is really big or you play at very high levels, I would consider a DNA 0.5 Rev. B before a DNA 1.0 std or dlx. Then you could eventually move up to a 2nd 0.5 for vertical bi-amping. I liked the 0.5 better than the 1.0 with my Vandy 2cis
phasecorrect's avatar
phasecorrect
2,013 posts
 
I have heard Vandies running with Musical FIdelity intergrated...it sounded very,very good..huge soundstage
bigkidz
3,325 posts
 
There is a great deal on the Belles 150 A amp for $550 I just saw which is a bargin.
unsound
7,315 posts
 
I'm not usually a big fan of the McCormack amps, but they do seem to work very nicely with Vandersteens.
bigtee
803 posts
 
I agree with the above McCormack posts. I used a pair of .5's to biamp and had to go to a much more expensive amp to better them(Theta Dreadnaught 4-ch) Stick with the .5. I really feel it's a better sounding amp overall than the DNA 1. The standard or the deluxe are excellent. You don't really need the upgrade initially.
lwatson
15 posts
 
go with the Rogue. i had the magnum 99 pre and magnum 120 amps and they worked the best together vs. combining them with components from other mfg's. you may get better synergy mixing & matching but the odds are against it.
fishwater
178 posts
 
I have a McCormack DNA-1 that I use with my 2ce sig's that I just love. I also have a CJ MF2200 that sounds good as well. Either amp can be had for a reasonable price used & sound excellent.
stmike OP
39 posts
 
Thanks to all for the replies and suggestions. Unfortunately, opinions are like bellybuttons - everyone has one - and I suppose it's still a bit of a crapshoot. Noone mentioned the Aragon, though, so maybe I'll eliminate that one. Anyhow, I hope all of you have a really happy holiday, and I'm sure I'll come up with something soon.
mamba
18 posts
 
If you would be able to get BVaudio amp for around 1k you would be happy man for long time.
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