thanks again, Rayhall. I concur and would agree with your philophy of listening to as much gear as possible, it's just not always practical. I do have local BAT, Atma-Sphere, VTL, Audio Research, and Ayre dealers, and they do allow for take-home auditions, but I feel unethical doing this knowing there is no way I'd pay anywhere close to retail new on any of these items given the HUGE used market out there......
As for synergy, The V1 is actually the higher powered version of the V5. the V1x and V5x are upgrades to the original V1/V5 products, much as the K1x is an upgrade to the K1. If what you heard was the non-x version of that set-up, you'd be suprised how much better the 'x' version sounded (better bass, wider soundstage, more dynamic).
I'm all hell-bent on a tubed preamp mostly because I audiotined a mid-level tubed preamp (AR LS25 MK2)and loved what it did for the sound. Following that logic, I thought - what about even better preamps, which leaves me where I am.
Funny thing about the FS gear, I have a LOCAL guy selling a Paramount for $4K, which by all accounts sounds like a crazy steal. I almost bought it on reputation, but then I had a (fortunately brief) financial scare a month ago and backed out of the deal. anyway, all's clear on the $ front, but Im resistting the single ended, non-remote option. I guess I could buy and try, with the intent to resell if things are not to my liking. at these prices, it shouldn't be that hard to resell at close to purchase price.....
As for synergy, The V1 is actually the higher powered version of the V5. the V1x and V5x are upgrades to the original V1/V5 products, much as the K1x is an upgrade to the K1. If what you heard was the non-x version of that set-up, you'd be suprised how much better the 'x' version sounded (better bass, wider soundstage, more dynamic).
I'm all hell-bent on a tubed preamp mostly because I audiotined a mid-level tubed preamp (AR LS25 MK2)and loved what it did for the sound. Following that logic, I thought - what about even better preamps, which leaves me where I am.
Funny thing about the FS gear, I have a LOCAL guy selling a Paramount for $4K, which by all accounts sounds like a crazy steal. I almost bought it on reputation, but then I had a (fortunately brief) financial scare a month ago and backed out of the deal. anyway, all's clear on the $ front, but Im resistting the single ended, non-remote option. I guess I could buy and try, with the intent to resell if things are not to my liking. at these prices, it shouldn't be that hard to resell at close to purchase price.....