Which one defines sound: Pre amp or Power amp?

What about paradigm studio 100's

I am considering using the C220 to direct my Classe Cam-350s,Rel Stentor and Thiel CS6s.I was thinking of using the Balanced connections for this while still allowing my Classe SSP-300 to drive my surround system unbalanced......

Hi dev,
Big fan of mbl as you may recall, was it the 101's you had hooked up for the prank?
Veltraz81,
Here is another little story, though not as funny as dev's.
I have a pair of psb alpha's from a few years back, they cost about 250.00, well they are at work and I just hooked them up last week for a listen.
I can't believe how good they sound! The integrated is an old scott and a little walkman cd player with headphone jacks connected to the scott. Amazing, they just disappeared, of course the space is much bigger than my room at home! But i could live with that setup and maybe a sub.
I too played a joke on an experienced audiophile friend, I pretended to play a record when I really played the oppo cd player, he thought that it was my 430 pound turntable that I was playing, made me wonder should I add more leadshot?
I recommend both the psb speakers and the oppo 980 dvd/cd player. I think you would be happy with either one.

I had the Energy RC70 speakers when I changed my 2-ch gears to HT a few years ago. I thought that I could enjoy 2-ch music from a surround HT system too. BIG mistake!

After many generations of upgrade, I would recommend the following:

Upgrade your main speakers first. After going through a few sets of speakers, I would suggest that you should get the best you can afford. Also note that if you want to use tube power amp, you need to consider the impedance curve of the speakers.

If budget is a constraint, I would sell the Rotel and use the receiver to power the center and surround speakers. Then get a good set of preamp and power amp. For the preamp, I would get one with HT-bypass or unit-gain setting so that the 2-ch gear can be part of your HT system.

If I have to choose between upgrading preamp or power amp first, I would keep the Rotel and upgrade the preamp first. IMO, this would give you most noticeable improvement.

I would also spend money on cable and power line treatment.

I'm willing to bet that most of the people who told you to upgrade those speakers have never even auditioned the RC-70s in person. You need to shell out some serious dough to improve on these speakers. I should know because I've been looking to upgrade them the past couple years, and the only speaker I would consider is the Dynaudio Focus 360 which is a big jump up in price.

Sometimes we forget just how good our systems can be...