Opinions needed; which is a better choice and why?

South43,
How would you describe the sound of the LS7? I have read that the sound of older AR equipment is very different from that of the latest gear. I am planning on auditioning the Meadowlark speakers unfortunately I have a two hour drive for that. I have heard many people praise their build quality and sound.
Thanks,

Hi Meby, I cannot comment on the latest gear from AR however my LS7 replaced a Anthem pre2L I had. It a musical pre that tells me what my front end is doing. Currently using some tungsram tubes that are very good. I would like to tweak the coupling caps with some infini caps if I can find them. That drive will be well worth it because the Kestrals do sound great. Well built spkrs that love tubes. Let me know what you think.

JADIS ORCHESTRA 40 WATT INTERGRATED WITH KT90 TUBES. A amp you will be very happy with for a very long time.(ie. no upgrades necessary) BUT here's the catch you will need high quality cdp and speakers. Reason is the amp exposes all weaknesses in all other equipment. So yea total investment is more than your $4K budget. But if you could....

Since I am a newbie to the higher end of audio do you all think I should stay away from a Transport/DAC combo and go with a single box solution for my source? Am I justified in my hesistance to mess with all of that extra cabling and jitter reduction, clock locking etc. or is it worth the trouble?
I am strating to see why the source is one of the most important components! I could not believe the difference between the Linn Genki and the ARC CD3, to my ears the Linn lacked the inner detail of the ARC.

Oooh man do the Kestrels sound awesome with the Tempest. I have had Kestrels with a few amps and the Tempest was by far the best match, incredible bass with that combo.

I am now using a system with Audio Physic Virgos', I do still miss those Kestrels....

The Magnum version of the Tempest is so much better in every way. Much more refined and detailed with being very musical. Better drive and depth to the bass, the power supply is doubled and the output transformers are %50 larger this isn't just some little tweaking going on. Rogue has really upgraded the big things ! If you can swing the extra dough I can safely say that the Magnum upgrade is easily worth twice what they charge for it.

Have Fun