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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
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.
phasecorrect's avatar
phasecorrect
2,013 posts
 
I have heard Vandies running with Musical FIdelity intergrated...it sounded very,very good..huge soundstage
bigkidz
1,784 posts
 
There is a great deal on the Belles 150 A amp for $550 I just saw which is a bargin.
unsound
6,115 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.
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