PS Audio vs. Cary

Shimanole,
The Cary's you're looking at are pretty low maintenance. They would also be a good intro to tube gear without a large investment. If you move up to a Rocket and SLP then you really are making a committment (albeit at still a small investment) to tubes that should be done with conviction. Tubes are not for everyone. Your thoughts on mellowing out the JmLabs is a good one, but I'm sure there is a lot of equipment out there that will work well with them - ss and tube.

I am a bit biased towards Cary, but in your price range you may also want to consider Anthem, Jolida, Golden Tube, and perhaps some of the Chinese manufacturers that will provide more bang for the buck at perhaps the expense of reliability.

I dont have any experience with ps audio,but i can tell you that cary make great gears for the money.I would take clio09 advice on the slp 88/94 pre over the 308..I am currently using cary 2a3 with slp98 and it s a match made in heaven..good luck with your system..

I have heard Cary, Bryston and Proceed. While they are good, I think you can do better new and on Audiogon for the money. You might want to consider an Ayre amp. For soundstage and air I don't think you can beat a V-3 amp for $1000-1200 used. If you can afford it, Ayre's new stuff is a huge step up though. I believe a simple A-B test with an Ayre amp vs any of the equipment you listed will show Ayre's strengths. I have also heard many pre/pros. Arcam and Anthem stood out over Cary and Bryston in my system.

Thanks everyone!

Scott

What are your plans for interconnects, speaker wire, source, ect? Cary products have served me well. I have not had one reliability problem and the tubes last forever. Have you considered an integrated amp like the SLI80? This would save you the price of one set of interconnects and the amp gets rave reviews on Agon. IMO, it will take a complete package to get the sound you want. The front end affects the final result. Take your time and listen to all you can before you take the plunge.
Good luck!