college kid needs help with budget amps

I also use to own a Cambridge C500 Preamp with the added phono. For $259 brand new ($319 with phono) it is hard to beat at that price. I did not find anything better until I went over a $1000.

The vintage NAD gear and Klipsch speakers made great matches when I was in college. I've never been that big a fan of Adcom- too polite. A friend in OK uses Carver's "The Receiver" with Heresy II's and loves the combination (he switched from Adcom). One of Parasound's smaller amps and a CD player with a volume control would also be a good option.

Remember, with Klipsch, you won't need much power to get loud. Look for good watts, not many watts.

I had Klipsch Heresey's in college. I had a 35 watt receiver--more than enough with those Klipsch. Tubes aren't the most practical thing in a college environment--but if you can use tubes I like David suggestion. Another similar possiblity is Antique Sound Lab MGSI 15 DT. It's a 15 watt single ended integrated amp. This would really sound dynamite with the Klipsh (Heresey's anyway--don't know which model you have). The only downside to going this way, is that if you do change your speakers you are going to want to continue to have ones that are easy to drive and efficient.

I would look for a PSE Studio IV amplifier and a passive pre (possibly the Creek mentioned by someone else) ... the PSE's can be found for around $325-375 and are a bargain for the sound/build quality. When new in the early to mid 90's, these amps retailed for $1000.

This may be a bit self-serving, but I have these components currently sitting in their boxes (due to recent upgrades) and would consider selling them for $650 together. I bought the HCA-1000 as a demo unit from a dealer in '95, and got the P/LD-1100 used a few years ago(on Audiogon, as it happens). Both are in great shape cosmetically and functionally. The original list prices totaled something like $1200-$1300, if I'm not mistaken... anyway, drop me a line if you're interested.

Cheers,
Derrick Carpenter