Seeking advice on tube amps

It surprises me how often people avoid drinking once they've been led to the water.

I'll bet most of us who suggest speakers first will admit to doing it backwards and wasting lots of time and money in the process. I admit it.

It's painful to see someone potentially making the same mistake.

Find speakers you love first, and then buy an amp to drive them with good tonal balance. It may seem like it'll take longer, but you'll be satisfied sooner and you'll spend less money in the process.

There will be plenty of deals on amps down the road when you're ready.

Speakers first it is, then amp shortly after!
I'll keep everyone posted, but now this will be delayed a bit.

How can you pass-up the Genesis M60 Monoblocks if they are priced right?? Take them with you to audition speakers. If the dealer won't let you connect them to his demo speakers then eliminate that brand & model from the list. Dealers know the limitations of their products and won't willingly let you discover what those limitations are.

T, I relize you have now committed to the 'speaker first' process, which I highly indorse (like Tvad, I have wasted a lot of money trying speakers without paying enuf attention to proper amp matching, just using what I had on hand), but FWIW slowing down the process is a very good thing, because matching amps and speakers to get what YOU want to hear isn't a walk in the park.

Its easy to buy based on what you THINK you read in a review, but reviews can be a serious trap for the unwary, those who are unfamilar with the lingo, or the priorities assigned to the reviewer, and interpert them too literally. For example, I didn't think that 6moons review of the Genesis was all that much of a 'rave', in fact it convinced me that I didn't need to explore it further than the review, even though I was/am in the market for a high quality tube amp.

As I said, FWIW.

03-10-09: Commcat
How can you pass-up the Genesis M60 Monoblocks if they are priced right??

Easy. They may not properly drive the speakers one owns or wants to own. Then what?

Buying a component solely based on a "good deal" is a poor way to assemble an audio system, unless the good deal is well below the current market price and you're certain you can resell the item without a loss.