I managed to get myself a pair of slightly used Piano Black VSA Unifield Ones, ran me $2000, this was a good deal yes?
I owned the VR-1s, but I bought these on faith. But both George Michael and Albert have never let me down yet.
I'm having trouble picking an amp. I'm a bit limited in my budget, so at first I was thinking I'd get an integrated amp for under $2000, like the Creek Evolution 5350, the NAD C375BEE or the Musical Fidelity M3i, or perhaps the Marantz PM8004. I can get a grandfathered 4 monthly payment plan with no interest at Crutchfield on these, except for the Creek, which they don't carry. Needless to say, unless the Creek is that much better, I would rather do the payment plan, but I do like looking at those Creeks over the years. Not sure if they are the best or not of the ones I mentioned.
Another interesting option is that since I need a really good DAC, for my MacBook Pro (Music) and my PS3 (movies) sources, and I have interest in Headphones, I might as well consider all the wonderful Headphone Amp/DAC/Pre-Amp wonder boxes out there, like the CEntrence DACmini, or if I can stretch it and its worth it over the DACmini, the Grace M903. Then I could pair it with the NAD C275 or the Marantz MM7205, the power amps that interest me at Crutchfield. The $1800-ish Grace is almost too expensive however, the CEntrence with the variable out mod is more sensible at $900 ($800 with non variable out).
Of course, then there is the Peachtree iNova, but that strikes me as inferior to the options I layed out. I'd rather get the CEntrence DACmini or iDac with a amp I trust, like the NADs.
Any thoughts????
