Welcome, JKG. That was a very thoughtful post and I, for one, am going to look forward to your presence here! I like the fact that you're not going to be in some entrenched warfare of vinyl vs. CD, etc. And hopefully, you'll get to piece together a perfect system for your needs.

I believe that a lot of us - including me - put together a system at once, because we just didn't have anything to build upon, frankly. No speakers, amps, etc. I only had an iPod and some Sony behemoth all-in-one system from the early 90's. So obviously, we had to plunge in. But you do have a couple of pieces to build upon, and I'm sure more people take piece-by-piece approach than you might realize.

I definitely agree with your comment, that since you loved tube guitar amplifiers more than solid state, you might like that in your listening room. That translation definitely holds true, I think. That liquidity in tone works wonders in the listening room, too, although many solid state amplifiers now have come close to bridging the gap (but at a price). In general, I still believe the tube amplifiers have that beauty of tone & fluidity of sound, even if it doesn't have that grip on the bass dynamics as solid state amps do.

Since you already love the speakers, I think you're right to start with the amplifier. I don't know whether they are monitors or not, and what their sensitivity & impedance #s are... so they'll come in handy in choosing an amp that mates well with the speakers. Supposing that you have monitor speakers, you won't have much problem with a reasonably powered tube integrated amps, since you won't have to have your amp deal with controlling big woofers or anything. Just to be safe, I recommend push-pull rather than single-ended tube amps, because they offer a bit more power and are thus compatible with more speakers. But definitely get some specs & numbers from the techs at the NJ shop. There are many reasonably priced tube integrated amps now, and if you look at audiogon.com, you'll see many well-kept used ones at a great discount.

After that, you can look into getting a DAC to either hook upto your CD player or computer or some server; that seems like the most effective & logical way to upgrade your digital source.

Welcome aboard!

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From years of playing in bands, I know that I prefer the sound of tube guitar amplifiers to solid state so I tend to reason why wouldn't I like that timbre on my listening system?

Possibly because what a musician listens for in their amplifier's sound is not necessarily what an "audiophile" prefers. So called "tube sound", especially to a musician, is something to be avoided in home audio just as traditional solid state sound should be given a wide berth. Think wanting those Bose speakers in either case and someone with greater insight pulling you aside for your own good. Perhaps we are merely debating words here but believing any one technology will get you where you wish to go will often lead you down a path that misses all the highlights of the journey simply because you wanted to arrive a bit sooner than the rest. You may eventually arrive at the same location but take your time, enjoy the trip and get all the stickers on your luggage along the way. That doesn't imply being frivolous but it should suggest you not predetermine your arrival time. One of the most enjoyable vacations I have ever taken was the one where I drove South until it stopped raining.

Yes, tubes have qualities that are typically unmatched in budget solid state gear but the alternate is true also. If you are a working musician, think first of the music before you restrict yourself to any one principle of construction - few high end tube pre amps allow for adjustable amounts of "overdrive" nor, thankfully, do they provide a +24dB boost in the middle range. Whatever serves the music best is what you should be considering and not whatever beautifies the sound to the point of obvious coloration. In the case of a musician's choice of amplification coloration is exactly what they are hoping for. In consumer audio you are looking for whatever portrays the musician's chosen tone as accurately as possible.

The trend over the last few decades has been to bring tubes and transistors closer together in the service of music but I'm afraid the latest fad in tubes is to emphasize just what made tubes less desirable fifty years ago. Not that I disagree with how triode or push-pull based amplifiers sound but the intentional flick-a-switch diversion from truth that is represented by tube amplifiers given the ability to switch between, say, Ultralinear and triode operation is an intentional blurring of the musical line instilled by marketing and not by genius. Either one is right and the other is wrong or both are incorrect. While any work can be seen from various angles and each of us will find perculiar values impressive the intentional obsfucation of "tube sound" is IMO meant to play to the insecurities of the listener rather than affirm the Mapsco grid they have chosen. Listen to the music and make decisions based on what you hear rather than "pre-thinking" what you wish to be true. Vinyl better than CD, tubes better than transistors! You've already decided on the root note and now you're stuck in a particular key. I-IV-V in twelve bars.

Listening should be your approach to system building as well. Listen to your system, get involved in the music and it will generally tell you how to proceed with future upgrades. If the music is not involving, then determine which component is at fault. If your turntable gets to the heart of the music more capably than your CD player, then the amplifier would seem to be OK with at least one source. If you've heard the same discs sound "better" at a friend's house, then enlist their aid and swap out your components to hear what improvements or degradations result. Most importantly, if you haven't set up your system to provide its best performance, what are you expecting will change when you buy a new tube amplifier?

You are proposing a system and the room is the single largest and most inflexible component within that system approach. Sort it out to the extent any component has a chance before you spend you money on boxes. A good start is doing a basic speaker set up. If you haven't done so to this point, stick "loudspeaker set up" in a search engine and get to work before you check your credit card balances.

Then head to a good shop where you can spend a few quiet weekday afternoons listening. Buy what impresses you the least - always remember those Bose speakers - and build with an ear toward pulling the most music from the source rather than putting the most physically attractive system into your room. If you care not about labels, don't place them on the gain devices in your components or the sources you listen to.

Good luck.

You can find various tube integrated amplifiers from Cayin or Jolida for well under $1K on Audiogon. The difficult thing about putting a system together is the actual auditioning part. I don't know where you live now, but if you have reputable dealer near you, it might be worth it to purchase a new component from a dealer after auditioning, since if you're buying from Audiogon, you'd be purchasing blind? Again, we'll have more pointed recommendations once we know the specifics of your speakers, and also your budget.

There's also a Chinese company called Yaqin that supposedly makes great affordable tube amplifiers; some of their integrated amps run under $300, and there are members in this forum who really like them... When I was shopping around last year for my 1st system, Yaqin amps were highly recommended to me by some people. I think you can search in the Amplifier section and you'll find an old thread. Some of their integrated amps are both headphone and integrated stereo amps in one, which would make your AKG-listening more pleasurable, too.

While I appreciate that we all start at some point and work from there, the starting point has to include large amounts of listening. Without that you are too likely to choose those Bose speakers.

There is a generally agreed upon vocabulary for home audio - http://www.stereophile.com/reference/50/index.html - however, I find using words to decribe what both of us hear to be similar to describing the color "red" when we both see a red colored object. Even more difficult would be explaining "depth of field" to someone who wants to learn photography but has never looked through a camera's lens and then at the resulting photograph. Reading the word "warm" and experiencing what that term applies to are two different things.

You would seem to have a leg up on some listeners since I suspect you have an idea how various instruments sound and how materials can affect the personality of those instruments. None the less using that facility to get to know home audio components is a somewhat different matter.

Working from what you already know I would suggest you consider what is important to you in live music and how that relates to reproduced music. Make a list if necessary but really put things in order before you go any further. Reading reviews and articles in magazines such as Stereophile will guide you but it will become a simpler task if you can relate what you read to what you hear and know the limits of what your budget can provide. A word such as "soundstage" will very likely have a different meaning to someone with a $3k system vs the listener with a $50k system.

I have to agree that Audiogon is not the best place for a beginner. You can waste a lot of money on equipment that does not form a coherent system. No matter what you read there is no substitute for listening to a component and ideally doing so in the context of your own system. The only advantage to a place like Audiogon for a beginner is by choosing vintage gear carefully you can typicaly recoup most of your investment as you listen to various products. Buying a forty year old Dyna/Quad/McIntosh amp will get you back about the same amount on resale as what you spent in the first place. On the other hand that only gets you a limited number of components that are worth owning for even a short while.

I have to say, take no one's advice when it comes to audio gear. You have to listen for yourself since we all hear the same music in different ways. Read the archives of the "Entry Level" with particular interest, here's another person just starting along the path; http://forum.stereophile.com/forum/showf...=true#Post53123

There is a substantial amount of experience on this forum but there simply is no substitute for listening for yourself.

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...take no one's advice when it comes to audio gear...

There is advice and then there is advice. If someone tells you you have to have this or that system or component, that can be bad advice. (bring to mind Legacy Whispers or Van Alstine?) If someone tells you to audition a variety units or specific units in your price range that can be sound advice. But you gotta listen.

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We may be able to agree on terminology, but I would think that because the entire chain in two individual systems is different it would be hard to indicate which individual link would make the biggest impact in my specific setup. My concern would be that if I say I'm looking for a crisper attack in the low frequency component of my system, that may lead to a specific amp but then what happens when I get it home and my speakers aren't up to the task, or my source is revealed to have other flaws, or whatever other link in the chain might be the weak one?

I can only assume you would not be upgrading your system only to gain a crisper attack in the low frequency component. At least not now you would not be doing so. For in searching for such specifics you will undoubtedly drag along some generic changes that are the unexpected results of any change in components. If this were the only failing of your current system, I would say you should be relaxing and not worrying about much that cannot be solved by cables, spikes, bass traps or speaker placement. Yes, you could have chosen the wrong amplifier/speaker pairing but, hopefully, by the time you get down to the micro-failings of crisp low bass attack, you should be able to comprehend what makes components operate as a system.

That leaves us with the larger array of qualities you should be seeking when you audition gear. Every shop today has its own sales policies regarding home auditions. For the most part you should find a shop willing to work with you if you can offer a deposit on goods removed from their premises. Give them a credit card or a check to hold and most shops will allow for some home audition under certain guidelines. You'll just have to ask what each store's policy is before you get too involved with that shop.

However, what you are really asking is a question I have already answered. It is why I suggested you spend some quiet weekday afternoon visits at the various shops. This is a time when dealers can spend time talking with you, listening and understanding your situation and then allowing you casual listening time with a variety of components. A source or speaker can be swapped in and out of a system to give you a reference for what component is doing what in each system. Any dealer who will not move gear to accomodate a sale is a dealer to be avoided - if you're playing fair with the dealer. This sort of audition process cannot be done on a busy Saturday afternoon or when other clients are hoping to use the system. Work with the dealer and they will generally work with you.

What should you be listening for? Not a tightening of the lowest bass components at this point. Your listing of the primary qualities you find to be of value should be rich with musical cues that will be evident in even the most casual audition. In the most basic context, does the system remind you of music performed by human beings or by machines? Is the music coherent? Does it catch your attention? If a system doesn't pass this simple smell test, then it's unlikely any of the components in that particular system are worth further investigation.

On to the next system that lives up to its reputation as "high end". What are you aware of when you listen? Too much of this or that or an obvious weakness in another area? How do instruments and voices sound? And then you proceed from that point, narrowing down the options with each subsequent audition. Listen as if you are putting the system through a sieve with each new step being a finer mesh. Go from coarse to fine as you mix in the ingredients you want in your system.

You'll find you must make choices along the way, whether you'll sacrifice some degree of crispness in attack for a more fluid sound overall. Possibly you'll have to decide between pacing and timbre. Whatever your own priorities are will guide you along the way. The important thing here is to have those priorities worked out in advance and in your head before you hit the showrooms. As you compile your "reference" discs to take with you, be thinking of how each disc will point up various aspects of your ideal system. Explain what you are after to the salesperson and allow them the opportunity to show you what they think reveals the best aspects of their products. This cannot be done on a Saturday or in one visit. You will not be the first person who walked through their doors with a starting system that needs to be upgraded. Since they do this more than once a month and you only do this once, let them guide you through their audition process and then leave you to your own listening. Be prepared to be flexible with your priorities and above all be prepared to learn.

This isn't that difficult if you are sure of what you need to get out of the system and there's no reason to make it more difficult than it needs to be. When you test drive a car you don't insist each vehicle be driven over the same course. When you judge a restaurant you don't insist each meal be prepared with the same spices and herbs and served with the same wine. You've done this process before. On some level you do this task everyday. Just think of this as not being so difficult you cannot make the leap from auditioning to owning. Putting a component in your system and listening in a relaxed manner will be far more informative than any showroom audition. Don't buy just to own something but don't be afraid to own something if you've done your work beforehand.