Following recommendations in my intro thread that I start a proper thread here, here it is...! For a little more background please feel free to read my welcome thread but in a nutshell I have a PC running FLACs from MusicBee into an Audiolab M-DAC (a recent addition and I'm staggered by the benefits it's brought to the sound), a Cyrus 8vs2 amp and Celestion A2 speakers. I've decided to put some cash into the system and am looking at amplification options.

Macca made a suggestion of an XTZ A100 D3 commenting that the A2s will benefit from an amp with greater power reserves - his recommendations of something from Krell or Bryston are also good but looking at various options out there at the moment I think they're also probably a little out of my budget even as used purchases.

Off my own bat I also took a look at a couple of options from Musical Fidelity - there's an A1008 up for sale at the moment but I'm not sure whether the valve part of the pre requires servicing or new valve (or valves). It looks like it would be capable of delivering the control at low resistance that the A2s apparently demand. Can anyone who's got or previously owned one offer any advice? I'd be buying without being able to hear first and at this price point (£1k+) I'd like to gather as much information as I can before making a decision. In contrast the XTZ looks like absurdly good value at around £500ish so that's on the list too.

Any other recommendations would be useful too! Budget around £1-2kish.

Cheers!