McIntosh vs Theta

[Slammer]

Hi y'all,

I'm prepared to be flamed (probably heavily), however, I am in a true dilemma at the moment...so here's the story..

Some time ago (a long time ago...in a galaxy far far away...), I listened to Watt Puppy 5.1's. At the time, I owned (and still do) Vandersteen 3A Signatures (which are no slouches by the way!) with matched 2Wq subs. So, my impression was 'holy shit these sound awesome - there is a lot of 'oomph' in these WP's'..I was running (and still am..) Quicksilver V4's (with KT88) and Audible Illusions M3A with the Vandersteens.

Since that time, I considered Vandersteen 5A's (too expensive..) and somehow, with planets aligning, managed to become the proud owner of a pair of Watt Puppy 6's. Yep, they are old, they need some work (I will be replacing the Dynaudio drivers with Scanspeak in the Puppies), but they sound wonderful..

And now, I'm in a dilemma...I'll be pursuing a grand Watt Puppy set up. I already have the DAC (PS Audio with Bridge which I love), and now I'm interested in going to SS amps supplied by Tube preamp (I am infatuated by the sound of tubes - yes its coloured blah blah blah, but I like it). Watt Puppies love power - I know that. So, I'm in a situation where I am tossing up between Theta Enterprise or (drum roll) McIntosh MC501. The Theta's are brand new, (with warranty), the MC501, obviously used..

I also use a rega turn table, and also have a Belles 20A at my disposal.

My questions are - has anyone had previous experience with either, and can they please give me a run down on their point of view of them;

has anyone had experience with either amplifier powering Watt Puppy (any of the WP family is fine).

Thanks for you consideration of this - and please don't provide to much stick on my preamp choices...I do have a limited budget here and will address this shortfall in a while...(probably a long while).

[j3brow]

I LOVE my MC501s powering my Sophia 3's.
Can't go wrong with 501s and Watt Puppies.