Newbie

Get a nice integrated amp, plenty of NADs on Audiogon to be had. Mate that to an Oppo 980 DVD/CD player and you'd have a killer ystem within your budget.

If you want to go very minimalist, just gat an NAD amp and connect the Oppo directly to it - the Oppo has its own volume control.

Either way, you'd havce a system that will rock your world for many years to come...

-RW-

I second the NAD for Paradigms. NADs are on the warm side while Paradigm is the cold one.

Thanks for the quick response!

I was not thinking about hooking my stereo system to my TV. It would be more of an audio dedicated system.
Is a DVD/CD player still a good way to go?

I really like the idea of buying only a PowerAmp and connecting the DVD/CD player to it! ... I'll buy the PreAmp later on, but what about my turn table? Can I hook a turntable directly in a poweramp??

Thanks again.

I would recommend either the Cambridge 540 V2 or a Rega Brio 3. I own both and either one would be an excellent choice to use w/your Paradigm's. The Cambridge has a remote and a headphone socket. No phono. (Add a Rega phono for $145.) The Rega has a very nice phono stage but no remote nor headphone jack. The list for the Cambridge is I believe $449 and the Rega's list just went up to $695. The Rega IMO is slightly more musical but the Cambridge is very, very good. As far as CDP's, if you decide on the Cambridge, perhaps you could make a "package deal" on a Cambridge CDP. (The remote would operate both units. Nice.) What type of spk. cables are you planning on using? How are they terminated? The spk. binding posts are quite different on the Cambridge and Rega. The Rega will accept my bare wire Kimber 8VS. Both accept banana plugs, but the Cambridge will not accept a spade. Something to consider. Regards, Bill.

Thanks for all the suggestions, it's greatly appreceated!!

I'm really tempted with the Rega Brio 3, I went to a dealership nearby and their retail price was 800$.

A friend of mine suggested the Jolida JD 1501A (645$) hybrid tube amp with an Oppo 980 CD/DVD player (180$), which would fit right in my budget.

A tube amp would sound great but then again, I haven't heard a lot about that hybrid one?
Any ideas??

Thanks

If I had to choose between the Jolida and the other Int. amps mentioned, I personally would not choose the Jolida. (I owned the 1301 and 1501) The built quality on the Cambridge is superior. The Rega is very well built as well. It sounds musical. The list is $695. Ask to audition one in your system. Bill

There are also "gently" used items sometimes for sale on this site!

Ok guys thanks for all the tips!
I think i'll go for the Rega Brio 3 and for the Oppo DV-980H as my CDP!

I'll be smack on my budget!

Thanks again for your help!

If anybody have other suggestions, feel free to post it here, i'll only buy the amp on friday! I might change my mind since then!

For a quite decent low cost speaker wire, try DH Labs Silver Sonic.

Ahh shoot!
Now i'm pretty much back to square one!

Event though I don't really know what a magnitude of 2.5 ohms means, I'll look for a 100watts amp!

Any suggestions?

thanks

Ok guys thanks for all your comments/suggestions/help!

I finally bought a Marantz 7001 at a local dealer nearby for 400$
So it was a no brainer for me!
I love marantz and it was way way under what I was hoping to pay for!

That being said... I can now start saving for a real amp+preamp!!!

So my final system is
Speakers : Paradigm Studio 100 v4
Amp : Marantz 7001
CDP : Oppo 980H
Turntable : Rega P1

Thanks again guys!!!