Lol! I just got into all this 8 months ago and initially bought a used onkyo t..7... Something or rather and a pair of new mini monitors. It sounded good enough that I caught the bug. Since then I have bought/ upgraded quite a bit and will save you the hassle of all the upgrades. What I have now is: a used classe ssp 25 ($350), a used classe ca-150'($800), a used denon DVD 2900 ($100), a new musical fidelity v-dac II ($500 including tax and an audioquest digital coax), a new pangea p 100 upgraded external power supply for the dac ($100), two used ps audio power punch cords, one for the amp, the other for the pre-amp ($60), new 25 foot 10 gauge blue jeans cables with bananas cold welded ($105), pair of used diamond back and a pair of new g-snakes ($90 for both), and last, a pair of new studio 20's ($1500, had to pay retail as I kept upgrading and payed the difference). So not including the speakers, I have $2,100 in it. Most of it was thought out, some was bought because it just became available atthe right time, right place sort of thing. I want to still upgrade a pair of rca's, buy a pair of xlr's and two more power cords, maybe my dac later. Other than that, I'm done. This setup sounds great to me and I like it's size and simplicity. Rather than upgrade this system anymore, I'd rather just keep this the way it is and build another. Maybe vinyl with tubes?
