Lots and Lots of advice. I did not read it all but I would say start with older components. There are so many great speakers that were considered very good 7-10 years ago that you can find. Aerial 10Ts, B&Ws, Kef 105s, Kef 104s, Alons, and Vandersteens, etc. They are great for your type of music. There are a ton of amp options that will give you great sound, from NAD, Rotel, (too many to name) on up, I would find one of these amps that can power the speakers you settle on. Spend money on the source. IMO this is the key to getting the best sound. You want a 10 sound you need a 10 source not the other way around. Consider SS preamp or tube preamps (Counterpoint, ARC, CJ) depending on what you prefer. There are so many good preamps in either camp that you can find used. This will keep you within budget and you can swap out buy/sell without money issues as you move forward. I have a friend who goes to estate sales. He finds older gear at CHEAP prices. For example B&W DM2 speakers for $40/pair, KEF 105s for $50 pair. Hard to beat the sound of these for the price. Happy Listening.
Looking to build a system for under $5k
Hello,
I am brand new to audio and looking to put a system together for around/under $5k all in. Any recommendations?
This would be mainly for CD audio but expandable for phono in the future. I have a small bedroom that I am dedicating as a music room upstairs in a cape cod style home. So it has angled walls that follow the roof line.
Looking for components that offer the biggest bang for the buck. I've done some research over the last couple of months and it seems like the Vandersteen 1Ci might be a good cornerstone to design a system around.
Thanks,
Joe