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Novice needs opinions for new system

Hi. I’m posting on Audiogon to tap into this community of extremely knowledgeable audiophiles. I’m hoping some of you will have a moment to give me some advice regarding transitioning my high-end equipment to something more suitable to my needs.  

Through a twist of fate, I own several high-end components that are outside my appreciation level. I do appreciate quality sound, but I don’t think I’m able to hear the nuances that I read about in the discussions.

My goal is to liquidate my current equipment and to buy a new or used system that will provide me with a reasonably great audio for music streaming, capturing my CD collection. Perhaps this is blasphemy but being able to tie my TV into the system would be a plus. But if not, I can upgrade that separately.  I’m also interested if high-quality headphones might be part of that system. (As a reference point, I have some Bose QC45 headphones that seem pretty good to me)

Currently I have a set of custom-built speakers that were originally over $20,000, and a Zanden 7000 300B single end point tube amplifier that was paired to the speakers, originally at the $10,000 price point. Sound is quite impressive (apparent to even me) but I don’t have the correct room to really enjoy it.  As an aside, I also have a Primaluna Prologue 5 amp and an Audio Mirror T-61 amp. Perhaps the T-61 or Primaluna would fit into my new system, but both are tube amps and I think I would like to go solid state.

As for the speakers, they are piano black gloss finish with exotic cocobolo wood horns midranges. The tweeters are Fostex – T5AMLII, midranges are JBL 2441s, and base are JBL 12” K120s in a heavy custom constructed box. The horn speakers are 8 ohms. Overall, the speakers have 107 dB sensitivity.

 

I’m thinking in the $2500 to $5000 range for the new system, depending on what I can sell my current equipment for. I’m looking forward to hearing your responses. Thanks.

128x128ranuve

Showing 3 responses by ranuve

ranuve's avatar
ranuve OP
5 posts
 

Thanks. Yes, that's the point. I also had a Chord DAC and CD transport and sold them. I just don't have the proper space for the speakers so I can't really appreciate what they can do. So, I'm basically downgrading which is the opposite direction than most people. I think smaller quality speakers and a proper solid state streaming receiver with a decent built in DAC might be the ticket for me. I would like a way to capture my CD collection but then be done with CDs.

Thanks again for your response.

ranuve's avatar
ranuve OP
5 posts
 

My room is about 20x20. It's in the basement so ceilings are not high. I don't normally listen to loud music and even a modest amount of volume can be loud in the space. It seems that the speakers need to be used in a larger space so that their quality can be heard. 

Also, I'm not listening to music that often. My whole house is wired upstairs with speakers in most rooms (mostly built-ins) so that is the more likely scenario if I have music on. I'm going to move to streaming there as well. So, it seems to make sense to use the value I have in equipment to fund something that works for the space. Also, I don't even know what to do with the Prima Luna nor the Audio Mirror amps. 

ranuve's avatar
ranuve OP
5 posts
 

Wow, I just checked out both speakers. Reviews were quite good. I'm not sure every audiophile would agree but I'm guessing they would work for me. They look so convenient. You can easily move them to different locations and just plug in and stream. I didn't even know you could accomplish that without a receiver/amp.

Both are fairly expensive, at least in my realm, but perhaps acceptable if they would provide the level of quality sound the reviewers suggest.  The Kefs were somewhat more expensive. They offer the advantage of being able to be useful as part of an AV system as opposed to just audio. 

Thank you for the suggestion. I'm going to think on this for a little while.  I also have to guess on the value of my speakers. Trying to figure out how to get an image in here. 

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