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Please recommend components for newbie with $1K

I currently have a late-90's Sony cd player, a pair of old Realistic speakers that are hand-me-downs from my father-in-law, and a Scott 418-A integrated from the mid-70's (I think) that I acquired at a pawn shop when I was an undergrad. Sounds pretty bad, so I want to upgrade. I can put in $1000 now, so I want to get speakers and an integrated amp or a receiver. I guess that gives me around $500 for each. I need the amp to have A/B speaker switching. A phono stage would be nice too, although I'm not opposed to getting a separate phono preamp in the future if necessary. This system will be a smallish room, about 14x10, 8' ceilings.

Unless I can find something used, I'm leaning toward the Marantz PM7200 integrated. Local shops have also suggested the Integra DTM 5.3 receiver. I would buy the NAD 720BEE today but it's $540 before tax.

Thanks for reading. Any amp and speaker recommendations will be greatly appreciated.
reanalyst

Showing 2 responses by siliab

siliab
362 posts
 
I set up a fantastic system for my son that was substantially less expensive than $1k. It features a pair of Vandersteen 1Bs with stands (used-$200/pr.), a 25 wpc NAD integrated amp (used-$150), a Sony SACD 5 disc changer ($125 @ Best Buy), Audioquest budget interconnects and speaker cable ($75.00), and an equipment stand ($120 from AudioAdvisor). This set up is unfailingly musical regardless of program material. He uses it in his 12' x 14' bedroom, where it sounds equally great cranking Rage Against the Machine, as it does mellowing out with Damien Rice (my selection, not his).
siliab
362 posts
 
I think that the Vandersteen 1s might sound better than the 2s in your room. Their are two primary reasons for this. First, the 2Cs are prone to overloading small rooms due to their prodigious low bass output, and their rear-firing passive radiator. Second, you need a bit more distance from the speakers to get the three forward facing drivers to work together optimally. This may have something to do with the first-order crossovers.

I have played around with both speakers in small, medium and large rooms. While there are significant performance advantages associated with the 2Cs, their use in small rooms creates several problems that do not exist in larger rooms, or with the 1s.

Both speakers work well with NAD integrateds. As I said above, the 1Bs sound awesome in a room with dimensions that are close to yours.

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