Luxman R-1050, KEF 103.2, Auralic Aries Mini, Geshelli DAC. If you look hard you can put this together for $1500+/ a few bucks. Be HARD pressed to do better. Just my opinion...
Really Inexpensive Systems That Sounded Great?
I think there is a big difference between "cheap" and inexpensive. I have blown money on "cheap" cables and immediately regretted it when my ears started bleeding from the brightness in my digital components. I also don’t mean "bargains" like the time I scored $2000 speakers for $200 on Craigslist, that is basically luck.
I am talking about inexpensive (less than $1500) for a system that sounded really great to you.
I fell into a whole house audio system from DTS Play-Fi because I wanted to try and compare different brands. I picked up Play-Fi amps, preamps and active speakers made by Polk, Paradigm, Klipsch, Onkyo and DefTech all for less than $1000 a pop. For what it is, whole house audio/casual listening it sounds great.
What inexpensive great sounding systems have you tried?