There are a couple of overachieving floorstanding speakers that have hit the market recently, which could leave you more money for the amp, DAC (or amp/DAC) and cabling.
The two speakers are the new Elac Debut F5, available for $560/pair (also available at Amazon) and the Infinity Primus P363, currently available for $300/pair.
The Elac Debut F5 review here.
Infinity Primus P363 review here.
You'd have $940 to $1200 left over for electronics and cabling. This would translate into better D/A conversion, more musical electronics, dynamic range, and more complete signal transfer.
There are several integrated amps these days with a built-in DAC. I nominate the Peachtree Nova 65SE. Peachtree has been making DAC-based integrated amps longer than just about anybody. I have heard their products and they are clean, fast, and musical. The Nova puts out 65 wpc into 8 ohms and 95 watts into 4 ohms. The unit weighs over 20 lbs., indicating a heftier power supply which generally translates into a fuller, more robust sound. List price is $999, but Amazon currently has it for $799.
The integrated DAC/amp also saves you cabling money. You can get a Belkin Gold USB cable, which is a value leader at a very low price, and then treat yourself to some nicer speaker cables, making sure more of that upstream goodness makes its way to the speakers.
The two speakers are the new Elac Debut F5, available for $560/pair (also available at Amazon) and the Infinity Primus P363, currently available for $300/pair.
The Elac Debut F5 review here.
Infinity Primus P363 review here.
You'd have $940 to $1200 left over for electronics and cabling. This would translate into better D/A conversion, more musical electronics, dynamic range, and more complete signal transfer.
There are several integrated amps these days with a built-in DAC. I nominate the Peachtree Nova 65SE. Peachtree has been making DAC-based integrated amps longer than just about anybody. I have heard their products and they are clean, fast, and musical. The Nova puts out 65 wpc into 8 ohms and 95 watts into 4 ohms. The unit weighs over 20 lbs., indicating a heftier power supply which generally translates into a fuller, more robust sound. List price is $999, but Amazon currently has it for $799.
The integrated DAC/amp also saves you cabling money. You can get a Belkin Gold USB cable, which is a value leader at a very low price, and then treat yourself to some nicer speaker cables, making sure more of that upstream goodness makes its way to the speakers.