Looking for a good system for my apartment. Any advise?

Sorry. Correction

cable cost/benefit: not much bang for buck is what I tried to say.

Should have mentioned: Magnepan speakers are VERY apartment friendly because the bass does not travel as much.

Although I have major $’s invested in my analog system (well over $5K), I wouldn’t recommend starting with one, unless you have an extensive vinyl collection already.

Do you have a large CD collection? If not, pass on the CD player. Or rip your CDs and play them through an audio streamer.

Focus on speakers, integrated amp (w/FM tuner), an audio streamer, DAC and headphones.

For speakers, audition as many as you can. Preferably in YOUR apartment. You have already been given a lot of advice here. I’d recommend budgeting $1,500 - $2,000.

Integrated amp: going used gives you a lot of bang for your buck. I’m partial to Yamaha but Sony, Luxman and Accuphase can also be great value. Some models bundle in FM receivers and phono preamps as well, so if you do decide to dive into a vinyl rig at a later date, you won’t need to buy a separate phono pre. Budget: up to $1,300

Streamer vs audio PC: The choice between these two largely depends on your skillset and how much time you want to commit. A streamer is simply a specialized computer that is optimized for audio. Personally, I run a fan-less, small footprint PC connected to an external HD. The software I use is JRiver Media Centre 26. Budget: up to $1,000.

DAC: The expected resolution of the digital files you will stream will dictate the type of DAC. e.g. if you listen to MP3 vs CD rips (44.1kHz/16 bit) vs 96kHz/24bit vs DSD files. As with everything in audio, there are very vigorous (and passionate) debates on this subject. It’s a personal preference. There are lots of very good DACs to be found, used, for under $500 (Teac, Schiit, Topping, Bryston, Bel Canto, etc.). Budget: $500.

Headphones: Seeing as you live in an apartment, I would be remiss in not recommending headphones (for those times when you want to re-live that concert experience). Planar magnetic headphones represent very good value. HiFiMan HE-4xx, as an example, can be had, new, for $120. Of course, as with everything in audio, the sky is the limit. Whether or not you’ll also require a headphone DAC will depend on your choice of integrated amp or DAC. Some models have headphone amps built-in. Budget: $120 - $200

Hopefully something in the above mess I wrote is helpful to you in your search.

Happy hunting!

Ok, to ammend my last post, I’d buy used. I forgot to mention that...

I saw a pair of Lintons withstands for $850 awhile back. A Belles Aria can be had for $1400, same with an Ayre AX7e. Both are very high quality units and are rated at 60 and 75 watts respectively. You can get a Schiit Bifrost Multibit for $500 or a Schiit Gungir Multibit for $800. I’d pair it with a Bluesound node 2i ($450 refurbed) and a used Cambridge CXC for $400.

Thats $3150, lets round up to $3300. Then I’d spend around $200 on cables from Blue Jeans.
The Belles Aria has a great Headphone Amp and supposedly has a nice phono pre as well. My Aria streaming Amazon HD through my Gungir Multibit into my Periodic Audio BE’s sounds fantastic! Listening to my headphones is no longer a downgrade.

I’d say the Rogue Tube Integrated and the flagship Rega CD player. I helped a friend put together a small system for his apartment and he chose a Rega amp, Rega CD player, Herbies Audio Super Black Hole cd mat, Rega phonostage, Clear Audio turntable, Wireworld cables and I sold him my Monitor Audio GR Gold speakers. It all sounded good except for his vinyl rig for which he purchased an Ortofon Red mm cartridge. I’d really reconsider purchasing a vinyl rig because of the need to spend a lot in order to get acceptable results. A good sounding phono stage and cartridge combination will be costly. Plus, living in an apartment, you’ll at least need a good power conditioner. Consider that most all of those Grateful Dead Rhino remasters are strictly on cd and the MOFI Grateful Dead reissues are available on hybrid SACD. As far as classical is concerned, 98 % of new classical recordings are solely in digital format. I like vinyl as an option but I only play early mono micro groove because all of the stereo options are remastered for digital and a stereo cartridge is a compromise without a great tonearm.