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Help Recommend a Good System for $2000.

Hi, A good friend and I are helping another friend to assemble a system on a budget and we are hoping to receive some input from fellow Audiogoners. The room dimensions are: 15' front and back walls (front walls are heavily draped windows and listening position will be a couch beneath the windows,) the side walls are 12'.
Blues,classic rock (plays guitar,loves the Beatles.)I would say acoustic/elec guitar and definately vocals comprise most of his listening.
His budget is $2000 for full range Spkrs (above say 38HZ) SS Amp&Preamp or Integrated, a HDMI DVD/CD source,(this could be a dedicated notebook PC as internet radio is desired as well)We'll need to allow $ for Cables.
Thank you in advance for your kind assistance.
resuviator
mikirob
955 posts
 
I don't know where my original post went so I'll repost:
A mix of new and used, used easily found here on the Audiogon.

Tekton M-Lore ( StereoMojo Major Mojo award) $650.00
Tube integrated Jolida FX10, Sophia Baby, MiniMax, Almarro 205, all can be had from $350-$675.
Grant Fidelity DAC or Schiit DAC $350.00
Used Sony DVP S 9000ES as transport $195.00
Cabling and Interconnect JW Audio

Or you could swing for Audioconnection system which is also a superb set-up at a bargain price.
loftarasa
171 posts
 
Full range down to 38hz - there's no escaping the laws of physics, you need something kind of big. How about Revel F12s? Considering a sub at a later date might open up your options.

In terms of front-end, not clear if you're looking for a Blu-Ray player, a 2 Channel DAC, or a streamer. They're aren't many units that do all things. The Cambridge NP-30 might be worth a look for a streamer/DAC, plus a cheaper Blu-Ray player hooked up to it via coax or optical.

For cables, I really wouldn't go nuts. The usual suspects are Blue Jeans, Monoprice, and Supra. Check listings for bargains from the likes of Kimber, Audioquest, etc.

The last thing is...the room dimensions and speaker placement. Going longfield down the full length of that room would give pretty bad results. For optimal nearfield/midfield listening, you're going to have to move the couch up into the top third-ish.

So again, longer term perhaps, he'd have to be thinking about bass traps for all corners, panels for reflections from the sides, and the new space that would exist behind the couch to that rear window.
lloydelee21
1,202 posts
 
Hi R,

personally, i would take the SF grand pianos over the NHT. Vandersteens are well regarded, though my own knowlege here is very small. many years ago, i did compare SF to toher brands and i prefer the tonal character of the music/notes when i listen to the SF. High current amp. YMMV.
sacman
125 posts
 
I recently went through the same process due to my relocation. My apartment is exactly the same size like yours and I ended up with the following:

Speakers: B&W 685. $500shipped used. Bought it right here.
Speakers cables: Transparent Musicwave Super Bicable. $400 shipped. Bought from Ebay
DAC/Amp: Wadia powerdac 151. $800 from Amazon.
Source: Sony PS3 with my USB drive connected. $300

I'm still amazed by the sound quality of the 685 given the puny 15w/ch from the Wadia.

Hope this helps

QN
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