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Helping a friend build a new system

A good family friend has recently retired and is looking to build a system for his home office. He used to own a nice sound system some 25 years ago but hasn't been actively pursuing the hobby. He was visiting my home a few weeks ago and I guess listening to my system must have inspired him to finally build a new one. He asked me to help set up a new system (new to him, he's willing to buy used). I asked him a bunch of questions to find out what he wants and how much he is willing to spend. His responses are summarized below:

1. Budget -- since he's retired he wants to keep the total system budget to around $7-8K (including cables)
2. Components Needed -- bookshelf speakers, integrated amp, cables. He already has a CD player which would do for now, but he might get into streaming later on. He owns a few hundred CDs.
3. Room size -- around 10x12 with 10 foot ceilings. Fully carpeted with some furniture.  
4. Music genres -- jazz, blues, vocals (he's a big fan of Frank Sinatra, Chet Baker, Billy Holiday, etc.), and R&B
5. Listening preferences -- he is looking for an 'intimate' and cozy experience and wants to try tube amps with high sensitivity bookshelf speakers. He mostly listens at a moderate volume and can be sensitive to high frequencies.

He also mentioned that he has some hearing loss since he's in his early 60s and suffers from a mild case of tinnitus. I'm not sure if this plays a role in the choice of components but I thought it's worth mentioning just in case.

I will really appreciate it if you guys can provide some pointers. Please remember that he is retired so $8k is absolutely the max he can do. System synergy is important. And, please no Tekton or class D recommendations. He really wants to try some affordable tube gear as a starting point.

128x128arafiq
dcevans
178 posts
 
I would caution against the Klipsch Heresy in that room. Before going with Vandersteen VRL CT, I purchased the sealed Heresy III. It seemed like it should be a good match for the room with the ability to place near the wall, and controlled directivity of the tweeter to minimize room interactions. I had it on the long wall of my 11 x14 room. It is very forward sounding, leading to quick fatigue listening in the near to midfield. And sitting too close with them on the floor led to a compressed vertical dimension of images. My Heresys are now being used in a loft in a home theater setup.
Certainly he could get a used Heresy for $1000-$1500 to try it out for himself in his room, and sell off if he doesn’t. If he buys new, they require a lengthy break in of at least 200 hours. The new IV is rear ported, so it should be pulled out more than 1 foot from the wall.
I really think he would be happy with Fritz. Have not heard them myself, but highly regarded at audio shows as a well balanced speaker. Have seen a picture of some speaker stands with casters used with the Harbeth P3ESR, allowing them to be easily wheeled out 3-4 feet from the wall for nearfield listening. Sorry, but I do not recall the name of the manufacturer. They would require a subwoofer, and the footprint of that room is small so space is at a premium if he is also using as a home office. He could get by without a subwoofer with the Fritz and Spendor, with proper positioning for room gain in the bass frequencies.
My 2 cents
dcevans
178 posts
 
While it doesn’t have brand name recognition, the Watkins Generation IV recommended earlier is a helluva speaker per Dick Olsher (a tube equipment reviewer) for 2K new, and is sensitive enough to be easily driven by the VTL IT-85. Would leave money left over for MHDT Orchid DAC and perhaps a Bluesound Node streamer. 
arafiq's avatar
arafiq OP
1,599 posts
 
@dcevans -- I have no doubt that the Watkins are awesome speakers, but the problem with lack of brand recognition is that you take a bath when if you don't like it and want to sell it. Fritz, Spendor, and Harbeth are safer bets, especially if bought used.

So let me ask a hypothetical question ...
Say if one can buy a used Harbeth M301. (around $3k), or used P3esr (around 2K), would you get these or spend money on a new Fritz Carbon or Carrera?
lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,081 posts
 
^^^My Money is on Harbeth M301 or P3ESR. If you buy new Fritz and don’t end up liking them, you will take a 30%-40% depreciation whereas one should recoup close to 90% to 95% of what you paid for used Harbeth M301 or P3ESR.
kahlenz's avatar
kahlenz
263 posts
 
Your friends preferences hits all my buttons. My room is a bit bigger but with 8’ ceilings. Similar taste in music. Cozy and intimate rather than big and loud.Over 50 years I’ve had it all (within my budget): Altec Lansing VOT, JBL 100, B&O, FMI, Phase Technology, Magnapan; tons of tube amps starting with a ST-70 built from a kit, PAS 3x, Bryston, SAE, Marantz, NAD, Cambridge Audio, Parasound just to touch some bases. I’m 64 now, and a bit more settled in my ways (well, at least as far as equipment goes). Here’s what I settled on:
Harbeth P3esr
Sound Anchors
Odyssey Khartego (modified, of course)
Odyssey Candela (tubes!)
Blue Jean Cables
I don’t have one, but a Bluesound Vault would be a nice front end, or just a Node.
Plenty of high-end grunt on the cheap with the Khartego (plus Klaus is a hoot). Perfect match for the P3s (at 6 ohms they need a bit more current than most speakers, ditto for the 83db sensitivity and the power requirements). Tell Klaus what you are doing and he will hook you up (after a while).
Candela: I was so impressed with the Khartego I bought the Candela to go along with it. Quite satisfied, but there’s plenty of choices in the tube pre-amp world - maybe start with some cheap but really good sounding Schiit.
Stands: just pony up for the Sound Anchors and forget about it.
Cables: Blue Jeans work fine. Go from there.
Speakers: STOP THE PRESS! For the purposes stated in the OP these are simply amazing. If I were to recommend just one component on my list above all others (for the stated purposes) I would start and stop with the P3esrs.
I didn’t add it all up, but you’ll be somewhere near your budget, plenty of room to goof with tubes and cables, and speakers that are clever at everything and small enough to pull into your room if you want a near-field experience.
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