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2 channel/home theatre for 10,000 ?

My wife and I are in the planning stages of building an addition to our home which includes a great room - 18' x 27'. I am finally looking toward my life long goal of getting the system I have always dreamed of having. I have a huge collection of CD/CDR live 'imports' shall we say, japanese mini-LP sleeve, remastered CDs, DVD Audio discs and a regular CD collection of every type of music. I have been listening to them on a VERY average stereo 5.1 setup (Yamaha RX-V1200 AV receiver, Sony DVP-C600D DVD player, AIWA XC-RW700 stand alone CD/CDR burner, Solid Solutions satelite speaker system: S100s, C100, PB100, Sony 36" monitor - Yes - I know, don't lambaste me for my current system :(..... ). I am interested in the following if it is at all humanly possible to acheive with a $10,000 budget ? A SMALL WIDE screen HD monitor - not projector - A DVD player with progressive scan and DVD Audio capability, CD player with SACD capability (if possible in this price range), A 5 or 6 speaker configuration (I would be happy with 5)with more expensive center and fronts and less expensive rears, as they are not quite as important. I am interested in subsonic bass response (if that is the proper term ? Bass I can feel more than necessarily hear)so I don't know if that means I must have a sub or if the higher end full range mains will do the trick ? As far as the amp - I am open to all suggestions - amp/preamp? If there is still room to play with (probably not) I would like a S-Vid capable VCR to round out the system. I am willing to go beyond the $10,000 for the purchase of cables/interconnects (within reason - I know this can get quite costly - figure between $500 - $1,000). I am slightly more concerned for 2 channel listening than home theatre but I would certainly love to have the best of both worlds if possible. I do not mind buying everything used from Audiogon. I am a professional musician / music teacher so I have good ears, but on the vast technical knowledge of systems I am a little 'green'. I have some knowledge, not nearly as much as audiofiles, but am willing and interested to learn - just be gentle guys. I have 10 months to research so there is no hurry. I know this is one of the absolute best places to come to talk to a group of people who really know what they are talking about. I know some of you LOVE to have fun building systems so go nuts !! I would love a bunch of opinions of full systems in this price range so I can save/print them and research the various components once they are suggested - maybe find a good place here on Long Island to hear such systems. I am preying this is do-able in this price range - I hope I am not heart broken - Come on guys - hook me up with good news - Your help is greatly appreciated - Thanks a million - The Lipper
llippman
4 responses Add your response
llippman OP
29 posts
 
I am so thankful and impressed with the responses thus far. I really am grateful to Tok20000,Twl and Chaskelljr2001 for the time and effort they took to respond to my post. Please keep it coming !! I will save the responses and review the pieces online and hopefully, in a high end audio store here on Long Island - You guys are the best !!
chaskelljr2001's avatar
chaskelljr2001
476 posts
 
Hello Llippman:

And welcome. For a $10,000.00 Audio/Video Home Theater Setup, then I would suggest the following:

Speaker System: For a stereo pair only, I would look at the Vandersteen 3A Signatures. They ought to retail close to $3,000.00 a pair all by themselves. For a home theater speaker package, then I would check out Snell's $4,000.00 package. I don't remember what model number they are, but I believe that either TAS or TPV has reviewed them in recent issues of their magazines.

Electronics: For a S/S Processor/Preamplifier and a Multichannel Power Amplifier, I would look at the Rotel RSP-1066 ($1,500.00) and the Rotel RMB-1075 ($1,000.00). If an Audio/Video Receiver is more your cup of tea, then I would look at the Denon AVR-4802 ($2,500.00)

Television/Monitor: I am with "Tok2000" when it comes to what you should look for in a HDTV Television. Look for a set that is capable of displaying an image not only in 480i and 480p, but is should also display an image in 720p and 1080i formats as well. Panasonic has a very nice one for about $2,000.00. It is called the PT-47WX49. Only thing about this set is make sure you have it professionally calibrated as soon as you get it. Once it is calibrated, it can be made to be an excellent TV then. The extra $200.00 you spend for a professional calibration will payoff in big dividends later on. You won't be sorry.

DVD Player: You have two options here. You could go ahead and get you a Sony DVP-S9000ES right now. This player is being closed out. So, you should be able to get one at a very good price now (about $700.00 approximately speaking), OR, since you said you have about a year to do research on what kind of gear you planning to buy, I would wait until next month at least, and then get Sony's new ES DVD Player. I believe it is called the Sony DVP-NS999ES. From what I am hearing right now from all of the preliminaries that I have heard about, it's going to be an updated/multi-channel version of the older DVP-S9000ES. The new player is going to have 14 bit/108 Mhz. video processing and multi-channel audio. Two things of which the older player does not have.

VCR: And since I suspect you won't be using a VCR all that much after you have gotten used to using all of those high resolution sources in your system, I would not spend a lot of money on a VCR at this point. I think that right now, $100.00 to about $150.00 is plenty of money to spend on a VCR. You ought to be able to get a JVC, Sony or Toshiba one for not that much money. Personally speaking though, I would skip the VCR altogether.

Good Luck........ and Welcome to Audiogon!!!!!

--Charles--
twl
3,251 posts
 
Get a new Samsung 30" 16:9 format HDTV for $1200. A used Sony DVP-S9000Es DVD/CD/SACD player for $750. Forget the DVD-A. 4 Meadowlark Swifts for $2000 and the matching Meadowlark center speaker for $500. Find a good deal on a used EAD TheaterMaster, and Theta Dreadnaught 5 ch. amp for $5500 combined, and you are there.
tok20000's avatar
tok20000
608 posts
 
LLippman,

This is a difficult problem because I do not know what type of sound you are accustom to. You maybe a person who would be happy with a receiver and some mass market speakers for 2 channel setup (and maybe HT setup as well).

It is not difficult to do a decent HT setup for around $10k. Getting decent (what I would call decent) 2 channel sound is a totally different ballgame. Your $10k HT setup may in the end have a decent digital setup; however, in the areas of preamplification and amplification it would probably leave something to be desired.

Personally this is what I would aim to Budget:

$3000 for the TV, for HT what you see is pretty darn important, I would not skimp, Get a rear projection TV that will do 1080i and 720p if you can, I personally like Sony sets

$1000 for a DVD/SACD/DVDa/CD player, in 10 months you should be able to get something that sounds pretty good for $1k

$2000 or so for a good receiver, I just picked up a Pioneer Elite 49TX for $1750, For HT this Pioneer is quite nice, high end receivers have come a LONG WAY in 3 years

$3000 for speakers, Good Luck with this selection. I hate auditioning speakers because they can be so very different. Personally, I would look at Aucoustic Vienna speakers. They make speakers that are both great 2 channel and HT speakers.

$1000 for everything else, includes VCR, power conditioner/protection, cables, interconnect

The above system will be a good HT setup, and will have 2 channel capability. In the future you can upgrade your 2 channel capability by getting seperate 2 channel preamp and amp for the front left and right channels. When you have a decent preamp and amp, you can get a good redbook digital source for an upgrade. Next you will want to upgrade your front 2 channel speakers.

Good Luck!

KF
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