$50k - $80k Budget…Opinions please.

An $80k pair of Meridian dsp8000se for  $18k 

 

Were I do embark on such a quest, the first thing I would do is not take advice from strangers on the interweb. There is a real world out there…

Again, appreciate the comments and the financial wisdom. As I executed upon rebuilding, I found myself in a layer of paralysis analysis. Like many, I don’t have an audio store or an easy way to demo/listen to all the various combos. All of the comments were appreciated.

I opted to start smaller with a sound I’m familiar with. I also became limited in placement and space, as I still have two very rambunctious young children. I moved forward with a Pass Labs X150.8, set of Dynaudio Heritage 40’s and a PS Audio Directstream DAC.

For pre, I’ve ran PL XP 20/22’s and at one point pulled it out of the chain, and went DAC direct to the amps. It sounded better w/o. I know the function of a pre, so it’s not to dispute using one or not, but I didn’t splurge on an expensive pre and believe this, along with a new DAC pursuit, will end up being the adventure/hobby aspect for me. During the interim, I picked up a PL X2.5.

Per cabling, let the fighting begin. I didn’t extend into expensive cabling. I opted to burn in some of the entry level Cardas lines, and move on from there. I do plan on spending time with the Cable Co. library of lenders.

Per streamer, I’m heavily leaning towards the Innuos Pulse, but haven’t pulled the trigger on it yet, I’ll be sleuthing the forum after this post on it.

Per room acoustics, I’m reusing a kit that was scoped by GIK for another room and will repurpose appropriately.

And also, what an absolute year it has been! So happy to be back in the 2ch mix! Thanks for the input and happy to be trolling again with ya’ll!

What a journey…

 

Speeding ahead 1 year and bringing this all up to date.  I’ve gone thru a few iterations of cabling, amps, pres, DACs, power conditioning, speakers, and streamers.

For the record, I’m big on buying used, even gear that’s 5/10 years old I’ll give it a shot.  I’ve spent the last year A/B’ing gear and moving forward.

I A/B’ed:

MSB Analog DAC w/Power Base vs. Aqua Acoustics La Scala MKII

Inakustik P3500AC vs. Shunyata Triton stack

Pass Labs XA60.5 vs. XA100.5 vs. X150.8

Coda fet 07x vs VTL 6.5 MKII

Innuos Pulse vs Aurender N10

Harbeth SLH5 XD vs Dynaudio Heritage Specials

I found the older MSB Analog DAC to be on par with the La Scala, subtle difference but nothing astounding.  

The Inakustik I found to impart a little bit of brightness into the sound, which wasn’t to my liking.

Both Innuous and Aurender have super buggy apps; SQ, I preferred the Aurender

The VTL + Pass combo has a pleasant relationship, and sounds great.  The Coda is SS, so not much of a comparision, though I didn’t prefer the synergy.

I’m a glutton for Harbeth, though the Dyn HS’es are definitely a special speaker, I was astounded by the bass from those little guys.  Preferred the HL5’s.

I had also began with lower level/entry cabling, I’ve since updated to an entire Shunyata power cabling/distribution.  Huge difference, snake-oil aside.  I tried out a few different IC’s and speaker cables, settled on the Kubala Sosna Temptation series.

I favor the PL .5 XA series, and currently run the XA100.5’s.  

This next iteration is going to be fun, on the way I have a set of Harbeth 40.3’s arriving and am slightly ruminating on these next acquisitions…though I’m fairly settled with them:

T+A P3100HV Pre

Playback Designs MPD6/MPS-X

Pass Labs XA160.8