A rookie with 10K, seeking advise


I'm new to the HiFi world. I listen to a lot of female vocal and classical music. I like both digital and vinyl. I am using a pair of Wharfedale Linton heritage and PS Audio Stellar Strata. 

I know this is too broad a question, but with 10K budget, where can I wisely spend my money? I don't mind tubes and I don't mind used either.

Any advise is greatly appreciated!

llid2

You have a pretty nice starter system, so what's your endgame?  Will you go past $10K.  I started like you then got the bug and went nuts.  You may also.  So with $10K, based on my own personal experience, "fix" one part of your system and be patient.  You can get a nice Luxman integrated, or a great pair of used Focal or Magico speakers, for $10K (for example) or less.  Don't pay for an integrated DAC.  You have one, and in the future you can get a nice standalone.  I found a great DAC makes a huge difference.  I have HOLO audio's best and it's amazing.  I would not pay huge dollars for cables.  Copper for the most part is copper, and I'm an engineer.  Good luck, have fun.

 

The Music Room online retailer has B stock Harbeth SLH 5 plus XD speakers with MSRP of $8000 on sale for under $5000.

 

Denafrips Pontus 2 DAC $1800 or Chord Qutest $2000ish

 

used Hegel H190 $3000 or H390 for $4000 (or similarly priced amp)

 

 

Whatever you do, do not waste the money on cables and power conditioners. That’s the very last 1-2% improvement after you’ve already got your reference system. Spending money on power conditioners instead of better speakers is the worst advice I’ve ever seen. Speakers have the most impact on your system. 

Whatever you do, do not waste the money on cables and power conditioners. That’s the very last 1-2% improvement after you’ve already got your reference system. Spending money on power conditioners instead of better speakers is the worst advice I’ve ever seen. Speakers have the most impact on your system. 

+1 @kumizi 

 

@llid2 - I posted this ~5 days back:

How did you arrive at ^that^ set up?
- purchased new or used? Or given/loaned to you?

Can you provide any insight?

I wouldn’t go crazy about the research. It’s supposed to be fun, enjoy it more than dwelling on it.

The Lintons are not good speakers. I had them for a month. I had not one good thing to say about them.

The Rega 3 is great. I would buy 4K speakers (BBC or Danish origins, Sonner, or used SF) and test out different amps. NAD, Musical Fidelity, any $1000+ articles on Crutchfield. Don’t blow 10K, you will get a great system from well under 6