All Value System Under 5K


I just put together what I think is a very musical system for under $5K:

Newform Research R645 Speakers ($2265)
Odyssey Stratos Amp ($1100 with capacitance upgrade)
Morrison Elad PreAmp ($780)
Njoe Tjob 4000 CD Player ($690 with Njoe Shoes and upgraded Siemen tubes)

It is also interesting to note that all of my components were puchased direct over the net rather than through a dealer. (Cut out the middleman, baby!)

I think it is easy to get a great system with unlimited $'s. I think it is more difficult to maximize your sound investment. What other recommendations do we have out there for good sub $5K systems (don't need to include cables/IC's)?
sibelius
I've got Newforms and run them with a Bat vk60 amp and it's plenty of power and sounds wonderful.
Roland I know you lurk around the thereads.I belive you own Newforms.Anything you can add in regards to the speakers.
mgs - THANK YOU!!! :>) i, too, eagerly await info from sibelius. sorry about the little diwersion, but when attacked, i feel compelled to respond. i should try harder to abstain altogether from such petty nonsense - as said on another thread re: quotes - "don't wrestle w/a pig; ya yust get all dirty & the pig enjoys it." ;~)

as i get nearer to a purchase of newforms, amplification questions will loom for me, also...

regards, doug s.

hey ladies/gents, could we please stay on the topic? I hate to interrupt, but fellow Audiogoners' English skills have nothing to do with "All Value System Under 5K"...even I, an ESL (English-as-Second-Language) speaker, can understand that...8-)

Sibelius, I am eagerly looking forward for your report on your conversation with Klaus and John. BTW, have you ever heard of a company named Accusonics? I just read a review in TAS about their mono amps (the MB400s I believe); seems like high quality stuff without the price tag to match...
I thought your post sucked.Am I not allowed to vote negative for it.What does class have to do with not liking a post.WAWAWA you cry baby.
way to go leafs - when all else fails, go back to silent negative wotes! yure a class act...

doug s.

"cant figure what but i now its something." try this:

can't figure what, but i know it's something.

leafs, what's yer mother tongue? ;~)

leafs, i'm doin' ok, but if ya tink i need some help, s'ok, if it makes ya feel better. i also tink folks who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones - i may play w/words, which may lead ewe to believe i need some help. while i don't see the connection, that's ok. but, ewe seem to be hell-bent on attacking me, either bluntly or subtly. dunno what that sez about whether or not ewe need help, but it *is* someting i noticed. a-gon noticed it too, that ewe went thru & pinged w/negative wotes most of my posts a while back, which caused them to have to go thru & delete all yer negative wotes against me. hey, whatever floats yer boat, leafs.

oh, i also noticed that, while ewe don't seem to enjoy wordplay, & feel it may indicate some problem or ignorance, *your* grammar & spelling sucks.

sibelius, sorry to get off-track again, but i *am* interested in whacha ya decide to do about the newforms/stratos...

doug s.

*EWE* are in need of some type of help.Cant figure what but I now its something.
hey leafs, *ewe* were the one who asked... :>)

sibelius, i'm curious if ya had a chance to talk w/either klaus or john meyer, & what they had to say about wertical bi-amping... also, btw - i agree, for buying brand-gnu product, that sounds like a wery nice system, for $5k.

regards, doug s.

leafs, i find the english language fascinating & fun to play games with; i *can* spell correctly when i wanna, can ewe? ;~)

paul, i dunno if that's a compliment or an insult! :>)

regards, doug *me: ugly american? i hope not!* sedon

From the way you write I figured you to be of European decent and English not the first language you learned.
hi leafs, my mother *tongue* is english; not sure what my mother tounge is... ;~)

regards, doug s.

leafs, your point is well-taken - i approached the purchase of my melos pre w/much trepidation. but, i was reassured by the fact that melos audio restorations exists for the servicing & upgrading of these fine-sounding units. i'm sure the original company's demise due to poor quality-control & poor service, is a main reason why the product is now so (relatively) inexpensive. i say *cool* - i can afford someting w/outstanding sound-quality that wood normally be out of my price range! ;~)

regards, doug s.

Since I have not heard the Melos i wont comment but recomending gear from a company no longer in bussiness may not be the best advice one can pass on.
hi sibelius,

i'd contact john meyer directly about this - as i'm sure ewe know, he's wery service-oriented - (as is klaus, of odyssey). but, i really doubt it's wery complicated - it wood yust inwolve removing the internal x-over, & wiring the separate drivers directly to their respective binding posts. if ewe can operate a screwdrive 7 a soldering iron, it should be no problem! :>) but, as i mentioned before, even w/o going to an active x-over, i tink yule still get better results w/a pair of stratos stereo amps, one amp for each speaker, w/one channel of the amp driving the scan-speaks & the other amp channel driving the ribbon.

hope this helps, doug s.

Sedond:

What exactly is entailed technically in "removing the passive X-Over". Is this a fairly easy procedure? Can a novice handle it? Or is this for true techies only.

Sibelius
sibelius, i've spoken w/john meyer of newform, as i'm also considering his speakers, & he sez that removing the passive x-overs, & going to active x-overs & bi-amping, gives even better results. since the newforms don't need any more power, instead of getting the stratos mono amps, i'd suggest getting another stereo amp & running them in a wertically bi-amped configuration. this will give ewe the best of both worlds - ewe will still have a separate amp driving each speaker, & ewe will also be able to actively cross-over the newforms. even if ewe still use the newforms' passive x-over (which benefits from switching to hi-grade caps, btw), since ya don't need the extra power, the ability to have seperate amps for each channel *and* still being able to bi-amp the speakers, will give ewe better results than yust having a single monobloc per channel. and, yule still have more power than ya got now, when using two stereo amps. ask klaus - i spoke w/him about this, when considering buying a pair of his amps. (i ended up w/a pair of electrocompaniet aw60ftt's).

i also highly recommend going to a tubed preamp - it will take your rig to another level, imho... :>) at under $1k, ewe can find a used melos sha-gold reference or melos maestro (last iteration of the sha-gold). i know of no other preamp that will approach the sonics of this unit at anywhere near the price, tho leafs may dispute this! ;~)

regards, doug s.

Mgs:

The Newforms absolutely do not need any additional Power. The Odyssey has more than enough juice in Stereo Config. A whole different world compared to my current guzzling Maggies. The reason I am going to Mono's are (1) It's relatively cheap and (2) I have heard folks say that the Mono's greatly increase soundstage and presence. As I have never had Mono's before, I am also a bit curious to see what kind of difference I'll hear.
Sibelius,

From your experience with the Stratos and the Newforms, do the Newforms need much power (>100w/ch) for optimal performance? I understand that their sensitivity is at 91db...so are you converting the Stratos to monoblocks because of power requirement, or?

I am thinking about trying out a tube integrated amp sometime in the future myself, just to see (I mean to "Hear") what all the tube fans are raving about.
MgS:

I am very satisfied with the Stratos/Newform/Elad Combo. Very detailed. In fact, I have just called Klaus and put in an order to convert my single Stratos to a pair of Mono's.
My next purchase will probably be a used tube preamp. I am not doctrinaire regarding Solid State/Tubes and think it would be fun to have both a good SS and Tube preamp to play with depending on the recording and type of music.
Sibelius,

Sorry I forgot to mention this in my last post....how do you like the Stratos with the Newform speakers? I am interested in audition the speakers as one of my next upgrades, so any info and insights are welcome!
Sibelius,

I am a happy owner of a Morrison ELAD also! Here's my sub-5K system:

Adcom GCD 750 ($1400 new, bought it for $700)
Morrison ELAD ($790)
Audiosource Amp 2 - bridged($500)
NHT VT1.2 ($1150 new, paid $750)
MIT T2 IC/Speaker cables ($370, courtesy of Audio Advisor)
audio rack - $250 (forgot the name...)
total: $3360

Happy Listening!
You can run the cd 50 directly to your amp and forget the preamp altogether.There, now you're back at $3000. Kale
Magneplanar MMG ($500, new)
Resolution Audio CD50 ($1800 or less, used)
Rogue 88 ($950, new, dealer discounted)
Harmonic Technology Pro-9 ($450, used)
AudioTruth Emerald x3 ($200, used)

The total is only $2600 (BARELY HALF OF YOUR GOAL)...I believe this system represents the absolute best value going...bar none. You could buy a PS 300 or 600 with the rest, along with some good power cords, and even lots of CD's...If you must have SACD, you could find a used Sony 777 for less than the used CD50, and buy Rogue's integrated instead of the 88 (for volume control). You could even add a subwoofer and some room treatment later, and the system would just kill most everything!

SIBELIUS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE COMPOSERS!!!
Rotel 971 cd
Lavardin IS amp
kef Q65.2 speakers
VDH 102/122/vdh mains/lavardin mains

I think this system comes in at about 4k and for voice, jazz, chamber and acoustic it is one of the better Ive heard recently. Takes a lot of setting up and needs good mains preferably right the way back to the consumer unit.
Here is a nice system for not alot of cash.
Rogue 88 800.00
Rogue 66 850.00
Coincident Triumph 750.00
Musical Fidelity A3CD 700/800
Coincident IC and Speaker cables 700.00
3900.00 You can spend way more.
Buy stands and rack with the rest.