Agree it's hard to go wrong with NAD and Blue Jeans cables. For speakers you should really go to as many dealers as you can and listen to as many speakers as you can so you can start to nail down what aspects of sound reproduction are most important to you. Often there's "The One" that stands out from the crowd for your personal tastes, so it's worth some effort to try and find what that is. And it's fun. You should wait to decide on a specific amp until you know what speakers you're getting as you'll need to know how much power they need and what matches well with them from a sound characteristics perspective. Best of luck.
Audiophile newbie
I'm a mid-twenties yuppie. I love good sound, but I'm also not reckless with money. What are some basics I should know about when in comes to audio set-up (pre-amps, amps, speakers). I actually don't understand what purpose a pre-amp serves.
Here are a couple straight-up questions:
What does a pre-amp do?
What are the concerns to consider when choosing cables?
What are the best "bang-for-your-buck" brands? (ifi, Arcam, Vanatoo?)
Here are a couple straight-up questions:
What does a pre-amp do?
What are the concerns to consider when choosing cables?
What are the best "bang-for-your-buck" brands? (ifi, Arcam, Vanatoo?)