IMHO, Try a vintage tubed receiver in good to excellant condition, like a refurbished Fisher 500c, mated to a pair of tube friendly speakers like the Triangle Titus. Depending on how well the unit was refurbished you may also need an outboard phono stage. That should answer your problems for underneath $900, or so. This will keep the interconnects, and speaker cables on the inexpensive side, and allow you to play around with different small signal tubes to experiment with the sound (fun). Sound could end up as good as can be expected out of your small room, which has the advantage of not requiring lots of power. The headphone output would be a welcome added plus. Happy Listening.
Decent audio in terrible room?
This is either a challenging question or a very easy one (the latter response being "use headphones"). I am looking to build a from-scratch system (phono and CD) in a real shit room. It's a tiny library-type space, speakers will inevitably sit on top of a short bookshelf up against the wall. Listening will be from within 5 feet or so. I am a complete novice in tricky situations like these - how do I go about making some sweet, low-power, close-range music?
Oh, and did I mention the limited budget?
Oh, and did I mention the limited budget?