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Help a newbie on an entry two-channel system

Greetings! This is my first post and I very much appreciate any suggestions you can offer for assembling an entry level system for a budget of $2,000 - $2,500.

I listen exclusively to classical music (i.e. from J.S. Bach's cello suites to Scriabin's piano sonatas). Genres include piano, violin, chamber, and orchestral works, in that order of preference. I do not touch opera.

My music collection is mostly CD's, SACD's and DVD-A's, including quite a bit of mono/historical and/or live performances. Tape hiss and other backgroud noise do not bother me that much. I hope with this system I may have a chance to enjoy better reproduction of tone colors of piano/violin solo, and modest sound stage reproduction of chamber/orchestra works.

I currently have a 10-year old stereo system consisting of a Denon single disk CD player, a Denon receiver (40 wpc) and a pair of RA Labs bookself speakers (roughly $600 retail). I also listen to music on my desktop PC using a Sennheiser PX200 headset.

I intend to set up this systme in a room of about 14ft by 10ft, with an 8.5 ft ceiling and carpeted floor, and without much clutter.

I am thinking of three major components (all used of course): a. a single disc stereo CD player (forget about SACD source for the time being), b. a solid state integrated amplifier, and c. a pair of monitors on stands.

What do you say?
etalon0

Showing 2 responses by gmood1

gmood1
1,251 posts
 
Dlstephenson beat me to it.
I would also recommend listening tooOmega Super 3 XRS or something similar.This way no stands needed. Also instead of the cd player go with a DAC. One that can be used with your computer if you choose, like the Scott Nixon usbtd . Just use your computer as the transport. Also this at least gives you a taste of tubes in the system. Maybe a DAC 60 ($470 shipped). It uses the same 1704 D/A chips found in the $9000 Wadia 861 disc player but uses tubes in the output.

Throw in a gain clone. Like the Audio Zone AMP 1 or a Audio Sector integrated ($995.00). With only 9 parts in the signal path..extreme transparency takes on a whole new meaning! I can assure you, your system will not sound entry level by any means.

Good luck with the hunt
gmood1
1,251 posts
 
As far as the Musical Fidelity goes..stay away! As the famous Forest Gump said "that's all I have to say about that". Just kidding!.. You're about to make the mistake 99% of all audiophiles make getting into the hobby..you're looking at the big names out there. There's better quality as a whole IME going with the smaller companies.

The MF is pleasant gear.. it does give up resolution. Sounding murky and a bit flat after you've spent enough time with it. Or if you haven't lived with something better..you may love it for life.

You've claimed you don't listen at high volumes. Why would you want a high powered amplifier and hard to drive speakers? The more efficient your speakers are the more you can experiment with different amplifiers. You can also listen at lower levels without the music collapsing.

Buying used is great ..if you know what you're getting. Buying without listening..I would stick with companies that have a return policy and buy new.

Oh yeah.. never over look one of the most important parts of the system...THE SOURCE / FRONT END.
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