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help me build a system for $1200

I am a medical student, and as such, already have tons of debt to begin with. That said, I've been wanting to upgrade my current system (cambridge audio CD player, squeezebox v3, a 10 year old NAD receiver, and a pair of minipod speakers that I received for free). I will probably keep the cambridge audio CD player for now.

So I've been perusing audiogon incessantly the last week or so...but can't seem to come up with a good integrated/speakers combo. I have thought about the following systems:

Onix sp-3 (for about 500-600 + onix ref 1/epos M5
musical fidelity ($700)+ quad 11L
jolida 502b + something in the 600-700 range

and this last crazy idea:

sonic impact super T amp ($150!) + an efficient speaker in the $1000 range (suggestion?)

I'd love to hear your comments.

John

p.s. This new system will be used almost exclusively for music. My current room is pretty small I'd say about 13x20 with 9 ft. ceiling. My musical taste is mostly indie rock...with the occasional jazz and "electronic" thrown in.
eungdamr

Showing 1 response by arni

arni
313 posts
 
Whow, lots of interesting directions. A lot depends on what you are looking for. I think your idea of the Super-T amp is daring.. and would take you into adventurous territory. It is only about $130 at Parts Express, and you could experiment with full range hyper sensitive drivers, such as those offered by Audio Nirvana (http://www.commonsenseaudio.com/nirvana.html), for about $150 a pair- all you would have do to is find an enclosure for an 8 inch driver- or build your own based on the plans Audio Nirvana offers. You might end up with something special.
For a more conventional direction, I second the recommendations for a small creek integrated, which is going to be a big improvement over your NAD... but only if you upgrade the source too... like with a Lite DAC. Speakers... a lot of people are recommending Vandies... and that is for a reason.
Good luck
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