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 4 responses by cleaneduphippy

T'all do know this thread started over a year ago on 06/09/06. I missed it when I made my posting, but I'm betting that Enugdamer has alread made his decisions about what he's going to do with his system. Guess in the future, I';; pay attention to when the orginal thread was started. :-)
My first choice would also to be to keep your NAD receiver and put the money into some better speakers.

Second choice, I would recommend a Jolida 502A or B (I have the 502A myself, and both amps are essentially the same) and perhaps match it with a pair of Quad 11L (or even 12L, as it'll give you a little more bass) or maybe even one of the smaller Spendors like the S3/5 or S3/5se. Btw, have heard both the Jolida/Quad and Jolida/Spendor combination, and they both combinations worked quite well together.

Truth is, the Quads and the Spendors should work quite well with your NAD receiver and Cambridge Audio CD player, with the added bonus of leaving a quite a few dollars in your pocket for stands, wire upgrades or even a few more CDs.

Best of luck in med school.
Vtrammell,

Your budget looks reasonable, especially in you're going to buy used. If it was me, I would checking the Audiogon listing (much better than e-Bay) to see what people are offering of a regular bases. If you have questions about a certain pieces of equipment, ask in the various forums, people here will certainly give you their thoughts and in most cases, their thoughts and opinions are educated and experienced ones. After that get in touch with the seller of the particular piece of equipment you're interested in and take it from there. If you take your time and do a little research first, you should do well with the budget that you set for yourself. btw, I'm another who bought most of my current system here on Audiogon and my budget was in the $1200-1500 range, and I think I did a pretty good job. I know I'm getting much more enjoyment from my music, nowadays. I believe you could do just as well.
Vtrammell,

Here's just a few examples I found this morning just "browsing" through the Audiogon listing that'll keep you in your price range.

Receiver

McIntosh 1900 AM/FM Receiver - $375

CD Player

Cambridge Audio 640C - $459
Music Hall CD 25.2 - $440

Speakers

Epos M5 - $500
Quad 11L2 - $568
Nola Mini - $500
Spendor S3/5 - $699

And these are just a few of listing over there, that would suit not only your budget but taste in music as well.