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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 sufentanil

sufentanil's avatar
sufentanil
782 posts
 
I was the medical student who introduced mechans to this "miserable hobby". Sorry about that, bud. :)

I agree with the suggestions to keep the NAD for now, and focus first on the speakers. Depending on your musical tastes (I'm not familiar with "indie rock"), you may consider speakers such as PSB Stratus Silver or Bronze, Totem Arro, or Totem Rainmakers. They're all great bangs for the buck. Give it about 6 months, and then if you still desire something different, now you can consider tubes or an amp upgrade. You could at that point consider selling the CD player and receiver, buy a cheap DVD player, and hook it to a Music Hall Mambo (integrated with built-in DAC). The Mambo is a great-sounding piece for the price.

Good luck,

Michael
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