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Intro system budget problem

Im new, and I mean the blissfully ignorant to anything Hifi new (dont take that the wrong way, I know its a fever :P). Well I just took my first step into the realm and purchased a pair of Ohm Acoustics Microwalsh Tall SE's. The problem? I need everything else. I have a $2500 budget now at $1000 dollars for everything else (will have future upgrade investments). In the 3-4 weeks it will take the Ohm's to ship out here, I would like to have something ready to use and (not)abuse them. I was informed by numerous friends that speakers should be the single largest investment so I threw a good amount of my budget at the Ohms.

Again I dont know much about audio, the setup, or specifications and I need everything, speaker wire, receiver(integrated?) and whatever else. What I know is my out of the box cheap walmart Sony receiver 5.1 HT setup in a small 12'x16' room. I stream music to the receiver via media server support from my computer. I have iPod but no connection to receiver.

I have done a lot of reading on this forum prior to me making my account today and I appear to have a very strict budget (for the hobby), and would just like to be at least pointed in the right direction before I blindly go about building my system all wrong in specifications.

Thank you for your insights!

Brian
daseiler
daseiler OP
5 posts
 
Thanks mapman
If going the NAD route there seems to be a lot of options used and new. Which ones should I be considering?

So what im looking at now is either peachtree and call it good or NAD(X) + Squeezebox
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,198 posts
 
Daseiler,

What music server program do you use and what file format for music files? Is teh server an Apple or PC?
daseiler OP
5 posts
 
I stream off my iTunes library using either TVersity or PLEX depending on if im using laptop or PC, both windows 7. Does iTunes use compression that has loss? Is there a way around that?

Also I notice there is a NAD C375BEE for 1k on here used, if I could "squeeze" that and the squeezebox together would I see much higher gains over the Nova? I still lean to the Peachtree however because its presentation is in another league but im in it for the end result too, the sound. The choices!
tbromgard
814 posts
 
I would opt for the Peachtree iDecco. It has rec'd great reviews and has a DAC for your computer audio files. NAD is also a good choice but the Peachtree gives you a good sounding DAC.
xenaudio
10 posts
 
The one thing I can tell you for sure is that your friends are not giving you good advice when they tell you to spend the most money on speakers. I know they mean well but spending money is a lot different than matching components. Your system is only as good as its weakest link. All the components have to work together as a system. Quite often you will be surprised at how much more you like a less expensive component over over something more. That said, I am not that familiar with your speakers so I can't make any specific recommendations but from what I see from Jazzerdave and Gz3827's posts, you are definitely going in the right direction. Another brand I would look at is Cambridge audio. I have had good luck with some of their components and should fit in with some of the other brands mentioned.
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