I personally would spend the vast majority of the budget on the speaker. You could find a nice older set of floorstanders for around $500 and the rest could go for a used int. amp and a source. For around $3 @ ft. buy Kimber Kable 4VS spk. wire and some new/used interconnects for $30-40 a 1m. set. I think you would be surprised what good sound you could get within your budget.
Is "live" music sound possible for under $1K
I primarily liston piano, chamber and opera. I was wondering if anyone had experience producing a realistinc presentation for about $1K not including the source? My listening room is 14 x 20 X 8. I thought this could be accomplished by an inexpensive tube pre-amp ($200-300) and older vintage amp such as a Pioneer Spec 4 or Yamaha approx $300, and possibly some older klipsh's (KG-4) or newer Axiom's M22ti's approx $400. Am I on the right track? Has anyone been able to accomplish this? Any recommendations for any of the 3 items?