Just getting into mid-fi need advice

Folks, many thanks for your help and suggesstions. I think I will experiment with tubes. I will probably go the hybrid route as suggested by some of you.

As far as the speakers go, I was looking at B&W 802 which I found used around 3.3k here at the gon. I have not decided yet however that is one of the options. From reading reviews on this, it seems that this speaker is very sensitive to placement and requires a large area,
I am also looking up more suggestions that you are making, one thing that does beat me is that in Dallas there are quite a few audio shops however it seems a bit unjust to go there to listen to setup and then buy second hand this has been my quandy however I guess once I decide on a speaker I will have to go for this route and buy something like cables from these folks.

Buying speakers used is more risky but not necessarily because of the sellers. Most of the shipping outfits (fedex, ups) seem to have some difficulty getting them from point A to point B without damage, especially if they are not being shipped in original boxes. However, there are many small audio dealers with trade-ins or demos who have the boxes and expertise to ship safely. Jeff's Sound Values shipped my Tannoys across the country without incident. Be cautious but not scared. Good luck and enjoy.

The Paradigm Ref 100s are a nice speaker and as stated a good value. You might want to find a nice pre owned set of 100 v2 and save aome cash.

The NAD C372 integrated would be a good choice. NAD packs a lot of performance and value in their components. If you could stretch your budget you could look into seperates by Parasound (Halo), the A23 amp and P3 pre might work well for you. Or seperates by Rotel, the RC1070 pre and RB1080 amp would also be nice for the Paradigms.

Have fun with the journey and checking out all the options available to you. Happy listening.

Cheers

For someone getting started, the studio 100 v3 is an excellent choice. There are better out there, but they are more picky about placement, and electronics, and won't offer the overall value that Paradigm will. Magnepans are too big for your room in my opinion. I have about the same size room and am using a stand mount speaker. Musical Fidelity is a great place to start with electronics. Especially with Paradigm. If you are really itching to try tubes, look into Anthem. They are a sister company of Paradigm and like Paradigm offer very good value.

Integrated amp - used Naim Nait 5i at about $950. Speakers - Triangle Celius 202 at about $1000 or Celius ES at about $1500.

I think for integrated amps under $1000 you can't beat Jolida. I won't necessarily comment on the tubes vs. solid state thing - but if you're afraid to commit to tubes, check out their hybrids; input tubes don't need to be changed nearly as often. Looks like they start around $400 here on the gon. I think that *for the money* tubes will get you more for mid-fi than solid state.

You should be able to pair that with a Rega Planet or one of the Shanling-family cd players and come under budget. Spend the rest on your cables if you do.

For speakers under $2000 - I think you can do better than the Paradigms at that budget. Paradigm makes some great sub-$1000 speakers, but for $2000 used you can get a heckuva pair of spekaers. Given your mid-sized room, Magnepan's are worth considering if you want something exotic and are really into imaging. Look at Proacs if you're into a really well-rounded speaker that has a distinguished flare and does vocals well. You could look at the Revel entry-level floorstanders in that price too.

Really you have a lot of options in that price range - just go listen, listen, listen. Find what speaker you want first, then pick the amp that will match. The Jolida will drive all the suggestions I gave you - but wouldn't match well with, say, Martin-Logans.

I live in an apartment, room size is around 20x14 (I think) its not a very large room.
I looked at the speakers there were some on sale. I am more inclined towards floor standing speakers.
What would your recommendations be on the speakers in my budget (around $2000 +/- 500)?
I was under the impression that one should buy new speakers and it should be ok to buy used components.
In my modest budget range of $1000 for the components I was looking at a integrated 2 channel amp - am not sure which one, I saw some rotels up for sale - however would greatly appreciate suggestions for systems.

buy everything used right here on audiogon,there are lots of good folks here who are honest & will help you put together a killer sounding system.

most sellers here on audiogon (including myself) are very anal about the condition of their gear & you should be able to find used speakers here that look & sound like new at half the new price.

Glad to see your sticking to 2 ch,,! What size is your room ,and how loud will you be listening? How much is your speaker budget? I had Paradigm 100s V2 and have heard V3s ,they do like high current to sound thier best,IMHO you could get a better sounding pr. of speakers used for the new price of the Paradigms. Make sure to get a speaker that will fit well with room size.Do you have any shops in your area where you can listen to some diff. stuff?Some folks like tubes and others dont,lots of debates about that,just check the archives!!For 1000.00 you might do well with a used integrated amp, Dont worry about your questions,feel free to ask about anything concerning audio,and welcome to audiogon!Ray