Looking to build a system for under $5k

I see allot of great advice on gear but very little inquiry on what is important to the end user. 

Many of you do not inquire how this particular gentleman  is going to use his system, or take into consideration what this man  may find appealing both in sonics as well as visual presentation, and although Vandersteens are very good speakers their look and sound is polarizing, many Women hate their boxy, fabric look, not to mention that if you have Cats they might not be the best choice. Also Vandersteens  sonic signature is laid back which some people love and others do not.

 I find it disturbing that they seem to be shouted out as the holy grail when I find them to be a very fine product but just one good choice in a sea of excellent choices. This is the same argument that Wilson is the best or B&W is the best or Magico.,I personally don't feel that any of my speakers is the best I have my favorites however, we extol the virtues of many different brands of speakers and let the customer decide which product they find matches their tastes, room size, visual look and sonic flavor. 

 All loudspeakers have their strengths and weaknesses and this gentleman needs to hear many different products and systems till he finds out exactly what he finds satisfying.

Also many people don't' want tubes or multi piece audio systems with a lot of components. 

So what I find interesting is how few of you have actually asked the pertinent questions of how the customer is going to use their system and what qualities matter most and what are the features or qualities that matter to the purchaser.

There is a difference between the music lover and the die hard audiophile, and unfortunately too many of you do not realize that the music lover does not necessarily care about tubes or records they just want to listen to music on a higher quality system. and simplicity and streaming may matter more.

When I  talk to a customer I ask all of these questions, we start with the choice of speakers first then work on electronics.

For your guys edification, Audio Doctor, has largest collection of audio gear in the area, and we have quite a few brands of equipment that we showcase. 

So for this gentleman's budget we have a choice of three or four excellent sets of speakers and many different combinations of electronics:

We have the Dali Opticons 6 and they are amazing for $2,500.00 The Dali's offer a unique set of sonic qualities they have a huge sound stage, are very warm yet have surprising detail. 

We have the KEF R 500 a great $2,500.00 speaker, big sound stage, very good clarity and resolution, stunning wood work. 

We have the Paradigm Prestige 75 very detailed floor standers, outstanding bass and dynamics

We have NAD, Cambridge Audio, Naim, Micromega, Nuprime, April Music and many more. In tems of first real audio systems, the Naim Uniqute is one hell of a great amp which has a built in dac, streams, Tidal and Spotify and is very compact with a great app.

The Nuprime IDA 8 at $995 beats most $2k integrated amplifiers and we  have many more great choices.

So to recap there are many great speakers in this price range, there are many choices of simple effective systems, this gentleman needs to understand that his choice should mirror all of the things that may be important to him,and that includes the way a system looks, its sound quality, how it suits his musical tastes, as well as how the system functions. 

He should visit Audio Connection and we would welcome him to visit Audio Doctor to hear our collection. 

If you guys are in the area you should come in and  take a listen to some of our systems. 

Hello Joe,

I have been following your thread and are waiting for you to come into our shop for a visit as well.

You are not mentioning what sources and how the systems were played which can be a big factor in how a system images and sounds.

Audio Connections system was $1,500 speakers with a $2,500 amp for $4,000k what was the source being demoed and how expensive was that source?

As per the Quest for sound system, $2,500 speakers, plus $1,300 amp as per a Rouge or a Parasound both are good starter amps, however, for the same money there is an amplifier for $995 that beats the stuffings out of both of them.

A Vandersteen sounds totally different than a Kef, if you told Quest for Sound you like the Vandersteen sound it is doubtful you would prefer the Kef. Kef is a much more accurate speaker than a Vandersteen, I am not saying better, more accurate, and has better treble extension, which makes the Kef a more forward sound to the more laid back perspective which is the Vandersteen sound. Apples to Oranges.

I would say that you did not get a good demo with the Kef, as the electronics were not as good as the Belles and a more accurate speaker will show you flaws in the electronics more easily.

You should check out a pair of the Dail Opticons, the Dali offer a remarkable sound, they use a Ribbon super tweeter for detail coupled to a soft dome for wide dispersion and a smooth sound , they also use drivers which have very low distortion and use a new type of powdered magnet material. The Dali Opticon sounds more like a $4,000.00 speaker then a $2,500.00 set! They also have very good bass, and offer a similar warm perspective like the Vandersteens do.

We have a fantastic system using a Nuprime Dac/preamp which sounds incredible and in our system you are getting a state of the art dac along with the preamp, couple that with one of their smaller amps and you have a system with a state of the art dac, a headphone amp, you can upgrade the amp and a stunning pair of Danish speakers that throw a gigantic soundstage. This entire system comes in at $4,795.00 add some good inexpensive cables and you have hit your price point.

The Rouge Sphinx does not stream.  The NAD 356 does have a dac but requires a computer hookup. the Hegel does but requires a computer running dlna software all of these options may be more than a beginning streaming person wants.

You may want to check out a Naim uniqute which sounds fantastic and has a dac and streamer built in and has a fantastic app floor samples are around $2k

Or a Cambridge Stream Magic which offers a great app, great dac, combined with a Cambridge integrated which would make an idea match for the Vandys or the new Nad C388 with blue sound card. 

We have both the Nad, Cambridge products and the Naim on display so maybe one of those pieces would work for you. 

If your heart is set on the Vandys then that is the speaker you should get. 

Sorry I missed you. 

Troy 
Audio Doctor
www.audiodoctor.com 877 428 2873