My last rodeo
Ready to buy new equipment after 20 years without.
I'm going to take this in steps and it may take me a year to a point where only minor tweaks may be all that remains. Ultimately, I may have about 30K available.
I want to start with amp and speakers by telling you what I had. MFA 200C mono blocks, Audio Concepts Saffire III's with a pair of powered Sub 1's. The reason I mention this is because I was pleased with the results. As a matter of fact, I looked forward to coming home from work everyday to enjoy the music. A similar or better match would be great. Thanks
I'll do my best to explain. The final sound through the component chain was detailed, large soundstage, focused, good bass extension and great front to back layering. I was happy with the final sound. I probably would prefer tubes but maybe SS amp with tube preamp would do. Would say I'd prefer warm/ neutral and not analytical. Used is a possibility. I hope this helps. Thanks
|
For monitors I’d look at the Joseph Audio Pulsar, ProAc K1, and Acora QRB for neutral yet very natural sounding and musical speakers that excel at producing a layered 3D soundstage among other things. For something that leans a tad warmer the QLN Prestige One or One v7 would be very worth exploring. I’d pair any of these with a Spatial Audio Raven preamp and a Coda S5.5 Class A amp, and I’m not the best resource for tube amps so I’ll leave that to others but hope this at least gives you some ideas. Best of luck. |
@tburdwin Keep the transport, sell the rest. Not needed. and there are better preamplifier implementations in 2025 than the PS Audio Ultra Link II Since you’re keeping the transport, you need a DAC/Preamp with AES/EBU input, coaxial and Toslink inputs too so you can route from any of the corresponding outputs on the transport into the DAC/Pre. I’d recommend a DAC/Pre that has DSP system onboard for seamless subwoofer integration (also has streaming capabilities built in. Get this witht he added UMIK-2 and Tripod - miniDSP SHD Get two of this monoblock - Purifi EIGENTAKT 1ET9040BA Analog XLR cable to link each XLR output from the SHD to each monoblock. - Balanced XLR Cables Two of this large stand mount stereo pair with incredible imaging, tonal coherency and precision of soundstage cues - In Black or In Walnut Stands. Get two - Custom Speaker Stand Made Upon Order Get two of this subwoofer - Hsu Research VTF-TN1 this AES-EBU cable - Supra AES-EBU XLR cable I assume you have speaker cables
And then use the rest of the money to dedicate to making iterative, room treatment decisions backed by science and not vibes. |
