I recently(a year ago) decided to dedicate more time to listening to music. I was in the same predicament. I had a smallish budget and just wanted great sound. I personally love old school floor standing speakers. I found a pair of original EPI M150's for $200. I bought a Sony receiver with Bluetooth and started streaming. This is my progression over the next year:
Onkyo receiver with phono stage
Tube buffer for iPod
More expensive tube buffer for ipod
Escient music server/cd player
Fluance rt80 turntable(gift)
Upgrade cartridge in turntable
Complete speaker rebuild from Human speaker, new cloth ect
Rogue Audio Sphinx 2(demo $1100)
Audio engine B1 Bluetooth converter
Fluance RT85 with Ortofon Blue
The moral of my story? I could have saved money if I commited to the Rogue Sphinx right away. The speakers are very personal and they look awesome and sound like more then $200 with a $365 rebuild. I still obviously have a very modest setup at around $3000. To me it sounds awesome. I think part of the sound is seeing the progression from low end to upper low end! It is night and day from where I am now and where I started. I see myself going to an Ortofon Bronze cartridge and having the sphinx 2 upgraded to the sphinx 3. I could live with this system for a long time until I really want to blow some coin.
You could keep it simple an jump right to $1000 integrated and $1000 speakers and be happy. I think you might just miss out on the experience.
Onkyo receiver with phono stage
Tube buffer for iPod
More expensive tube buffer for ipod
Escient music server/cd player
Fluance rt80 turntable(gift)
Upgrade cartridge in turntable
Complete speaker rebuild from Human speaker, new cloth ect
Rogue Audio Sphinx 2(demo $1100)
Audio engine B1 Bluetooth converter
Fluance RT85 with Ortofon Blue
The moral of my story? I could have saved money if I commited to the Rogue Sphinx right away. The speakers are very personal and they look awesome and sound like more then $200 with a $365 rebuild. I still obviously have a very modest setup at around $3000. To me it sounds awesome. I think part of the sound is seeing the progression from low end to upper low end! It is night and day from where I am now and where I started. I see myself going to an Ortofon Bronze cartridge and having the sphinx 2 upgraded to the sphinx 3. I could live with this system for a long time until I really want to blow some coin.
You could keep it simple an jump right to $1000 integrated and $1000 speakers and be happy. I think you might just miss out on the experience.