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Old fart needs help with speakers and power req's

I'm not an audiophile,just a guy who loves music. I'm trying to build a system with about $7,000. I'm thinking of 4,000 for speakers. After reading thru the specs in stereophile buyers guide 2010, I see the NAD C375BEE (int amp $1300) as my benchmark for power vs money (it's actually less than $1 per watt). In other words I can't spend much more than 1300 on power. So now that gives me 150 wpc to work with. So now to the speakers; my only real requirement is they sound at least as good as what I've got now. And here's where you guys will get a good laugh.
I've been listening to the same speakers for 35 years with the same power and source for 25. They are (you ready for this) 4 JBL L100's (yes 2 on left and 2 on right) driven by a Yamaha A700(int amp 100 wpc) and a Sony PS T3 turntable.
My listening room is only 12x14 open at one end.
So where is the question?, there are two, what in your opinion are the best speakers (I know this is subjective) I can get for 4000 or less that will actually "sing" at 150 wpc, and a kicker, could I get away with less power if I went tube (realizing with tube I can only get about 60wpc-Jolida $1300)? And last but not least I would rather stay away from sub-woofers if I can, I'm not even sure where they came from; of course with 60 inches of woofer in my living room I may not be able to. I hope I've not been to confusing here I've never posted on anything before. Thanks for your help.
246810

Showing 3 responses by 246810

246810 OP
11 posts
 
Hey, thanks for the ideas. This is great. But so many speakers and so little time. I had no idea they would be so hard to find. It seems a lot of audio places in my area are by appointment, and while they generally say what brand they carry you don't know if the model you can afford is there.
Plus I'm not a good shopper in the sense that I don't like to bother them if I'm not actually buying.
So after reading a lot of reviews on the speakers, so many seem to say something like, "they were good but really came alive when I gave them like 250 watts". I was just trying to set some power limit and see if there were any that you guys felt were great at that level and then I would go out and listen to them to try and put this thing together.
I have the 4 speakers in that room only because they moved in with me. I stuck with them mainly because I didn't think I had the money to beat them.
The 3000-3000(used) split is something I had not thought of, do you guys buy used equip through this site?
Does tube power equal SS power when a speaker lists how much power they recommend?
Thanks again for your responses, this is a kick.
246810 OP
11 posts
 
You know if you read thru this it's like a primer on thinking thru putting together a system and dealing with the way they are presented these days. I can't thank you guys enough for "taking the time" to walk me thru this. I now have an idea of how to approach this (and use this site).
One thing I miss Stringreen is the live music of old, most (not all) concert venues now are to big for me.
246810 OP
11 posts
 
Yes like that and even smaller, saw him (and a lot of others) at Mr. Kelly's (and Plugged Nickel) in Chicago. Even the Kinetic Playground, the music was much closer to you in those days.
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