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Please Advise me on Building a System on a Budget

Hello everyone,

I am an aspiring audiophile who loves music but I have never had the money to buy any real nice equipment. I am looking to build a relatively nice system for the first time and I am on a budget. I am looking to spend only around $2000 on everything. I am looking to get everything used and I am willing to hunt on ebay and craigslist for bargains. I want to stretch this $2000 as far as I can. I have a few questions that I hope some of you experts could help me with.

Ideally, I need a pair of speakers, a preamp, an amp, a record player and some type of digital source like a cd player (or SACD player). I know that is an aweful lot to ask for on a $2000 budget but tell me what you think I could do.

One question I have been wondering is if it really makes sense in 2011 to spend big money on a cd player or SACD player. I don't quite understand people who are spending a thousand dollars on a top of the line NAD player or other unit. Wouldn't it make more sense to have a hard drive based unit or computer playing lossless audio files? Wouldn't that be able to produce the same quality audio but be more convenient?

My initial thoughts would be that I should have a PC with a solid DAC as my digital source (or hard drive based player) and then get a good record player. Does this sound reasonable? Or is there some reason why playing old fashioned CDs through a NAD or other device would sound superior? Also, would you recommend a SACD player? Of course, there are plenty of high resolution FLAC files that I could conceivably play from a hard drive unit as well.
Please advise on this.

What I was thinking of as far as budgeting was concerned is: Spend about $700-$800 on the best used speakers I can find. Spend about the same on the best Pre-amp/Power amp combination I can find. And spend the rest towards the rest, particularly the digital and vinyl sources.

The $2000 is not a hard and fast budget but I seriously do not have a lot of money and I want to get the best audio I can for a reasonable amount. I would rather spend more on the speakers and amps and maybe wait on a record player.

What can you suggest? Thanks. I look forward to hearing your suggestions.
jrodefeld

Showing 2 responses by iramirez

iramirez
68 posts
 
Alright, I'll give it a shot.

Zu Audio Omen (high efficiency speaker--will give you flexibility with amps--stunning dynamics without any shrillness) You might be able to get one for $1000.

Onix Sp3 tube integrated. (this is an amazingly sweet sounding tube amplifier, built like a tank, will drive the Zu's louder than is bearable) You usually see these going for $450 used.

Peachtree Audio iDac (this is a world class DAC, you can use your computer as a transport and truly enjoy your cd collection) You might be able to get one for $700 used.

I'm a bit over your budget, but I can guarantee you would not regret it...

Cheers & luck,

Ivan
iramirez
68 posts
 
You can get a very credible vinyl system without spending, relatively, too much money. Say, a used Rega P3 ($450), a used Project Tube Box ($300) and a new Dynavector cartridge ($425). It would take a lot of money to beat this combo...
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