What's the best approach?

Matt,
Good points on going with a single manufacturer. BTW, what are ARC products? As for Naim, it just happened to be what the dealer had driving the Proacs. Not a big Naim fan, in fact, the gear seems rather proprietary and esoteric, although the CD5 did sound noticably better than a less expensive Arcam. Think the Naim gear just allowed the Proacs to sing their *real* song. Other components could do the same, perhaps?

Glad to be back in the fray.

Thanks for the responses so far! One clarification, I did update the CD player about 4 years ago to a Sony CD/DVD player of medium quality. And, I plan to replace all the components.

As for a goal, 2-channel first and foremost, but may expand into HT later. But HT should not be a consideration right now.

As for budget (my wife's not reading this...)
Speakers - $2800 (new or used)
CD Source - $1500 (new or used)
Pre - $1500 (used)
Amp - $1800(used)
Or some combination that totals about the same.

Mrwigglewm,
I've been doing a tremendous amount of research and listening as much as possible. Best I've heard so far is Proac Response D15 with Naim electronics and CD5, very realistic (gave me that "being there" feeling). So far, the D15 would be my speaker of choice.

But I digress. The question is really about the process one follows to build a quality 2-channel system from scratch, since the choices for components are beyond counting…

Thanks so much!

Matt,
Thanks for clarifying ARC...feel kind of dumb. One question, is the ARC-Proac synergy found with the SS amps or tube? I've never had tube amps and really don't want to go there. Thanks for your additional thoughts on source vs. speaker as well, very helpful. My feeling at this point is to focus on the best pair of speakers and digital source near my price points. Then I'll fill-in the middle as required by the other two. Will definitely look at ARC.

Regards,

Todd

Jazzdude,
Thanks for your thoughts on the "speakers first" methodology. With all the input, lots of listening and mulling it all over, I'm inclined to agree, with one tweak - pursue the speakers and source together. Some might consider this a hybrid approach, others a confused approach ;-)

No need to apologize for the rant, interesting info on the passive preamp route. Hadn't really considered it before, but on the surface it clearly has merit. Thanks again for your thoughts.

Regards,

Todd