Helping a friend build a new system


A good family friend has recently retired and is looking to build a system for his home office. He used to own a nice sound system some 25 years ago but hasn't been actively pursuing the hobby. He was visiting my home a few weeks ago and I guess listening to my system must have inspired him to finally build a new one. He asked me to help set up a new system (new to him, he's willing to buy used). I asked him a bunch of questions to find out what he wants and how much he is willing to spend. His responses are summarized below:

1. Budget -- since he's retired he wants to keep the total system budget to around $7-8K (including cables)
2. Components Needed -- bookshelf speakers, integrated amp, cables. He already has a CD player which would do for now, but he might get into streaming later on. He owns a few hundred CDs.
3. Room size -- around 10x12 with 10 foot ceilings. Fully carpeted with some furniture.  
4. Music genres -- jazz, blues, vocals (he's a big fan of Frank Sinatra, Chet Baker, Billy Holiday, etc.), and R&B
5. Listening preferences -- he is looking for an 'intimate' and cozy experience and wants to try tube amps with high sensitivity bookshelf speakers. He mostly listens at a moderate volume and can be sensitive to high frequencies.

He also mentioned that he has some hearing loss since he's in his early 60s and suffers from a mild case of tinnitus. I'm not sure if this plays a role in the choice of components but I thought it's worth mentioning just in case.

I will really appreciate it if you guys can provide some pointers. Please remember that he is retired so $8k is absolutely the max he can do. System synergy is important. And, please no Tekton or class D recommendations. He really wants to try some affordable tube gear as a starting point.

128x128arafiq
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In that size room you need to budget some money for room treatments. In the same sized room I use the lowest cost GIK Acoustics panels for $700 + $200 shipping from GA to CA.

I discovered something recently about the room acoustics that has allowed me to not use my DSP anymore. I was surprised I cold get away with this but it was luck that I found this out. I added a $200 acoustic panel in front of my CD rack and moved another reflective surface away from another side wall.

Without the treatments, even my KEF LS50's overpowered the room. Now I use bigger floorstanders in the same room with the acoustic treatments.
A word of caution about the VTL ST85.  Ive owned one for about 10 years.  It produces a lot of power for an amp based on  4 EL34’s but it’s rough on power tubes.  (I always bias correctly.).   I turned it on yesterday and one EL34 redplated and it blew a B+ fuse.  Now that channel sounds a little off so its off to Roy Mottram for an inspection.
Unreceivedogma has a good idea in buying a Dynaco 70.  This is a good beginners tube amp.  Tubes4hifi have bern rebuilding and modifying these amps for decades.  Their rebuilt & custom built Dynaco 70 ampsate essentially brand new amplifiers.