stereo for someone special

Get her a bose, she will love it.
Slikric3000 (System | Threads | Answers)

He's right! Are you buying this for her or yourself?

Do you sew?

Is she a music listener/lover, if not I wouldn't bother. My mother would be happier with a plasma television, but that's her. However, this is a really nice gesture on your part and if you decide to do it, I would suggest solid state over tubes simply because she won't have to worry about tube replacement and all of the other maintenance associated with tubes.

Without specifying equipment my inclination would be a hybrid integrated (low maintenance; swap the input tubes every few years; still get some tube effect), solid state CD player and small floor standers that will work well close to the wall. Think about a nice stand that matches her furniture, too, if she doesn't have something serviceable.

That said, I'm siding with C'man (and others). The sound staging, 3D imaging, etc. doesn't matter to most folks. It's more about aesthetics and convenience. That and her telling friends, "Look what my son bought for me!"

Hey, she's your mom. What do you think?

Thanks for all the responses, I have to say that after posting this thread I did feel a little weird. Which is to say that I probably deserve the "Do I like to sew" comment.haha! Truth be told I feel as if everyone should have some kind of music box and know that my mom currently plays cd's through her dvd to flat screen tv speakers happily. Maybe I should just buy more cd's. It's not as if sit down listening sessions will be held but hey who know's right?

I decided to take the plunge. The cd portion of my mom's sharper image stereo has been acting up and then for some reason my dad got her an i-pod. So I decided now was my chance to act and got her this Teac. Now I just need to find some speakers, it sounds pretty good driving a pair of Vandersteen 1's but she definitely won't want them. I'm thinking a single driver maybe from Omega. They head to Florida for most of January so I have some time plus I need to know where she's going to want to put it. I'll start a separate thread re: speakers but thought I would follow up here.

Cheers,
Wes