Lets give the young ones some advice...

steveinaz

For the benefit of those members who are young, and/or don't have deep pockets, put together the best system you can at/below $1500 (including cables). Use globally accepted new equipment street prices, OR realistic used prices. Let's see what you can scrape together...

ohskigod

tight budget?

Toshiba 3960 CD player (do they still make it?) under 100 new
Sonic Impact T amp (35-40 bucks shipped)
rca to single mini jack to hook up cd to sonic impact (10 bucks, radio shack)
Speakers (anything 89-90 db efficient and up, say Polk RT55) no more than 200 used
total - 350 ish

Add a tube pre into the mix to warm up the sound if you need it
Dodd ELP used, with amperex bugleboys 400 ish ( I did this with good results)

total 750 ish

ohskigod

or with a little more to play with

the system I helped put together for fireman32 would fit this category

Radii mmp-01 tube pre <300 used
Radii mpp-m8 tube amp <350 used
Toshiba 3960 DVD plr <100 new/used
good quality interconnects, 2pr, from the usual suspects like Signal Cable (or quality used. 150 ish MAX
Polk RTA-12B speaks (used) <250 depending on condition
speaker wire, I wouldnt go nuts here either figure 50 bucks ish

total 1200.00 fair used price TOPS (Fireman didnt pay that )

in his small livingroom, and after 20 minutes of warm up, this system sounds friggin sweet. far better than I anticipated. beef up the source with any extra money in the budget.

unc2701

Used prices everywhere:

Musical Fidelity x-150 integrated: $650 (has phono stage)
Pro-ject Debut III turntable w/ Ortofon cart: $200
Polk Lsi 9's: $550
Signal Cable IC's and speaker cables: $100

steveinaz

Awesome. Good job.
Keep them coming...

zombie boy 2000

Nad 320BEE integrated -- $400
Totem Acoustic Rainmaker -- $900
Panasonic DVDS52S dvd player -- $90:o
Signal Cable speaker cable -- $70
Signal Cable Analog One IC's -- $36

= $1496

All spankin' New!!!

Fireman32

Thanks Lou im very happy with my system. Sounds great and to think i wanted to do surrond sound.

jderdock

how about a good integrated to match LSi15's?

My C320BEE surely isn't enough

unc2701

jderdock wrote:

how about a good integrated to match LSi15's?

My C320BEE surely isn't enough

Krell kav-300i can be had for $1000 & up, used... Same thing on the Musical Fidelity A3.5. I've been running that Krell for a week or two on my LSi25's and have no complaints at all. Well, the speaker posts suck, but I'll probably replace them anyhow. Both have a HT pass-thru so you can use the power section w/ your processor/AVR, but have your music sources use both the pre- and power sections of them.

jderdock

How about compared to your Bryston and Adcom?

zombie boy 2000

Looks like the party's spilled over to this room:D

organ

Depending on the speakers being used, a Sonic Impact T amp can be all they need.

unc2701

jderdock wrote:

How about compared to your Bryston and Adcom?

Kinda going off topic here... I'll PM you.

ohskigod

another friend of mine is using my Sonic Impact amp with a pair of Pioneer CS-88a's. I like those speakers a little more than I care to admit. weak in the bass dept, but i think placement was an issue. he had them placed like a friggin f-tard!

He got the speaks for free, so if he buys his own sonic impact, he can buy a cheap source and cables and be in a good place for well less than 200.00.

jderdock

unc2701 wrote:

Kinda going off topic here... I'll PM you.

Not if you're a "young one" looking for system advice with regards to Polk speakers.

Joey_V

$1500?

Hmm... I'll get back to you on that...

organ

ohskigod wrote:

another friend of mine is using my Sonic Impact amp with a pair of Pioneer CS-88a's. I like those speakers a little more than I care to admit. weak in the bass dept, but i think placement was an issue. he had them placed like a friggin f-tard!

He got the speaks for free, so if he buys his own sonic impact, he can buy a cheap source and cables and be in a good place for well less than 200.00.

Cool. And you can skip the pre amp as well with the SI. Teac also have a cheap T amp that was talked about quite a bit.

AndyGwis

Great thread!!!

Here's what I have so far, and $1500-$2000 is probably a realistic max for building my 2-channel system (help me fill in the blanks):

B&K ST202 - $330
B&K Pro10MC - $150
IC's - $50 for 2 sets AQ Sidewinder
Source - $400 Pioneer 59avi Universal player
Speaker wires - ???
Speakers - ???
Stand - ???

So right now I have $930 sunk cost with $570-$1070 for speaks, wires, and system stand.

jderdock

AndyGwis wrote:

Speaker wires - ???

I like the Canare 4S11 star quad stuff just fine.

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/index.htm

I think I ordered it from somewhere else, but Blue Jeans has a good reputation for builds. I put some techflex on mine, just to pretty it up a bit.

madmax

ohskigod wrote:

tight budget?

Toshiba 3960 CD player (do they still make it?) under 100 new
Sonic Impact T amp (35-40 bucks shipped)
rca to single mini jack to hook up cd to sonic impact (10 bucks, radio shack)
Speakers (anything 89-90 db efficient and up, say Polk RT55) no more than 200 used

My thoughts exactly. I've seen 3960's on sale for $29, SI for $21 which could bring your total down to around $260. Do a DIY speaker with partsexpress drivers and you might even bring it down another $100. Imagine that, a decent sounding system for under $175. This hobby doesn't have to be expensive to be enjoyable. Add a $50 TV and watch some movies!

Ricardo

Cambridge Audio CD player; many models available $250 used
Tube pre several options: $400 used
Used Polk Monitor 10's or small SDA (1A, 1B, 2, etc) $300 used (a lot less for the Monitors...)
200WPC Amp (Adcom, Carver, etc) $300 used
Interconnects, Speaker Wire: $200 new
Total: $1450

unc2701

What interesting here (to me anyway) is the wide range we're seeing in speaker:pre/power. Mine is basically 1:1, but we've got a 2:1 and some 1:2's...

You gonna throw one out there, Steve?

steveinaz

Paradigm Studio 40's....$650 used
Cambridge Audio D500SE...$289 (used, and sometimes new)
Parasound PHP-850 preamp...$125 used
Parasound HCA-1000 amp...$325 used
Kimber 4pr speaker wire...$45 used
Kimber PBJ 1mtr...$60 used

= $1494.00

steveinaz

here's one straight retail all new:

Creek A50i Integrated...$699 (Audio advisor, right now!)
Cam Audio Azur 540D...$269 (anywhere)
Energy Connoisseur C-3 speakers...$189/pr (Ebay, NIB Reg $600)
Kimber PBJ....$75 (anywhere)
Kimber 4TC...$146 6ft pr (anywhere)

=$1378.00 and you've got a $122 shipping budget remaining.

halo

Portable CDP you already own (Discman or something similar) $0
Sonic Impact amp $30
16AWG Home Depot cables $10?
RCA to single mini jack (to hook up cd to sonic impact) $10
Vintage Polks - Monitor 7 and up $100 - $200? Even less if you find something at GW or a local garage / estate sale.

This may not be the best thing in the world but it's waaaaaaaaay better than a HTIB or anything from Bose! $150 - $250.

unc2701

Jolida 1501RC hybrid integrated $650
DIY Jordan JX92s MLTL $400ish (Assumes you don't go crazy on the cabinet)
So that leaves $450 for source & cables... Let's go with cambridge 640c used for $300 and $150 for whatever cables get you off.

AndyGwis

If you're looking cheap-cheap, here's what I have running in my kitchen just out of some spare parts:

T20ebs (Monitor 30's) - $80 NIB from Tweeter
TFM 6CB amp - $150
DIY 12awg speaker wire - $10
MP3 player / iPod / CD player directly into amp - $0

Making dinner never sounded so good. . . still usually tastes like crap though

Danny Tse

My system....

Cambridge Audio A500 stereo integrated amp $250.00 shipped (from Audio Advisor)
Energy Connoisseur C-3 bookshelf monitors $300.00/pair (from the now defunct Good Guys chain)
Sony SCD-CE595 CD/SACD changer $150.00 (from Best Buy when it was first introduced)
Radio Shack AV Fusion 1M interconnect $12.99
PS Audio 2M Prelude speaker cable $55.00 shipped (from Audio Advisor)

Total: $767.99

All item new and from authorized dealer w/ factory warranty. Substitute the Cambridge Audio integrated amp with the TEAC A-1D stereo integrated amp ($175.00 shipped from J&R) and the total lowers to $692.99.

Refurbished Sony SCD-CE595 CD/SACD changer available direct from Sony for $79.95 w/ free shipping ending Thursday

Buy music with rest of the money.

Poee7R

ya im a bit of a tube newb on a budget, but i would go new with this...

Onix Sp3 integrated
Onix Ref 1
=$1199 + shipping
(i believe you could probably get every dime back if you choose to sell in the future to upgrade)

a Cd player of your choice for under a 100 or so, i have an Integra i managed to grab for 30 bucks and it sounds pretty decent. YMMV

Then a couple bucks on a pair of Kimbers, audioquest, tara etc.
(Used of course, thats where your deals are).

Joey_V

Poee7R wrote:

ya im a bit of a tube newb on a budget, but i would go new with this...

Onix Sp3 integrated
Onix Ref 1
=$1199 + shipping
(i believe you could probably get every dime back if you choose to sell in the future to upgrade)

Then a couple bucks on a pair of Kimbers, audioquest, tara etc.
(Used of course, thats where your deals are).

I dont think so. Mark's products have taken a huge hit in the used market... particularly due to his sales.

You can literaly buy the Ref1 for around $400 on the gon.

Decent speaker still.

Poee7R

that is why i said probably, and mostly because of the integrated getting $600 or so on used sites. And even at 400 or so on the speakers, you only getting hit by depreciation for 200 or so.

And from starting from new going to used thats maintaining a solid value.

But im sure you could probably get a bit more out of the speakers on Ebay vs the gon.