hey im pretty new to the audiophile world.....

[Longbluesquid]

I just joined the US Air Force im in tech school now, I have a small system Gizmo with AV123 ELT525M, Ultralink Matrix 2 speaker cables and Oppo DV-980H with Philips cables. I was surprised of the sound the little Gizmo ( its getting around 10-13 watts at 8ohms ) it definetly fills my dorm room, I have no subwoofer but bass is truly pleasing. Though i have it set on a desk on corners so bass output can be overwhelming at times. treble is just beautiful, not bright ( i dont like bright speakers ) I use this system 90% music and 10% movies.


My question is since ill be going to a new base in August im not gonna use the the Gizmo as my main system ( itll go to the bedroom ) I want to buy a Preamp/Amp or integrated I dont what to get I want to use my ELT525M's and have them on stands and also replace the speaker cables with something a bit more higher end. What would you guys reccomend for lets say a budget of about $1500-$2000?

 

[Highbar]

There's a ton of stuff out there to be had. Pick some features you want and look at something that fits the bill. Are you looking to add new speakers to the Gizmo also in that 1500? or just a new integrated for the Elt's? I like Rotel, solid and not too expensive.

I'm just going to get this out of the way... don't spend a ton of money on speaker cables.... IT IS A WASTE OF MONEY.

 

[Mike19]

Hi LBS.

Your speaker cables are fine.

Audio Advisor.com has a clearence sale on the NAD C720BEE stereo receiver (50wpc) for $400. NAD makes affordable quality components.

Your speakers have a low frequency response of only 60Hz. I recommend the addition of a small sunwoofer to get you down to around 30Hz, It will make a big difference. Parts Express.com has the Audio Source PSW-100 (10" x 100w; 30Hz) for $105. Sony direct has the PSW 2500 (I have 2 of these) (10" x 100w; 28Hz) for $100 and refurbed $85 (if they have 'em).

Mike

 

[murl]

There's a ton of stuff out there to be had. Pick some features you want and look at something that fits the bill. Are you looking to add new speakers to the Gizmo also in that 1500? or just a new integrated for the Elt's? I like Rotel, solid and not too expensive.

I'm just going to get this out of the way... don't spend a ton of money on speaker cables.... IT IS A WASTE OF MONEY.

I agree about not spending tons of money on cables, I think most on this forum would agree that monoprice.com is a good source for most cables that you will need.

 

[lsiberian]

I just joined the US Air Force im in tech school now, I have a small system Gizmo with AV123 ELT525M, Ultralink Matrix 2 speaker cables and Oppo DV-980H with Philips cables. I was surprised of the sound the little Gizmo ( its getting around 10-13 watts at 8ohms ) it definetly fills my dorm room, I have no subwoofer but bass is truly pleasing. Though i have it set on a desk on corners so bass output can be overwhelming at times. treble is just beautiful, not bright ( i dont like bright speakers ) I use this system 90% music and 10% movies.


My question is since ill be going to a new base in August im not gonna use the the Gizmo as my main system ( itll go to the bedroom ) I want to buy a Preamp/Amp or integrated I dont what to get I want to use my ELT525M's and have them on stands and also replace the speaker cables with something a bit more higher end. What would you guys reccomend for lets say a budget of about $1500-$2000?

Don't even darken the doors of a place that suggests fancy cable. Electrons don't care what highway they drive on as long as it's big enough.
I say this to emphasize this.

If you have Home Theater ambitions then it won't hurt to get a receiver with that capability. On your budget 300 dollars is the max you should spend on a receiver. You don't need all the external amps and craziness for a 2 speakers system IMO. But that's up to you.

By having a receiver with pre-amp outs you can have the option of adding an amp and using it as a pre-pro. Plus if you go home theater you can use that receiver to do surround duty and then get a 3 channel for the front.

I could go on with upgrades from that point, but lets keep it simple for now.

Just pick up a 300 dollar receiver. Unless you just want bells and whistles.

www.accessories4less.com has great deals that are hard to beat. Though maybe the military has connections.

Receivers should be Yamaha, Onkyo, HK, Marantz, or Denon. Pioneer is probably fine too.

Avoid Sony. They have a bad reputation in the phile world for a reason. HKs can be buggy and should only be bought as a refurb on ebay from the harman kardon store. Firmware fixes most issues which are PS3 related.