Entry Level Sound System

[Joe Schmoe]

Naim.. I've already ruled that out though.. They're a little pricey for what I'm looking for.

Yeh, they are pretty tiny for $2K. I hate to think what their floorstanders cost!
(I thought you might have been referring to Mirage Nanosats, which are much more affordable and sound awesome with a good sub.)

 

[Mark in GA]

Man with a $3000 budget, here is what I would do!

1. Order a pair of AV123 Rocket RS850 towers ($1400 delivered if you order right now)
2. Order a single AV123 MFW-15 subwoofer ($600 for the basic satin black)
3. Order a Onkyo 805 receiver (around $700 delivered)
4. Order any nice dedicated CD player with the remaining $300

Then I would sit back and marvel in the bliss of sonic delight. After a few hours of that, I would begin to think about all of the HT/surround options that I could add on to my already mind blowing system!

All the best,
Mark in GA

 

[ChrisMG]

The thing is I don't even want a subwoofer. The System I listened to that I loved only had 2 towers. The sound was fantastic with just that.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

The ones I listed should be ok without a sub.

The thing is I don't even want a subwoofer. The System I listened to that I loved only had 2 towers. The sound was fantastic with just that.

 

[John Bailey]

I am also a classical music soul. If you already know you are thrilled with the Naim sound, I would go used with a Naim Nait 5i integrated with a Naim Nait CD 5i cd player. You can find the integrated for around $900 and the cd player for around $800. That would leave you around $1,300 for speakers. There are a lot of good speakers out there for that price. I tend to like monitors for their soundstage and detail. In this price range I would suggest the Focal JM-Labs 807V. Harbeth 7ES may be found used at this price and would be excellent. Any Spendor speaker should match well.

If you want floorstanders, I think any of the PSB Stratus or Platinum series would do well. I personally liked the Stratus Silver best. Also, a dark horse, that I auditioned and found to be a great classical speaker, is the B&W DM 604.

For classical music, if I had the room, I would buy Magnepan 1.6's. They are, by far, the best sounding speakers, for classical, to my ears. You can find them used for around $1,200. However, they probably won't work well with Naim. They, reputedly take a lot of power. I heard them with a 50 wpc integrated and I fell in love with the sound. Also, they take a lot of room, something I don't have. Don't know from the description of your room whether or not they will work. I believe if you paired these with a NAD C372 and one of the better NAD CD player, you would have a system to cause me to be envious.

Good luck, you've got a pretty good budget for stereo and all the suggestions look pretty good to me.

John

 

[Highbar]

Well if it were me looking for $3000...

I'd look at Paradigm Studio 100's, retail for about $2k for the pair and can usually talk down a dealer a little.

And to power them I'd look for a nice Rotel stereo pre-amp and amp pair. Probably going to have to look used, but there is a bunch on Audiogon, right now. An RC-1070, and an RB-1070 or 1080 would be awesome. (there's a RC-1070 and RB-1080 right now for $1k total on Audiogon right now)

Add a decent cd player and you're good to go. Maybe be just a little over budget but would be an incredible setup.

Go and listen to some speakers and fall in love with a pair, then find something to power them.

T

 

[mtrycrafts]

Hello all!

I recently had the opportunity to listen to a Naim system (CD player, pre-amp, and power supply.) Up until then I never knew such a system existed. I never knew anything existed beyond Bose... ect.. ( Be gentle!) I was absolutely blown away by the sound!! I'm a musician and have a deep appreciation for classical music and MANY recordings. I also frequent the local symphonies when I can.

Are there any suggestions for an entry-level system that will give me similar clarity in sound and texture?

Thanks alot!

Ok, what speakers were you listening to? After all, that is what dazzled you, that is what you heard there, not the Naim gadgets.

 

[John Bailey]

Ok, what speakers were you listening to? After all, that is what dazzled you, that is what you heard there, not the Naim gadgets.

While I would disagree somewhat with the notion the Naim gear are "gadgets," I think the point that the speakers make the most difference is probably the best made point of the thread.

I would also agree with Highbar when he said to fall in love with some speakers and then find something to power them. Great advice.

John

 

[dan121s]

I feel for you. It's always better to learn late than never learn at all.

 

[3db]

Hello all!

I recently had the opportunity to listen to a Naim system (CD player, pre-amp, and power supply.) Up until then I never knew such a system existed. I never knew anything existed beyond Bose... ect.. ( Be gentle!) I was absolutely blown away by the sound!! I'm a musician and have a deep appreciation for classical music and MANY recordings. I also frequent the local symphonies when I can.

Are there any suggestions for an entry-level system that will give me similar clarity in sound and texture?

Thanks alot!

This is strictly a 2 channel setup.

My two options are these;
NAD integrated amp + PSB ImageT65s

http://nadelectronics.com/products/hifi-amplifiers/C372-Stereo-Integrated-Amplifier
http://www.psbspeakers.com/products/Image-Series/Image-T65-Tower

or

NAD + Totem
http://nadelectronics.com/products/hifi-amplifiers/C372-Stereo-Integrated-Amplifier

http://www.totemacoustic.com/us/products/columns/hawk/specifications/

For the NAD + PSB combo, there's a special magic that happens. These two products were meant for one another. You could get by with a less powerful amp with because the T65s are quite efficient.

Totem speakers are power hungry but the amp I suggested will drive them more than adequately. Totem makes awesome sounding loud speakers, something I wish I could afford.

NAD will rival NAIM in terms of sound quality.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

You could get by with a less powerful amp with because the T65s are quite efficient.

Much, much less powerful, in fact. I am currently driving 89dB, 4 Ohm min. speakers with a 20 watt/ch amp and it is more than enough in my 10' X 20' room (open to 20' sq.)
The need for power is severely overstated in today's audio world.

 

[3db]

Much, much less powerful, in fact. I am currently driving 89dB, 4 Ohm min. speakers with a 20 watt/ch amp and it is more than enough in my 10' X 20' room (open to 20' sq.)
The need for power is severely overstated in today's audio world.

With the PSB,s I would agree. Your amp would choke on the Totems however.
They need power to make them sing. PSB's discontinued stratus series also required a robust amp to make them sing sweetly. Having more than enough power allows one to have a bigger selection of speakers should the upgrade bug bite. My rule of thumb is, buy more power than you really need to futur proof your amp in case more demanding speakers make it into your system.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Tonight, I am going to try my Def Tech BP10Bs with the Onkyo mini-electronics. I will report on how it sounds tomorrow. (I have always loved the sound of the DTs, except that the bass can be overwhelming and a tad muddy. The Onkyo bass is super-tight but a tad weak. It might turn out to be a match made in heaven!)

 

[3db]

Tonight, I am going to try my Def Tech BP10Bs with the Onkyo mini-electronics. I will report on how it sounds tomorrow. (I have always loved the sound of the DTs, except that the bass can be overwhelming and a tad muddy. The Onkyo bass is super-tight but a tad weak. It might turn out to be a match made in heaven!)

Curious, how can an amp whose frequerncy response is linear and flat in the audable range have a weak bass? That doesn't make sense.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Curious, how can an amp whose frequerncy response is linear and flat in the audable range have a weak bass? That doesn't make sense.

Subjective impressions based on comparing it to my old Carver integrated with the same speakers in the same room. One possibility is that the Carver's bass is boosted and/or slightly muddy. Another possibility is that Onkyo is lying when they claim flat, linear response (perish the thought! Manufacturers never lie!)

 

[dnice555]

Take a look at the def tech bp7002's. You can easily talk a dealer down to 1k a piece. They have self powered subs in them so you really would'nt need a sep subwoofer unless you demand the most deep tight bass possible. IMO they accuratley reproduce lows mid and high frequencies very accuratlety. Its all subjective though go to a local dealer and audition a bunch of speakers in your prive range.


On a side note - I agree with the comment on getting a nice amp if you can afford - amps are future proof. My amp is much more than I need right now but when I obtain the bp7000scs I won't need to upgrade my amp.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Tonight, I am going to try my Def Tech BP10Bs with the Onkyo mini-electronics. I will report on how it sounds tomorrow. (I have always loved the sound of the DTs, except that the bass can be overwhelming and a tad muddy. The Onkyo bass is super-tight but a tad weak. It might turn out to be a match made in heaven!)

My intuition was partially right. The Onkyo did tame the bass beast somewhat, but I am not sure yet if it is sufficient. They can still be a bit overwhelming.

 

[ChrisMG]

In the interest of cost, how about the Yamaha sterio recievers? Particularly the RX-797. The price seems to be right paired with a yamaha CD player. It seems to me that it would give enough juice to power a pair of T65's. Is this valid? This is all in theory of course. I need to go and listen to these things when I have a less hectic schedule...

 

[gus6464]

It's funny how the OP is going to shell out $3000 for a stereo system and everyone is just spouting out the gear they own. That is a lot of money to buy blindly. OP go out and listen to a ton of speakers as you have a ridiculous amount of options at your price range.

 

[gus6464]

And also $3000 is not really entry level for a 2ch system. With that amount of money you get something above entry level. Also I would recommend you go with separates as it will be easier to add to the system if there is something you don't like or want to upgrade.

For electronics I say go with the biggest 2ch amp you can buy that way you won't have a problem powering any speaker. So for amp I would recommend the Emotiva XPA-2. For preamp go with something like the Kingrex preamp. It is a 2 source preamp that has gotten very good reviews online. That way if you ever want to upgrade to a tube preamp or anything else you can easily sell the kingrex and not be out that much. You will never need to replace the XPA-2.

http://www.audio-magus.com/Kingrex_Preamplifier_p/krpa.htm
http://www.emotiva.com/

As far as speakers in concerned you have ~$1500 or more depending on what cd player you go with so that opens a lot of options. Go out and listen to a bunch of stuff before making your mind. In that price range these are some options:

Totem Arro
Monitor Audio RS6
Epos M16i
Paradigm Studio 60
Rega R5

Now these are all brands that have a pretty big dealer network so it should be fairly easy to go out and find them. If I read correctly you said you listened to classical so I would strongly recommend you check out the Rega as as I found the tweeter very detailed with string instruments. If midrange is your thing I would then recommend the Epos as the old model M16 excelled at this when comparing the rest so the new model should be even better. The most balanced speaker in the bunch IMO is the MA RS6 and I think it will please with just about anything you throw at it. The Arro is also a very good speaker but I found that they color the midrange a bit but you might like their sound. I just threw the Paradigm in there because they are easy to find but personally I don't like them for music only but you might. And as far as ID is concerned I am sorry but $1500 is a lot of money to be going around and buying blindly. Of course you can audition them in your home for 30 days but you have to pay shipping which on tower speakers can be expensive, especially something like the Rocket 850.