$50k - $80k Budget…Opinions please.


Long story short, I sold my beloved 2-channel to reduce family debt. In about a year-ish, I’ll be in a position to rebuild with a hefty budget. I loved my Harbeth + Pass Labs combo. My REL sub died before I really got to integrate it, so opinions wanted there as well. I fully understand the diminishing margin of returns when moving into some arenas, but that’s ok, opinions are strongly encouraged.

I listen to a lot of Miles Davis/Coltrane, Radiohead, Tool, Pearl Jam, Brent Cobb. I’ve often preferred “organic” or neutral, not sure how technical that is.

toddcowles

Showing 1 response by barry2013

With that size of budget it will be easy to be tempted by quantity, range of sources.

IME you should first ruthlessly analyses your priorities re sources. I am a big fan of FM radio. I have a Magnum Dynalab 109 tuner with upgraded Phillips 6922 Nos valves and a sizeable roof mounted FM aerial, But, I have the joys of BBC Radio 3 FM broadcasting. Without that I am not sure I could justify it. So depends on whether you have access to good quality FM broadcasts

Similar considerations apply to AV amps/home theatre,digtal and analogue sources.

Once you have determined your priorities only then should you start trying to decide which manufactures products best suit your tastes and the only way to do that is to listen to as many of them as possible preferably in home settings. The next hurdle is finding the right synergy between different brands.

Explore the used market. Even on the best brands depreciation from new is hefty and with due diligence you can make big savings on well cared for used gear.

I like my Vitus 030 integrated amplifier, YG Acoustics speakers apart from the PeaK series and my J Sikora turntable/tonearm and Goldnote PH1000 phono stage and PSU.. Can recommend them all wholeheartedly for their balance between musicality, neutrality and transparency, but they represent my personal tastes and others have different tastes.

I hope that is helpful and I wish you well in your search which you should take your time on and avoid rushing to conclusions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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