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Complete newbie needing guidance/purchase advice

Hi folks-

First of all, let me apologize in advance for a lengthy post. I'm a brand new forum member after recently being introduced to this site by an acquaintance who heard I was looking for sound advice... As my thread title states, I'm completely ignorant when it comes to the audiophile world, but I really want to start building a system and learn something in the process. A little background on me: I've been making a living as a recording artist and studio musician for almost 20 years, but my career choice as a music-maker has somehow ironically detached me from the simple pleasure of just sitting and _listening_ to music for the sheer enjoyment of it. My wife and I are currently in the process of remodeling our bonus room into a media room, and one of my objectives is to at the very least turn it into a space where I can do some critical listening.

I currently don't have anything decent... Just some old Bose bookshelf speakers and a Yamaha surround receiver. The closest thing to 'something decent' that I own are a pair of Etymotic ER-4S headphones coupled with a Headroom headphone amplifier.

The big limiting factor is my budget. Given that fact, maybe I have no business posting here... I will probably need to build this piece-by-piece over time, so I'm content with having to stretch the process out. I'm not concerned with having to have the 'best' of anything; I would just really like to make listening to music an engaging and emotional experience for me like it was for me many years ago.

Would a speaker purchase be a good place to start? I was perusing the Audiogon classifieds today and saw that there is actually a pair of DK Designs LSA-2's for sale local to me. The asking price is at the top of my speaker budget, a little over a grand, which I realize is probably 'chump change' in the audiophile world. However, I've read some reviews and they seem mostly positive. Would be super-convenient to be able to find something nice that was used and local, but as I said before, I'm completely new to this. Another related question: Is it better to go with floor-standing speakers, or can decent sound also be accomplished with bookshelf speakers combined with a subwoofer?

Also, what are the other 'basic' components that would need to be purchased? The only other thing I know I'd love to have would be a decent turntable; I'd love to be able to go and purchase some of my favorite classic albums to listen to once again. Do I need a separate preamp and power amp combination? Are there any 'receivers' that do a decent job of covering both tasks?

Any other feedback or direction you experts could throw my way would be greatly appreciated... Thanks in advance!
renaissanceman9

Showing 7 responses by tobias

tobias
1,534 posts
 
You can certainly spend your budget on speakers first. You will have a lot of fun initially. Then, especially if you have not heard them before you purchase, one thing may happen, and a second thing will certainly happen, not necessarily in that order.

What may happen is that you discover (after the novelty wears off) that you don't like their sound as much as you thought you would. Sound systems are meant to be listened to in the long term, over months, and in that long a time you notice things that you don't notice at the very beginning.

Or, of course, it may happen instead that you find you love the speakers' sound more and more as time passes! However there will be a limit to how much your love can grow.

This is because the other thing, which definitely will happen if you buy speakers at a much higher level than your upstream gear, is that you will begin to hear very clearly the failings of that upstream gear.

Now it is a good idea to spend as much as you can when you upgrade any piece of equipment, because upgrading is always expensive, and when you move up a lot you have a chance to stay happy for a long time. And of course if you are currently using a piece of gear which is toxic to the ear, as your Bose bookshelves may be, then that piece of gear should go a.s.a.p.

But if you spend all you will have to spend for the coming year on new speakers now, remember that for 12 months you will be listening with great clarity to what is currently feeding the Boses. Depending on how you feel about that, you may want to spend a bit less on speakers now so you can get a better amplifier more quickly.
tobias
1,534 posts
 
Tobias, do you think that a better initial purchase would be a piece of upstream gear? I suppose either way I'm starting from scratch... :)

Renaissanceman9, thank you for asking. If it were me I would spend some money, perhaps $400, on replacing your speakers now. At that price I would expect to find "monitors" and stands more easily than floorstanders. Monitors can be very satisfying indeed. They may have little or no output in the very low frequencies but they can have enough mid and upper bass to let you follow bass lines perfectly clearly. I would not even think about subwoofers at this point.

You will learn a lot as you follow up the Nashville club route and everything you learn will help you with your speaker choice. When you do get the new speakers, plus stands and some inexpensive cables, you will have loads of fun before you, as you experiment with speaker placement and acoustic treatment measures for your room.

In the meantime you can be looking for an integrated amplifier. By my count you have about $600 left, perhaps augmented a bit if you want to sell your Yamaha. Should you spend it all on the amp, or split it between amp and source?

If you decide to do the latter, you will not have enough to go for both CD and vinyl playback. If your digital playback is good enough now, you'll have to decide between amp or amp plus turntable. If your digital playback is lacking now, forget vinyl temporarily and upgrade the digital source as well as the amp.

One possible amplifier to look for in the $250 to $300 range is the NAD 320BEE. This amp also comes in newer (therefore slightly more expensive) versions, such as 325BEE and 326BEE. They are all fine. This amp or another similar one may be enough to satisfy you while you work on other parts of the system. If not, you should be able to resell it at little or no loss, and if you don't need your remaining money for source gear, you would then look for a better amp at a higher price.

I hope this is of some help. What is your digital source at present ?
tobias
1,534 posts
 
If you don't mind my asking, I want to make sure I understand what audiophiles are referring to when they talk about 'monitors'.

I use the term in preference to 'bookshelf', which is misleading as to placement and even size. A synonym is 'stand-mounted'. Toddnkaya has clarified things nicely.

There is no reason not to consider actual studio monitors if you can find some in your price range. Some audiophiles find studio gear tends to direct the listener's attention to individual sounds more than to the music as a whole, but there is no shortage of audiophile gear which does the same thing anyway. Enjoy finding out what you like! With your pro experience you are a lap ahead.

I haven't heard either of your sources so can't advise on their relative quality. You have 3 options here. You can keep your sources for now, thus freeing up money for an amp or for a lesser amp plus vinyl. If your present sources have digital outputs, you can defer vinyl in favour of augmenting their performance with an outboard digital converter (DAC) and connecting cable (which must be 1.5 meters long BTW). I myself would include inexpensive antivibration treatment for your CD spinner, plus power conditioning for both it and DAC in the form of an isolation transformer, again inexpensive. Or you can just replace your digital source.

Whatever you do with your source, you can afford to take your time and be sure of the move you make. Deals may slide by, but there will always be others. As a general rule, I prefer to have extra resolution at the source rather than downstream. You can't put information back in later once it's been lost.
tobias
1,534 posts
 
IMHO Renaissanceman9, those are great suggestions from Unsound. Stringreen's point about the expense of upgrading is well taken too. At $1K it's a (fun) challenge to put together a system that plays something close to music. At $2K you can get closer.

Money does help, but no matter how much you spend, it is always possible to step wrong and buy gear that plays sound, not music. This fact, plus what money can buy, are the two reasons this is a learning game, and consequently an upgrade game. You buy something that you can live with until you can afford what you really want. You buy used to make your dollars go further and come back to you on resale. You avoid committing the error of choosing at a dealer and then buying the gear second hand.

Most of all, you enjoy the music. Although I would agree with Stringreen that it makes financial sense to go for the best as quickly as you can, it doesn't make sense to go into debt to do it. Enjoy the best you can pay for now.
tobias
1,534 posts
 
Re the Marantz receivers -- I and probably a certain number of others on this site used to sell, own or repair them and other contemporary units. Some of us still own one or more.

At the time they were among the best of mass-market gear. Sonically they can be quite agreeable but as an owner and ex-salesman I feel they honestly don't stack up against the modern units you've had suggested to you in this thread. (It hardly bears pointing out that the modern high end units are more expensive than used gear 30 or 40 years old.)

Although Yammie receivers contemporary with those Marantzes sounded almost as good, mass market electronics took a turn for the worse in the 1980s and have continued that way. I have not heard your Yamaha but I would not expect it to sound as musical as the best-built 2-channel Yamahas from the 70s. That means the antique Marantzes may sound nicer than the Yamaha receiver you have today, but not, I think, so much nicer that you could refer to them as an upgrade. More what is known as a sidegrade, and sidegrades are expensive detours on the way to audio bliss.

And then there is the question of maintaining gear that is 30 or 40 years old.
tobias
1,534 posts
 
Great progress, Rm9, thank you for the update. Sounds like the New Year is starting well!
tobias
1,534 posts
 
Very sorry to hear of the shipping damage, Rm9. I'm afraid it's happened to me, too, and I wish I'd mentioned it as a horrible possibility.

Nowadays I always double-insure, with shipsurance.com, as well as with the carrier. You can do this as either buyer or seller as long as you have the tracking number and the rest of the contract conditions are respected.

Very best of luck with the claim!
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