Some amazing recommendations and ideas! A huge thanks to everyone who contributed.
So I talked to my friend on the phone a few hours ago and told him to take a look at this thread. I want to clarify a few things though ...
1. At this point, he really wants to experiment with tube amplifiers. This is not to say that he considers SS inferior, but I guess you can call it an itch that he must scratch. So I want to respect his wishes and only focus on tube integrated amps.
2. He was using the terms standmount and bookshelf interchangeably. He is fine with using speakers with stands. He was a little shocked when I told him the prices for some nice stands, but I think he should be fine with reasonably price stands from the likes of Pangea.
3. A few of you are wondering why I didn’t suggest Harbeth speakers. After all I have owned P3esr’s in the past, and currently own SHL5+ and M30.1s. So why not just suggest Harbeth? I don’t know, for some reason I feel that with Harbeths you have to match them with good solid state to get the best of out of them. If you must try tubes then you have to go for the big iron, class A, KT150 type of tube amps which can be expensive. That’s why I am a bit hesitant. My thinking is that if he gets high efficiency speakers ( >90 db), he can get away with modestly powered tube amps ... basically, more affordable choices.
4. He feels that he can stretch his budget much farther when buying used equipment, and I concur. Obviously, buying used has its disadvantages and risks. He won’t be able to audition and has to choose between what’s available. I told him to give himself 3 months instead of rushing to buy whatever is currently available in the used market.
II’ve asked my friend to compile a list of speakers and amps mentioned in this thread as a starting point. Hopefully, he is going to make a decision soon.
So I talked to my friend on the phone a few hours ago and told him to take a look at this thread. I want to clarify a few things though ...
1. At this point, he really wants to experiment with tube amplifiers. This is not to say that he considers SS inferior, but I guess you can call it an itch that he must scratch. So I want to respect his wishes and only focus on tube integrated amps.
2. He was using the terms standmount and bookshelf interchangeably. He is fine with using speakers with stands. He was a little shocked when I told him the prices for some nice stands, but I think he should be fine with reasonably price stands from the likes of Pangea.
3. A few of you are wondering why I didn’t suggest Harbeth speakers. After all I have owned P3esr’s in the past, and currently own SHL5+ and M30.1s. So why not just suggest Harbeth? I don’t know, for some reason I feel that with Harbeths you have to match them with good solid state to get the best of out of them. If you must try tubes then you have to go for the big iron, class A, KT150 type of tube amps which can be expensive. That’s why I am a bit hesitant. My thinking is that if he gets high efficiency speakers ( >90 db), he can get away with modestly powered tube amps ... basically, more affordable choices.
4. He feels that he can stretch his budget much farther when buying used equipment, and I concur. Obviously, buying used has its disadvantages and risks. He won’t be able to audition and has to choose between what’s available. I told him to give himself 3 months instead of rushing to buy whatever is currently available in the used market.
II’ve asked my friend to compile a list of speakers and amps mentioned in this thread as a starting point. Hopefully, he is going to make a decision soon.