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Helping a friend build a new system

A good family friend has recently retired and is looking to build a system for his home office. He used to own a nice sound system some 25 years ago but hasn't been actively pursuing the hobby. He was visiting my home a few weeks ago and I guess listening to my system must have inspired him to finally build a new one. He asked me to help set up a new system (new to him, he's willing to buy used). I asked him a bunch of questions to find out what he wants and how much he is willing to spend. His responses are summarized below:

1. Budget -- since he's retired he wants to keep the total system budget to around $7-8K (including cables)
2. Components Needed -- bookshelf speakers, integrated amp, cables. He already has a CD player which would do for now, but he might get into streaming later on. He owns a few hundred CDs.
3. Room size -- around 10x12 with 10 foot ceilings. Fully carpeted with some furniture.  
4. Music genres -- jazz, blues, vocals (he's a big fan of Frank Sinatra, Chet Baker, Billy Holiday, etc.), and R&B
5. Listening preferences -- he is looking for an 'intimate' and cozy experience and wants to try tube amps with high sensitivity bookshelf speakers. He mostly listens at a moderate volume and can be sensitive to high frequencies.

He also mentioned that he has some hearing loss since he's in his early 60s and suffers from a mild case of tinnitus. I'm not sure if this plays a role in the choice of components but I thought it's worth mentioning just in case.

I will really appreciate it if you guys can provide some pointers. Please remember that he is retired so $8k is absolutely the max he can do. System synergy is important. And, please no Tekton or class D recommendations. He really wants to try some affordable tube gear as a starting point.

128x128arafiq
skywachr
124 posts
 
Lots of ideas and ways to go, but if CDs are the initial medium of choice, then the CD player he already has needs to be worthy enough to be used as a transport with a quality DAC which must be made part of the system being budgeted for. Otherwise what's the point of doing this in the first place? The medium of choice HAS to be given a fair chance to show itself to full advantage.

Also, as to tinnitus, my experience is that it is not a limitation on any way. The challenge will be optimizing the listening position and getting the speakers to image for him. He may find that in his ideal listening position in the room that the speakers do not image perfectly for his guests.
goose
688 posts
 
I will throw in a wild card speaker.  What about the Watkins gen 4 stand mount?  Always excellent reviews, and seems to punch way above it's price class.  Wish I could hear a pair.
arafiq's avatar
arafiq OP
1,662 posts
 
Okay, so looks like my friend is going to make a move on the VTL IT-85 amp. Thanks for the tip @jjss49 

It seems to be crossing a lot of boxes for my friend. Seems to be enough power to drive most standmount speakers if not all. Doesn't hurt that it is hand-built in the U.S. And he gets to experience some tube magic. I'm really excited for him.

On to the speaker search now ....

arafiq's avatar
arafiq OP
1,662 posts
 
BTW, just saw someone mention Proac. That's another well regarded brand that he should add to his list.

@three_easy_payments -- thanks for suggesting Devore. This is a speaker that I won't mind getting for myself some day. I think the Leben and Devore make for one delicious meal. 
arafiq's avatar
arafiq OP
1,662 posts
 
Okay so one more thing I just found out is that there is a constraint in my friend's room where the speakers cannot be more than a foot from the front wall (behind the speakers). I've asked him to see if he can rearrange the furniture to create more distance. Does that change the speaker choice by much? I know that my Harbeth M30.1s need at least 2-3 feet from the back wall, otherwise they start to sound a little boomy. Sorry I should have known better to ask this question first.
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