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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
kahlenz's avatar
kahlenz
274 posts
 
Your friends preferences hits all my buttons. My room is a bit bigger but with 8’ ceilings. Similar taste in music. Cozy and intimate rather than big and loud.Over 50 years I’ve had it all (within my budget): Altec Lansing VOT, JBL 100, B&O, FMI, Phase Technology, Magnapan; tons of tube amps starting with a ST-70 built from a kit, PAS 3x, Bryston, SAE, Marantz, NAD, Cambridge Audio, Parasound just to touch some bases. I’m 64 now, and a bit more settled in my ways (well, at least as far as equipment goes). Here’s what I settled on:
Harbeth P3esr
Sound Anchors
Odyssey Khartego (modified, of course)
Odyssey Candela (tubes!)
Blue Jean Cables
I don’t have one, but a Bluesound Vault would be a nice front end, or just a Node.
Plenty of high-end grunt on the cheap with the Khartego (plus Klaus is a hoot). Perfect match for the P3s (at 6 ohms they need a bit more current than most speakers, ditto for the 83db sensitivity and the power requirements). Tell Klaus what you are doing and he will hook you up (after a while).
Candela: I was so impressed with the Khartego I bought the Candela to go along with it. Quite satisfied, but there’s plenty of choices in the tube pre-amp world - maybe start with some cheap but really good sounding Schiit.
Stands: just pony up for the Sound Anchors and forget about it.
Cables: Blue Jeans work fine. Go from there.
Speakers: STOP THE PRESS! For the purposes stated in the OP these are simply amazing. If I were to recommend just one component on my list above all others (for the stated purposes) I would start and stop with the P3esrs.
I didn’t add it all up, but you’ll be somewhere near your budget, plenty of room to goof with tubes and cables, and speakers that are clever at everything and small enough to pull into your room if you want a near-field experience.
jackd
1,068 posts
 
@arafiq 

On sound alone either of the Fritz's and I own both Carrera's and C7's.  
kahlenz's avatar
kahlenz
274 posts
 
Well, looks like like your friend bought the I-85. Great tube amp but moving in the wrong direction. Most of the great sounding stand mounts have low sensitivity, and require a bit more oomph. If he wants to go the big box/paper cone/horn loaded route and raise the dead, he’s on the right track. I can’t help but think the BBC monitor route (Harbeth, Spendor) might suit his described listening habits better (maybe add a ST85 - now that would be something but there goes the speaker budget).
Sounds like Heresy’s coming in!
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,911 posts
 
brother in law has the VTL ( newer version ) about 2 years now, bought used. Runs his Dynaudio Special 40 just fine in a room 2x your buddy. RAM Tubes EL-34 advised.

Any competent tube tech can service the VTL.
fritzspeaks
43 posts
 
Hi- Fritz here...  Regarding Lalitks coment, all of my speakers come with a 30+ day trial thing to make sure that everybody is absolutely delighted with their performance on their gear and acoustic environment.  BTW-  Most people love them and keep them.   
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