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How do I let go...the “D” word

A major life change has me contemplating selling my gear and “Downgrading.” And I don’t want to let go of anything. Last summer I lost my job due to the budget crisis in California. My wife of 29 years and I split and divorced. She got the house, etc., but not the stereo. I decided to fulfil my dream of going to Brooks Institute for my MS in Photography. So now I live a half a block from the beach, am unemployed, and going to one of the top photography schools in the world. Life is good!

Here's my dilemma: My old living room was 44’ X 30’ with high vaulted ceilings. The walls were rough cut wood and I had huge plants in every corner and other key refractive spots. Now I rent a small house in Santa Barbara and my listening room is small and has plastic walls and ceilings and glass windows all around. My Dyn’s are so toed-in that they’re more like headphones. I know I won’t live here forever, and that someday I will again have a great listening room. But for now...should I “Downgrade,” and to what; or keep it for better days?
rosstaman
rosstaman OP
455 posts
 
My budget will probably be around $8000-$10,000 give or take a few. For amps, speakers and TT. Obviously, I'll look to A'gon for the best. So what I need are smaller TT : possibly a Basis 2100. Tube monoblocks? Speakers that are easier to drive than the Dyn's.

I have a very eclectic taste in music. Classical, rock, motown, reggae, jazz (pre-fusion), world beat, etc.
boa2's avatar
boa2
1,551 posts
 
Based upon the buzz 'round here, you might want to have a listen to one of those new DK Design amps. 150W per channel, and two 6922 pre-out tubes. They retail at $2995, and are all the rage, as they say.
All the best,
Howard
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
How about Berning ZH-270 (used $3K), Merlin VSMs (used about $2.5-3K). That leaves $2-2.5K for a TT/arm. I would recommend getting a re-habed SOTA from Kirk and Donna. Add an OL-Silver arm and you would be ready to go, at approx. $8K. You could do lots worse. Or used Atma M-60s for about $2.5-3K leaving you more for the TT if its your main source. The synergy of these amps with the Merlins is well documented throughout this site. I'd be happy to let you audition either amp at my place with the Merlins, but the weather here in CT in November is no match for Cal-e-four-knee-ah and it would blow a bunch of your downgrade $$ ;~). Or if you want to keep running power hungry speakers, I know where you can get a good deal on a near new Llano Trinity 300 with mega-current output capacity.
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