System for a teenager

Hi Albert,

I like Jeff's idea about the AR with the Dynaco tubed CD player - though I've never heard the Dynaco. I wonder if a teenager is going to be more attracted towards tubes or SS, given the bass characteristics. For SS, I've been hearing good things about the Oddysey Stratos, and am going to be trying one of their dual mono's on 30-day trial soon. But I think the stereo version of the amp costs $800 used (low), and that could blow the budget. I like the idea of a volume controlled CDP into the amp, as it leaves room for later expansion (e.g. buy a preamp later). Are there any low cost CD/DVD's with a volume control? I don't know.

I had a Jolida 302b for a while - I felt it didn't approach the liquidity of midrange that it should have, and wasn't too impressed. It certainly wasn't "detail" oriented. I think you can get more bang for your $$ in SS.

Albert.. Just adding that the AR Complete is pretty much a budget YBA Integre (which lists for $2500). It shares many of the same parts and design elements; it is just made in Asia instead of France.

I like to shy away from this terminology, however it also shares the Integre's smooth "tube like" sound for a solid state amplifier.

YBA stopped making the single transformer version of the Integre DT, mainly because the AR Complete sounded so close, at a much lower price. The Complete usually sells for around $600 used. If you go for it, make sure they have the remote (it was optional).

Finally, if look at my work office system under my Audiogon system link; I put it all together used for under $1000 (cables and all). Look at Jeff's systems also; he has done one for each of his children.

Albert,

Long time no see! I have used an Ella before and it sounds fantastic. With a little tweaking and NOS tubes, it is a killer. Highly recommended!

Brian

I might be off-base here, but a good mid-fi system with NAD components might be the most enjoyable and hassle-free system for a teenager. Do an Audiogon search and you can find very reasonably priced gear from NAD, either DVD/CD or CD players, stereo or surround receivers, etc. NAD uses one remote for all it's equipment. There's one vendor who is also selling the PSB lineup at a discount, along with new, B stock or demo NAD. That could get a nice setup for under $1500 that could even be converted to (gasp) a home theater setup.

Kids like a sound with some punch to it, not SE triode midrange and no bass drive, IMHO.

For something completely different:

I assume as a college student he already has a computer with CD-ROM and a reasonably large hard disk. Use the CD drive to rip music onto the computer's hard disk (store them at full 16 bit/44.1KHz resolution). There are any number of available programs to order and access the music. For output use an Apogee MiniDac (w/ the USB connection) into a pair of JBL LSR25P powered monitors.

This system would be very compact (great for dorm rooms) and simple to set up (uses only a single audio cable). The JBLs are near field pro monitors and don't require the space of a Vandersteen to be properly setup. The Apogee MiniDac is a substanially better converter than those used in sub $1,000 CD/DVD players. A computer hard disk makes an excellent CD transport. A 60Gb HD can hold about 85-100 CDs and you can always add additional HDs to expand.

A link to MiniDac info:
http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/prod_minidac.html

A link to JBL info:
http://www.jblpro.com/pages/recording/lsr25p.htm

The street cost of the Apogee and JBL is around $1,400.