I need help putting together a budget system

Love the Apogee DAC with active speaker idea of Ajahu, nice approach. I would suggest:

Magnepan 1.6qr's $1000 (used)
Innersound ESL amp $1300 (used)
AES Tube Pre $700 (used)
AppleTV $269
TADAC tube DAC $700
AES phono stage $300
Project Debut III $400 (with cartridge used)
Kimber 8tc speark wires
Kimber Hero Interconnects $331

$5000

That's a great system by any standard. I would love hear that.

sorry to hear about your loss

Apple Lossless is terrific and the only way to go if you are a Mac guy - nothing else makes the least bit of sense. If you are a PC guy you will probably want to check out FLAC as well

I personally would go with a Mac laptop or tower (depending on what else you need to do with it) driving a Keces 151 USB DAC. Really a great sounding unit for $250 - made in Taiwan. I have had five (5) DACs and this may well be the best one - and its dead easy to use

I would use this to feed a beefy integrated amp - huge range of choices new and used for under $2K. The rationale being that you save a ton of money over separates not buying things like interconnects, power cables and tweaks. Plus it takes up a lot less space and most come with a remote which is nice.

As fpeel points out, recommending speakers is difficult without some more particulars about your space and taste.

As far as interconnects and power cables, keep it simple and stick with someone like Harmonic Tech or Analysis Plus. Both have a broad offering and have a lot of product out there. Buy used. All you need is one great pair of ICs, two power cords and speaker cables in the appropriate length.

Enjoy the process and your new home

Active Speakers and a DAC - I agree with Ajahu. Genelec 8050A (in white) with Apple Mac and your choice of DAC would look real cool in a PC setup and yet give most hi end systems a run for their money for sheer sound quality.

Thanks for the responses everyone, to answer a few questions

The room is going to be 12x16. It will be my office and mine alone so the gear can look like whatever. I like wood but I also like interesting looking gear. I love the look of exposed tube systems but dont know where that falls in the budget.

I was thinking that my desk would be on one of the 16' walls facing the other, but if that's not a good distance from the speakers than I am up for changing that around.

What I love to listen to most is acoustic music piano and guitar especially live recordings if they are done well. I want to hear every everything such as the incidental sounds like fingers on strings and breaths.

Its funny that you mention the Project debut III I used to have that very model and a Rotel pre.

Thanks again everyone.

Room makes a huge difference, well size does matter. I now change the speakers to Paradigm 20 Actives (no longer made, but come for sale fairly regularly), since you now don't need an amp, I would suggest getting a VPI Scout turntable, cartridge of your choice. That's still a nice system. Also, if it's an office you don't need a music server, just run your iTunes from your computer into the DAC. So buy an isolation stand for you turntable now.