Hello,
My friends set up sounds darn nice and was a great bang for the buck IMO. B&K Pro 10 preamp (has very nice phono section too). I've read that Sumo also made some nice pre's with good phono sections. Some of these Sumo's and B&K pres can be had for $275 > $400. I have a B&K MC101 for a secondary system and love it. Very well made too.
As for speakers by buddy runs Maggie MMG's I think. Acquired factory direct for about $650 or so.
These speakers produce a wall of sound, very detailed yet natural. For this price it's an amazing value.
Down side is that they are big so you need adequate space for proper set up. You could add a sub to round out the bottom octave depending music and personal preferences.
The Maggies like current. So, he uses some big Emotiva amp (he mentioned they are having a holiday special) Factory direct price with shipping included for $700 I believe). Has plenty of current/juice to run the Maggies properly.
I defer to others on the digital recommendations. He uses a Marantz 8003 cd/sacd which has USB and other provisions to accommodate iPod..... This player goes for about $700 or so used.
I listen to his system often and I'm really impressed with it. Note, this past week he just moved up to the Maggie 1.6s so his MMG's might be for sale. Let me know if interested and I could get you his contact information. I have nothing to gain by this but it might give you a good opportunity to get good used speakers for a reasonable price. He also has nice beefy metal speakers stands (an upgrade) that will go with the speakers.
Good luck :)
My friends set up sounds darn nice and was a great bang for the buck IMO. B&K Pro 10 preamp (has very nice phono section too). I've read that Sumo also made some nice pre's with good phono sections. Some of these Sumo's and B&K pres can be had for $275 > $400. I have a B&K MC101 for a secondary system and love it. Very well made too.
As for speakers by buddy runs Maggie MMG's I think. Acquired factory direct for about $650 or so.
These speakers produce a wall of sound, very detailed yet natural. For this price it's an amazing value.
Down side is that they are big so you need adequate space for proper set up. You could add a sub to round out the bottom octave depending music and personal preferences.
The Maggies like current. So, he uses some big Emotiva amp (he mentioned they are having a holiday special) Factory direct price with shipping included for $700 I believe). Has plenty of current/juice to run the Maggies properly.
I defer to others on the digital recommendations. He uses a Marantz 8003 cd/sacd which has USB and other provisions to accommodate iPod..... This player goes for about $700 or so used.
I listen to his system often and I'm really impressed with it. Note, this past week he just moved up to the Maggie 1.6s so his MMG's might be for sale. Let me know if interested and I could get you his contact information. I have nothing to gain by this but it might give you a good opportunity to get good used speakers for a reasonable price. He also has nice beefy metal speakers stands (an upgrade) that will go with the speakers.
Good luck :)