2. amps-preamps
  3. 1016478410

semi-budget sys - under 1450

Apologies if you've seen this on audiorevew.com...

Speakers I'm down to:
B&W 602S3s or Paradigm Studio 20s or 40s
Integrateds:
NAD C370 (sounds worse, but hey, it's 105 watts)
Rotel RA1060 (what I thought I wanted until some damn aimable salesman my age played my wife and I the
Arcam A75 (which is my current fav but a stretch for my wallet - only 50 watts, but lordy what soundstaging - it's uncanny)

play mostly rock, nice nice soundtrack) and left-field electronica (no boom-boom-boom-boom, thanks) and just enough jazz to make me listen close to cymbals and timbre while demoing.

if i get the paradigm studio 20s and arcam a75 for purity, i would have to add a subwoofer at some point. if i get the B&Ws and anything else, I'm gonna wanna bi-amp (unless it's the NAD, in which case I would probably just sell/trade-in it) I think. what would you do? throw more speakers at me if you want but let's try to control my urges to build a $2000 core system instead of a $1400-1500 dollar one. thanks everyone!
cbinkleye862
seandtaylor99
1,262 posts
 
If you like imaging see if you can get to hear some EposM12 speakers. Used they can be had for around $500 and I think they're a very good all-round stand mount speaker. New I think they're nearer to $800. In case you haven't heard of them Epos is now owned by Creek Audio so they're backed by a good manufacturer.
http://www.epos-acoustics.com/
grandpad
151 posts
 
I think Ohlala has given you excellant advice on all of his points.
ohlala
1,235 posts
 
Thanks, Grandpad...made my day.
cbinkleye862 OP
4 posts
 
thanks for the suggestion on classe. hadn't heard a lot about them. i'm also interested in a rega mira but they don't seem to have many retailers in the US....

as for bi-amping, well, probably not right now but if i decided to get floorstanders sometime. i don't know if any of you are aware of the prices of B&Ws in Europe, but they are about 30% cheaper as a result of the lower initial retail price and exchange rate, and then when you factor in
the fact that you get the taxes back when you leave the country, phew. guess who's going to france in march?

i forgot to add that because we're buying this with wedding present money (register for pots and pans, not us!) my wife absolutely refuses to buy used! so that is a factor unfortunately. we'll probably get a cd-player used or refurbished, but right now I'm just going to run "audition" music off my computer, which has a $200 24-bit DAC pro audio recording card.
gold001
30 posts
 
Another good choice for an inexpensive monitor is the Mordaunt short MS-90. It sounds much like the Epos12 mentioned previously. It has good imaging, and room placement doesn't seem to to be a big issue. They are not well represented in the US, but are worth a listen if you can find them. I'm using a pair with a REGA Mira and it's a good combo.
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