2. amps-preamps
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Is "live" music sound possible for under $1K

I primarily liston piano, chamber and opera. I was wondering if anyone had experience producing a realistinc presentation for about $1K not including the source? My listening room is 14 x 20 X 8. I thought this could be accomplished by an inexpensive tube pre-amp ($200-300) and older vintage amp such as a Pioneer Spec 4 or Yamaha approx $300, and possibly some older klipsh's (KG-4) or newer Axiom's M22ti's approx $400. Am I on the right track? Has anyone been able to accomplish this? Any recommendations for any of the 3 items?
madfab200e793
kotta's avatar
kotta
649 posts
 
I personally would spend the vast majority of the budget on the speaker. You could find a nice older set of floorstanders for around $500 and the rest could go for a used int. amp and a source. For around $3 @ ft. buy Kimber Kable 4VS spk. wire and some new/used interconnects for $30-40 a 1m. set. I think you would be surprised what good sound you could get within your budget.
cdc
1,702 posts
 
I don't think a $200 tube pre will help your situation. Try for a good passive or just a stepped attenuator from www.percyaudio.com
CBM-170 from Ascend Acoustics are quite good for $328. Maybe a bit analytical and etched so go for a softer amp I would say Creek 4330 but it may not have enough power. These are going cheap used because of the new replacement.
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
You can attend a lot of live music events for under $1K :-)
zaikesman
3,017 posts
 
I will just add from my brief bout with ownership many years ago that Klipsch KG-4's are NOT what you want - I won't go into details here, but they are not a high-fidelity speaker, and will never give you realistic sound (please do not extrapolate that assessment as extending to any other Klipsch models, especially the classic horns).
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
Your request should involve some DIY skills to accomplish your mission. You can already cross-out $200-tube-pre idea and visit

http://home.new.rr.com/zaph/audio/
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