Moving to separates

Hi!

For solid state the Cambridge Audio Azur 640A integrated amp and 640C cd player are hard to beat at their asking prices.

If you want to go tubes, the Sound Quest SQ-88 integrated tube amplifier is a bargain at it's asking price. I have had excellent results with a variety of speakers, including the Von Schweikert VR-4jr.

Have fun!

1)First and foremost, good luck in the quest. You might want to consider narcotics as a healthy alternative to this audio habit.

2)Do your research! Audiogon is a fantastic resource and there is no end to what you can learn from your fellow posters. Take a look in the ‘virtual systems’ section and see what combinations folk have pieced together over the years and at what budget. This will give you a good idea of what you can get for best ‘bang for the buck’. Check out budget minded, ever evolving, opinions please- all of these are great places to learn from the mistakes of others. It also will have the added benefit of “drawing your eye” to good places to look for bargains as some brands or models will be represented over and over again with gushing reviews.

3)“high end” is really a relative term. Depending on who you talk to, the same system could be considered a starter or the last word in the ‘true’ high end. Check out enjoythemusic.com. they usually have a couple of pieces on good sound for under $2k.

4)It is pretty hard to give blanket recommendations of one or two pieces from the thousands that are available. Some good suggestions have been posted here. Everyone has opinions and it is impossible to objectively evaluate subjective attributes of what sounds ‘good’. Rather than reading about sound, try to find a dealer, even if they are 50 or 100 miles away. There’s nothing like sitting in the room with gear and listening to equipment that will become your buddy over time.

5) To the extent that you can, as you build the system try not to make too many changes at once. For example, if you can avoid it don’t add new interconnects and new speaker wire at the same time. Don’t swap out cd players and speakers on the same day. That might seem strange, but to the degree that you can make changes one at a time, the resulting changes will be obvious. Because obvious changes are not always desirable, it is handy to know where the changes are coming from. True, there are major financial benefits to making changes slowly. But more important is the learning that you develop with more time to research gear and come to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your evolving system.

6)Don’t forget to budget for cables! This is a subject of some controversy as zealots from various cable religions wage crusades upon each other. There’s some good material here on a-gon diminishing returns.

7)Used gear? Your mileage will vary. I tend to worry less about getting ‘burned’ by total strangers, and more about being ‘penny wise and pound foolish’. For example, a used pre at $250 might seen like a great deal, until it develops a crackly pot that costs $125 to fix. As a rule, I try to avoid older used gear with motors.

8)The rules of consumer electronics don’t apply. In that realm, for example, conventional wisdom says things like a) spend 50% of your budget on speakers, b) all cd players sound the same, c) rca cables don’t make a difference. Those rules are rapidly overturned once you start playing around with this fancy stuff.

9) Consider vinyl. Though I will not join the debate about which format ‘sounds better’, I will argue that you can often find LP’s for a fraction of the cost of cd’s. The money you spend on an analog front end (at some point) will easily be recouped in the savings from much lower software costs. This means that a pre-amp with a phono-stage is ‘very desirable’.

10)Be patient. Soon come.

seeing your budget I honestly beleive you will achieve higher quality sound via the high quality integrated route.

Simaudio I-3 (used) maybe?

All: thanks for your comments, esp. Dhoperos. You folks gave me a great many components and combinations about which to read this past weekend.

What do you think of Channel Islands Audio? None of you mentioned it, but it seems to have a following...

Also, a "problem" I am having is realizing that much of what I'm looking at - I guess, able to afford - does not handle digital connections. I have always used digital connections with my remaining gear (computer network streams, sound bridges, DVD changer, XM tuner). I suppose I could sell that gear as I sold the other pieces, or use their analog outputs, but am concerned that I won't be able to afford means to watch a DVD (does anyone make a "reference" 100+ disc changer?) as I did recently. Plus, admittedly as someone in the physics field - though granted, without "true analog experience", this seems like a step backward to me...

Some of you recommended Adcom gear: looks great, but the cheapest item that handles digital sources seems to be quite costly - and certainly so for Rotel, Parasound, Moon, etc. Perhaps I need to wait for more sale items on AudiogoN for more options.

I found and auditioned a pair of Gallo Ref IIIs. The place did not have the sub amp (said that it wasn't yet available), but the speakers sounded nice. Out of my range, but they were amazing...The seller said he could work out a deal for me on the Arcam AVR300, as well, if I were interested. Also seemed like a step in the wrong direction, as it was an integrated amp, and not separates, for quite a bit of money...I don't need a tuner, though, to the person above who asked.

Thanks again for your help!

Given your needs/budget, perhaps you might look into something like a Music Hall Mambo. It's an int. amp. plus DAC (coax and toslink inputs). 1300 new. Worth investigating. Good luck and have fun.