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Help a newbie on an entry two-channel system

Greetings! This is my first post and I very much appreciate any suggestions you can offer for assembling an entry level system for a budget of $2,000 - $2,500.

I listen exclusively to classical music (i.e. from J.S. Bach's cello suites to Scriabin's piano sonatas). Genres include piano, violin, chamber, and orchestral works, in that order of preference. I do not touch opera.

My music collection is mostly CD's, SACD's and DVD-A's, including quite a bit of mono/historical and/or live performances. Tape hiss and other backgroud noise do not bother me that much. I hope with this system I may have a chance to enjoy better reproduction of tone colors of piano/violin solo, and modest sound stage reproduction of chamber/orchestra works.

I currently have a 10-year old stereo system consisting of a Denon single disk CD player, a Denon receiver (40 wpc) and a pair of RA Labs bookself speakers (roughly $600 retail). I also listen to music on my desktop PC using a Sennheiser PX200 headset.

I intend to set up this systme in a room of about 14ft by 10ft, with an 8.5 ft ceiling and carpeted floor, and without much clutter.

I am thinking of three major components (all used of course): a. a single disc stereo CD player (forget about SACD source for the time being), b. a solid state integrated amplifier, and c. a pair of monitors on stands.

What do you say?
etalon0
baroque_lover
102 posts
 
I am also a classical fan...everything from gregorian chant to modern minimalist compositions. I own the Totem Acoustic Arro's and in your size room they would be the ideal speaker for your musical taste. I am in love with my pair and I have no plans on upgrading. in a small to medium size room they have very good bass.
gmood1
1,251 posts
 
As far as the Musical Fidelity goes..stay away! As the famous Forest Gump said "that's all I have to say about that". Just kidding!.. You're about to make the mistake 99% of all audiophiles make getting into the hobby..you're looking at the big names out there. There's better quality as a whole IME going with the smaller companies.

The MF is pleasant gear.. it does give up resolution. Sounding murky and a bit flat after you've spent enough time with it. Or if you haven't lived with something better..you may love it for life.

You've claimed you don't listen at high volumes. Why would you want a high powered amplifier and hard to drive speakers? The more efficient your speakers are the more you can experiment with different amplifiers. You can also listen at lower levels without the music collapsing.

Buying used is great ..if you know what you're getting. Buying without listening..I would stick with companies that have a return policy and buy new.

Oh yeah.. never over look one of the most important parts of the system...THE SOURCE / FRONT END.
tobias
1,534 posts
 
I agree strongly with what Gmood says about the source. If the high mids and the highs of your digital system hurt your ears, the first place to look for peace is the source. It makes more sense musically, in my experience, to spend a lot on the source and a little downstream than the other way 'round. Get an amp and speakers that don't do too much damage to a good signal, not an amp and speakers that reproduce a sad one faithfully.

That said, judicious (and inexpensive) tweaking--an isolation transformer, antivibration feet and chassis damping, for example--can help a source that is almost good enough.
jmpwme
106 posts
 
Green Mountain has a free home trial period for new product (at least they used to, not sure if its still in effect). Not a bad way to go, but new is approx $900 for the Europa's. I have both the Europas and the Totem Forests in different systems. I love the totem sound and the arro's are a great suggestion above. For $600-$650 used, the Europas are an amazing buy, but not much to look at. Appearance notwithstanding, I prefer them to the Dyns which I have also heard, but not on my system.

As others have suggested, synergy will be important. If you can, try to listen before you buy, or, lock down such a great deal that you can re-sell what you don't like without much loss.
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