Basement system for $5000 or less

Something to consider, in a room that size if you do not have adequate ventilation, and even if you do have adequate ventilation, you will potentially be cooking yourself out of the room by having too much heat generated by tube equipment. This is especially true if you do not have at least one set of HVAC supply and return. Do not underestimate the amount of heat generated by tube equipment. If the environmental controls are not done properly it can make the room stifling. I know one couple who put in serious money into a listening room in their upstairs; in summer the room is heated so much by their tube amps that they cannot use the system - it gets over 80 degrees in the room. It's actually caused them to lose some interest in two channel audio. They predominantly use their lower end equipment now since it doesn't generate as much heat!
So, you may want to consider ss gear as an alternative. Today, if equipment is set up/matched properly you would likely find as much enjoyment in a hybrid rig (tube pre/ss amp(s)) as anything. A good quality integrated (either hybrid or ss) will allow you to accomodate a much nicer set of speakers and decent cabling.

Dave,

Do you have any WAF (wife acceptance factor) needs? If you don't need the system to be esthetically pleasing, you can spend WAY less than $5000 for a killer basement system. Oh, and no need to worry about heat either. Simply build a system around a good SET amp that uses only a single output tube per channel. This will keep the heat down and will reduce retubing cost.

Since you only list a CD player as source, you could go with a good CD player that has variable volume control and completely skip the preamp. This again keeps your cost down and reduces heat.

Lastly, speakers could be any high-efficiency design from a simple open baffle (piece of plywood with a quality full range driver stuck in it), to a complex horn loaded system using a single driver. I'm currently using this single driver speaker (I bought the review pair):

http://www.hempacoustics.com/Review.pdf

They aren't pretty, but they are inexpensive and very easy to build. They sound fantastic too!

So, You could buy a good CD player with variable volume control for $800-$2500, a good 2A3 SET for $500-$1500 and a pair of high efficiency speakers for $400 (open baffle DIY) to $600 (HempAcoustics DIY) to $1800 (Omega Max Hemps) and have a great sounding system. It would cost between $1700-$5000 depending on your choice of components.

There are lots of other alternatives, but I like the "simpler is better" philosophy.....

Enjoy,

TIC

Here is my second system; the prices are for new pieces of equipment:

Jolida JD1501RC integrated amp $650
Consonance CD-120 Linear cdp $700
Buggtussel Somu speakers $1000
PAD Musaeus 2m speaker cables $450
PAD Musaeus 1m RCA inteconnects $300

TOTAL $3100

Lots of great ideas for me to consider. Keep them coming!

Thanks,
Dave

Dave, forgot to mention the two Chinese 12AX7 tubes that come with the Jolida 1501RC are nothing special and actually hold back the sonics this unit is capable of. I changed the Chinese tubes out to Electro-Harmonix and noticed a very obvious improvement. A friend of mine in Tampa just put NOS (from the 1950s) Dutch Amperex 12AX7s in his Art Audio Vinyl One and advised that the improvement was spectacular. I plan to try these in the Jolida 1501RC.