Good speakers for a low budget

"The best speakers in the $600 class are limited in one way or another, and I doubt the different music going through them would make 'that big' of a difference."

Well Carrot, why did you even post the question if that the way you feel about $600 class speakers? While you are correct that speakers in this price range have their limitations, the fact is what those limitations may be vary greatly beween the various makes of speakers. and what their designers think is the best compromises to make in keeping a speaker at certain price point. Anyway, based on what you posted about your friends listening taste, and associated equipment. I would probably be like Rar1 (Rich) and would suggest either the Energy RC-10 or the NHT Classic Two or Three. All are incredibly good souding and good looking speakers at their price point, and should she in the future, wish to upgrade her other components these speakers would be more than ready to fit into an upgraded system.

PS: Just curious on why your friend wants to get rid of her "unlabeled PSB"? From what I remember, their Alphas were some good sounding little speakers.

She knows little about audio and wanted to replace the cd player to improve the sound of the system which has a really small sound stage and seems to drown out a lot of the high frequencies (female vocals, violins, etc. can barely be heard in the presence of male vocals, drums, etc.). I suggested the speakers, which are definitely not the weakest link, because changing speakers typically has the most drastic effects on the sound of an audio system. I hooked up my North Star cd player in place of her cd player today to see whether or not it would make a difference and, surprisingly enough, it actually made a world of a difference. More detail, tighter bass, etc. I guess there is always the option of spending the same money on an integrated amp or a cd player such as the rotel rcd 1072.

Imaginarynumbers,

I'm going to take the side of your female friend, and say replace the "weak link" first, which seems to be her CDP. One that I've owned and though was a good sounding player is the NAD C542. If her speakers are PSB Alphas, then she already has some good speakers, and while getting some $600 a pair speakers may be an improvement, it could also prove not to be the case. Bottom line, keep the speakers, replace the CDP, and that may be all she needs, to solve her soundstaging and high frequency problems. If not, then I would also be looking at an integrated amp (and there are good sounding, affordable offering from NAD, Cambridge Audio, Denon, Rotel, Marantz, ect) as an integrated should give her better performance than her receiver (which may be the real "weak link"). Basically the "speaker first" approach works great if someone is building a complete system. Otherwise, I would subscribe to "relacing the weakest link" method. Remember, a system is only going to sound as good as it's "weakest link". You could find yourself in a situation, where "upgraded speakers" only further magnatizes the weaknesses of the components in front of them.

Yes obviously get rid of that CDP. maybe both it and the amp. The alpha's are probably her strongest link.

I'm also thinking buying another pair of speaks for $600 will not make much difference from the current PSBs, if this model PSB sounds like others I have heard.

If the CD has a digital output, an outboard DAC might be the best investment for $600. An mhdt Paradisea can be had for under %500 and make a real difference in the sound.

If she's using a stock RCA interconnect between CD and receiver, maybe upgrade that to a decent Audioquest or similar IC for under $100 also.