Best upgradable system components for under $6K

If I had $6k to spend on a 2 channel system, Emotiva XSP Balanced preamp mated to some Emotiva XPA1L Class A/AB monoblocks. They have *plenty* of power for almost any speaker and deliver the 1st 30 watts in pure Class A mode.

The pre is $999 and each amp would be $599. The total is $2200. The preamp is a very nice piece indeed with plenty of connection options and fully balanced cirsuitry. These products have a 30 day in-home trial and 5 year warranties. And they are built to last several decades, one of your priorities.

This leaves you about $4k for speakers, a source, and cables. Expect to spend about $3000 on the speakers and the rest on your source and cabling.

The obvious source choice is the Oppo BDP-103, an excellent CD/DVD/Bluray/File playback/Streaming universal player. The Oppo products are VERY well built and Oppo has some of the best customer service in the world. The BPD-103 is $499

Speakers are far too personal for anyone but you to decide what sounds best. And they MUST be mated properly to your room.

The Vandersteen 2CE Signatures are about $2700, a good fit for your budget. I've also read very good things about the GoldenEar Triton 2s at $1499 ea.

I would strongly recommend you get out and audition speakers and see which ones "speak" to you. But if you assemble a system using the components I suggested I believe you will be VERY happy for many years to come...

-RW-

03-26-15: Mesch
I like the approach recommended by ZD. I am surprised he didn’t suggest getting the Ayre preamp 1st and use your NAD as the amp until ready to buy newer speakers. I would think he would think it would make the biggest improvement in your system as it currently exists.

Yes, ZD has frequently emphasized the criticality of the preamp to the sonics of a system. But one reason for his amplifier-first suggestion in this case might be that the OP's present speakers are nominally 4 ohms, and most likely dip to significantly lower values than that at some frequencies, while his NAD integrated has the same 80 watt continuous power rating for 4 ohms as for 8 ohms (although its "dynamic power" rating for 4 ohms is somewhat higher than for 8 ohms). That being suggestive, of course, of the likelihood that driving low impedance speakers is not its forte.

While there are always multiple paths to success (and to failure :-)), given the OP's stated preferences and intentions I can't imagine he would be going wrong by following ZD's Ayre recommendations.

Best regards,
-- Al

If your $6k is exclusive of speakers, I would substitute the Oppo BDP-105 player at $1200 for the BDP-103. The 105 has a terrific DAC in it and can actually be used as your preamp as well.

I don't think I would change the amps, those XPA-1Ls are very good amps indeed. If you simply must spend more money, go with the Emotiva XPR-2 amp, a true reference class monster. $1799.

I now see that Emo has a new amp, the Stealth SA-250. This looks to be a very fine piece indeed. $1399.

Jack the Oppo directly into the amps and you would have a world class digital playback system (no analog, however) worthy of the very finest speakers...

The Moon is an integrated amp. In my system, it beat amps or integrateds from Krell, Karan, Burmester, Pass, BAT, Spectron and Audio Research. I have not had an Ayre in my system.

The good thing about an integrated in the savings on a set or interconnects, power cord and maybe a rack shelf.

Probably the next best integrated that I had was the Audio Research DSi200.

I hear you, Al, about the Ayre preamps. However, their lowest priced preamp, from what I could see on their website, is right at his stated budget, leaving no money for an amplifier. But I may be wrong about the pricing, please educate me if I am.

Maybe a modded Oppo BDP-105 (usually around $2500) mated to a $3,500 amp gets him where he needs to be....

-RW-