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Looking to build a system for under $5k

Hello,

I am brand new to audio and looking to put a system together for around/under $5k all in. Any recommendations?

This would be mainly for CD audio but expandable for phono in the future. I have a small bedroom that I am dedicating as a music room upstairs in a cape cod style home. So it has angled walls that follow the roof line.

Looking for components that offer the biggest bang for the buck. I've done some research over the last couple of months and it seems like the Vandersteen 1Ci might be a good cornerstone to design a system around.


Thanks,

Joe

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audioman58's avatar
audioman58
4,192 posts
 
Keep this in mind With loudspeakers under $3'k you will jot get real low bass 
If on s budget a good stand mount and a decent powered sub would get you much more low bass.   A solid integrated for example from Rogue .Kimber 8Tc ,and interconnects.you den even get a digital player for around  $1k 
A Schiit biftost under x $500 for a quality dac ,even thd little Aufioquest even cheaper and will support MQA recordings. And remember your epeakrrs sensitivity the lower it is the more power to drive them.  Also don't forget 
You can buy used and savery  a bunch of money.
pokey77
1,269 posts
 
$5K used will get you a lot more than new components.

First, decide which speaker you want because this will have the most significant affect on sound. This should be first if you want to have success. Good comment above about remembering that low efficiency speakers will require better amps and may push you out of your budget.

Second, find an integrated the synergizes well with your speaker choice. 

Thirdly get your source player, the best you can afford, and then if you have some budget left over some reasonably priced power cables, interconnects, speaker cables. 
randy-11
1,913 posts
 
I will repeat this xlnt advice for emphasis:

"use half your budget for the speakers"
Post removed 
mgreen27
147 posts
 

"Keep this in mind With loudspeakers under $3'k you will jot get real low bass"

Assuming that's true (and its not), so what? Most speakers over 3k don't go all the way down either.

"If on s budget a good stand mount and a decent powered sub would get you much more low bass.

At the expense of overall sound quality. System matching is everything. Subs are best used with full range speakers.That's why they're called subs, and not bass speakers.  If you use and stand mount speaker and a sub, what do you do about the frequencies that are too low for the small speakers to play, and are too high for the subs? You end up with a hole where some of the music is supposed to be, and the subwoofer never was. Besides, these components are not generic and interchangeable. You can't just throw them in any system without consequence and expect good results. If the OP buys a full range speaker like the Vandersteen Model 1, he can add a matching sub at any time, and will have a very easy time integrating it into his system because both pieces are designed to work together.

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