Basic system for living room

Get a custom pair from Fritz. Let him know you need them tuned specifically for a bookshelf.

http://www.fritzspeakers.com/

He can whip something up out of quality parts for about that much.  At the last audio show I went to, the musicians I talked to rated his speakers among best of the show. Me too.

Best,

E

I should point out, if you get it and it's not bright enough, Fritz can alter that. One of the nice things about getting a custom pair.

You might want to look into the Belles Aria Integrated and a pair of Ryan 610 speakers or the small Harbeth’s.  This system meets your criteria for price and listening concerns. If you are near Verona, NJ you can listen to this system at the Audio Connection. Ryan’s like Harbeth, are one of the few speakers that sound good at low volumes. I personally like the Harbeth’s better,  but the Ryan’s match your treble requirements better than the Harbeth’s . Good luck!

If you are looking to buy new I would recommend the Outlaw RR2160 integrated amp/reciever. I had been searching for an easy to use integrated for my wife to stream digital files in our living room used mostly for background music. After auditioning a few amps from Hegel and Peachtree, I settled on the Outlaw driving a pair of Proac Studio 3’s.

For the $799 price tag, it has a lot going for it including bass management, multiple digital and analog connections, DLNA streaming and it sounds fantastic.

With your budget of 2k, I would think a used pair of Kef ls50’s or the recommended Ryan r610’s (I have owned these and they are great) and the Outlaw would make a fine system and you may have a little bit of money left over for some decent stands and cabling.

One thing I did that made a nice improvement was replace the stock power cord with a Zu Mission and the amp/preamp jumpers with Kimber PBJ’s.

Best of luck with your search and enjoy your new system!

Quad Z-1 or Z-2 (see Underwood) + Belles Aria.