Just getting started

Get a one box CD player with a variable output headphone out. I would suggest the Sony XA7ES or its predecessor, the 707ES, but I image there are others. Match it up with a Sennheiser or Grado headphone set and you'll have a very fine quality playback system that also has an upgrade path. Depending on the CD player the budget is $600 to $1,300 (used).

Yes, Yes, Yes! It is possible to get started with $1,000! Welcome to the hobby. Starting with a CD player and headphone is an excellent suggestion!

When I got started many moons ago, I went out and listened to everything I could listen to, cheap to expensive. I finally settled on buying stuff on sale, older models that were going out, from a local dealer, demos, even used in some cases. In this price range, it is my experience that you should spend most on the speakers ($400), then the amp ($350) then the CD player ($200). Spend the remainig $50 on cables. Buy the best, small 2 way monitors you can find, and a small amp that can drive them would be my suggestion. Go for detail and quality, worry about bass and volume later.

Bending the price range just a bit using new prices, but staying under buying used, a cool starter system could be: B&W DM-602 S2 ($600 new, in classifieds for $400), Creek 4330R Integrated amp ($595 new, in Audiogon classifieds for $399), and a Cambridge Audio D500 CD Player ($450 new, seen in AudioGon classifieds for $216).

I just put this together to help a friend get started, by buying all used we got the whole system for $1,100! For a $1,100 system, it sounds pretty nice.

Good luck!

Sure. For example, right now the following items are available on Audiogon or down the street:

NAD C340 integrated amp - $300
Opera Duetto speakers - $395
Cal Audio Lab DX-1 CD Player- $200

Add in some Radio Shack Gold ICs and RS heavy speaker wire and it'd come in under $1,000.

A couple of "upgrades" to consider are the the Jolida 202A integrated tube amp ($415) and Soliloquy 5.0 speakers ($645) (they're factory blems) currently being advertised.One caveat: I do not have a great deal of experience with any of these products. Unheard and based solely on the reputation of the gear, I'd lean toward the Jolida based my preferences for clarity and accuracy. If you rock and roll there are some NHT 1.5s that would match up well with the NAD.

But to answer the question directly, yes, a reasonable system can be put together for ~$1,000 if one is willing to buy used and wait for the right gear at the right price to come along.

There is a feature on this site to build a virtual system based upon current blue book values of components.
If you go back to main page, click on LEARN, click on Virtual systems, you may have some fun seeing what you can do on your budget.
My advice? Save the fancy cables for later, later upgrades. I would focus on the basics: amp, preamp, cd player and speakers for now. Once you get the bug, the cables will come into play after you've upgraded your amp for the 3rd time! :-) Welcome to the wacky hobby. Beware, it is vERy HabiT forMing!

I just put together a sweet and perky office system with a Rega Planet CDP($400 used,audiogon), Rega Brio Integrated($400,demo audiogon), Wharfedale Diamond 7.2 speakers ($125,new eBay) plus some decent basic unused interconnects and speaker cables that I had about(approx.$125 used value)-total <$1100.
It may not be the most revealing or spectacular of systems but it does everything fundamentally correctly and is emotionally engaging and tuneful.The bottom line is that everything else is just gravy.
Best,
Ken