Budget Audiophile system under 2k

Marantz pm5005 integrated $499
Pro-ject x1 $699 (comes w/ sumiko mm)
Wharfedale diamond 220’s $349
Marantz cd5005 $399
Musical fidelity v90 dac $299

This outta do it!
Slightly over budget at $2245, but those are all retail prices and you can grab any of the above at great prices, especially through Amazon. In fact everything above is available on Amazon, how is that for easy!

The diamond 220’s do midrange and bass far above its price point (whathifi 5 stars) The marantz are very musical components with that classic warmish sound signature. The pro-ject was reviewed by fremmer (and he was impressed), and the v90 dac is border line class a component in stereophile. Not certain how you could go wrong or do any better than above.
Just a note, and to shave off a bit of dough, if you can score an old play station 1, I’ve read an article and review that indicated that the playstation is a killer cd player.....

Based on current Audiogon listings:

Marantz CD5004 @ $200 or Marantz DV 8400 @ $300
Rogue Audio Sphinx V2 @ $998.77 (integrated amp)
Monitor Audio Gold 50 speakers @ $600
or  Monitor Audio Gold GR 10 speakers @ $700

If you go with the lower priced CD & speaker options, then there'd be $200 left for an entry level Schiit Audio DAC; or, plenty of choices for a used DAC among the Audiogon listings.

What is the size of the room that the music will be played in? That would make a difference as far as speakers go. What is the best thing he has ever heard? An audiophile is someone who does like quality sound, so much so that he (or rarely she) will make music the foreground for much of the time, if not all. They don’t put AC/DC on then mow the lawn. They don’t play Mozart and do the dishes. They don’t read a book while listening to easy listening 70’s. This is because we need the quality. Still, there is such a thing as experience. Don’t get too caught up in "he won’t like it", because we cannot know this until we have a point of reference for comparison.

All Audiophiles have a beginning. Mine was listening to a box that looked like it was for holding small toys, but it opened and played records. I sat there and played the same two 45 rpms for as long as my parents could take it. Find out what he has heard, then see if you can improve on that within your budget. Don’t be afraid to go to the used market for a component or two.

Topping D50 $250
Schiit saga preamp $400
Schiit Vidar amp $700
JBL 530 $600 (sometimes on sale for $300!)
Chromecast audio on eBay $50?

Well as one can see there are a multitude of quality new systems that can be put together for $2000. Also a lot of quality used $3000 to $4000 systems for the same budget. 

That Music Fidelity M2si at a new price of $599 interests me.