$1500 for a whole system, budding audiophile

Also, don't exclude new equipment from online makers that do not have any distributorship for their products (Emotiva comes to mind...and sometimes they have various holiday sales).

I fully support starting this hobby of enjoying music and good sound from a young age. Heck, by the time I was 7 I was the only person in the family who knew how to connect the different parts of my parents' stereo to play and record from various sources.

However, if I were shopping for a system for a high school student, I would be under the assumption that this person would soon be going to college. And once in college they would have a tiny dorm room, and if they were anything like me, moving 1-3 times per year. (I think I must have moved 6-8 times during my 4 years in college.)

So I'd be looking for something practical, unobtrusive, and portable. To be honest, that probably means powered computer speakers, since a young person nowadays will be playing it from a computer, iPod, or smart phone. If it must be a more traditional system, then I would look for a used integrated amp + DAC or receiver coupled with a used pair of small monitor speakers (PSB Stratus Mini's or Usher S-520's, for instance).

Michael

I recently gave a Hegel H70 to my son. At around $1,000 used, has built in Dac. He can use USB or spidf. I listened to the Hegel for about a week and was impressed. Find some old beat up classic speaker, I gave my son my Polk sda crs, maybe old Vandersteen 2 and your there. For $50 you can get a Pioneer DVD v-7400 to use as a transport, and is not bad as a cd player. You only need digital cable and speaker wire.

Btw, the Hegel made the Polks sound better than I had ever heard them. Maybe add a better dac later.

Hope this helps...

Get the Rega BRio R an NAD CD player and the Dali Zensor bookshelf speaker. Doable for $1500 and will provide quality audiophile experience.

I'd go for a mix. You might consider a) Klipsch Heresy speakers ($300-$500 used); b) Marantz PM5004 (integrated amp, about $450 new); c) Marantz CD5004 (about $350 new) and, d) Project Debut Carbon (about $400 new). You do NOT need to spend big bucks to get fine sound. This collection of stuff would be $1500 to $1700 as stated, and less if you went used on everything. Personally, I try to avoid used electronics with the exception of speakers, but that's just me. Cheers.