Help: ISO Beginner full setup for excellent sound on $2000 max budget


Overview: Brand new at this, looking for help purchasing beginner full setup of TT, Tube Amp, Speakers, Preamp that is aesthetically pleasing (i.e. minimalist, blends in as piece of furniture with plants), that sounds fantastic, and will stand up over the next 5-7 years, for $2000 max. I'm in search of the best sound, most aesthetically pleasing, and holds up longest overtime. If you could put together a beginner set of quality products for somebody about to enter their 30’s for xmas with a $2000 max budget, what would you include?


Hey y’all, I’m brand new to this and don’t want to jump down a huge rabbit hole, or spend countless hours contemplating decisions about these, not because I don’t have time, it’s just not good for me: I’m so bad at making decisions and I want somebody’s advice that I can trust. So, figured I’d start a dialogue:

I am looking for a simple setup with the following components for a small to midsized room:
- Turn Table (I like Rega, UTurn, and Pro-ject easthetics);
- Preamp (whatever pairs best with the entire setup);
- Speakers (what I think I should invest most in? - I like Omega Super 3 XRS Speakers); and
- Tube Amp (whatever pairs best with the entire setup - I like the Almarro a205a).

The most important aspects of these products are all:
- Durable (wanting to last a while and feel a little modern classic 6-7 years from now);
- Best sound for the price; and
- Aesthetically pleasing (this is important, it will be the center of my living room for the foreseeable future).

My music style: is mostly slower independent stuff: Sun Kil Moon, John Prine, Iron and Wine sounding stuff. Other than that I’ll mostly listen to Hip Hop, like J Dilla, or Rock, like Pearl Jam).

I’d love for it to be something that’s not jumping head first into this as a hobby, but something I can be proud of owning that I can play every day.

If you have any specifics please ask, I apologize for the length of this post, just figured I ’d try to be general enough so y’all could get an idea.
whyistherenopie
There are some excellent suggestions here with speakers that will vastly outperform the Omega. This is the last attempt at trying to save you from making what I feel is a major mistake in selection of a system. 

It seems that the desire for aesthetics may be driving the speaker choice for whyistherenopie. That's ok, as long as you realize what you are sacrificing to get that pretty speaker. Here is what you will sacrifice, and if it hasn't been clearly pointed out to you, then you're not getting good advice. 

You will experience a lot of cabinet coloration, and the sound will be smallish, constrained compared to the speaker I recommended, a Vandersteen 1 or 2 series (older models for sale in open market). The tonality will be skewed toward the upper end simply because there is no appreciable low end to the speaker. A 5.5" driver in that sized cabinet cannot do serious bass. I suspect the specifications of 40Hz (loose specs) are very generous, i.e. weak. The tight specs will be closer to 55Hz +/-3dB. Do you have any idea what that means? It means NO low end! It means exactly as I said previously, that it will operate more like a boom box than floor standing speaker! 

In addition, the speaker will not be able to handle higher listening levels with aplomb. It will quite possibly begin to distort when you try to drive it to even reasonable higher levels to play your Pearl Jam, etc. Do you really want a speaker that will potentially distort when played at higher levels? Do you want a speaker that because of it's inherent design will struggle to give you a warm and inviting sound? 

Further, it will be quite dynamically limited. The nature of the bass will be VERY weak compared to speakers such as I suggested. You will get ZERO presence from the speaker in terms of feeling the music in a tactile way, unless you crank it up - and then experience the strain of the driver to attempt to play bass when it is a puny 5.5" driver and can't do anything much below 50Hz! 

Now, if a pretty cabinet appeals to you and that's your higher priority, I give that to you. You'll get your pretty cabinet. And as for the amp, frankly, 5wpc is not terrific with a 94dB speaker. That will NOT get you outstanding performance in whatever little bass the thing generates. So, the selection of the amp will not help much. 

Now, what can the combo of the speakers and amp do in its favor? It will most likely have superb coherence, and a clean center image. It may - notice "may", because NO ONE can tell you whether it will be more preferable unless heard - be more detailed, but that is not assured. The quality of the driver is unknown; I would not accept anyone but the manufacturer's word on that. Certainly armchair guesses as to the quality of the driver, cabinet, etc. are hack, not good advice. 

Proper assessment of a speaker and system entails many aspects of consideration, and a thorough discussion of the speaker and amp, in this case. I do not have an analogue source, so I recuse myself on that. Digital, I can give guidance, and I started you with a very affordable solution to get better speakers and amp going. 

The bottom line is that the Omega speaker you are considering is horribly limited compared to the field of available speakers. It is a niche product which would call for abdication of several parameters of fine performance. I have heard many of such speakers with smallish full range drivers and small volume cabinets. They all seem really impressive when heard alone, but not impressive at all when heard compared to other fine speakers. Imo it will not handle well the harder music you wish to play at times. If you are willing to accept a speaker and amp combo that is more like a boom box, and can't be played at higher volumes because it sounds strained, then forge ahead!  

millercarbon is trying to be your guru, as though he alone knows how to get the best sound. He said, "Without knowing anything else I can tell you that speaker probably sounds pretty damn good for the money. It probably won’t play real loud, or go real deep. But what it does do it will do mesmerizingly good. You will sit and sink into the music and forget all about what it doesn’t do because it does what it does do so well." 

Here are the facts; he has NO clue how good the speaker sounds, and whether it is a good value for the money. An good assessment admits that. How can I say what the speaker will sound like? Because I have built hundreds of systems of all sorts with all sorts of speakers. I have heard dozens of similar speakers and they all carry absolute characteristics due to physical constraints and construction. Ask people who know speaker design and they will agree with my general assessment of the sound. 

"It probably won't play real loud, or go real deep." That is understatement, and if you don't comprehend the consequences of the design, you could be vastly disappointed. I explained what the design does and what you should expect. i.e. Do not expect to be impressed when playing anything like Pearl Jam. 

"... you will forget about what it doesn't do because it does what it does so well." That's an opinion, and you may have different concerns, goals. IF a nice looking speaker with a beautiful midrange (albeit more strained sounding than with a Vandersteen most likely) and cleanness, but without much dynamic capacity, without much bass, without ability to play loud without potential distortion, without a boxy cabinet coloration is appealing to you, then go for it. 

Personally, I think it's a poor decision if you really want great sound for all kinds of music. I have spent way too much time on this already. I believe I am finished with this thread. 

I have no further interest in debating/explaining my recommendations. :)
Correction, third last paragraph should read, "... with a boxy cabinet coloration" 
@douglas_shroeder, You’ve explained a lot, and I appreciate your advice, I think is incredibly important to take into consideration, alongside other suggestions. I’m not sold on those speakers or that amp, as stated previously. Again, I know nothing about this subject, but there are millions of products out there that I could get within a 2k budget that could be fantastic for the lay person who is interested in getting better sound. This isn’t my wheelhouse, if you need any niche information about philosophy, IT Auditing, or bartending you can let me know, but I dont think many folks need to know the ins and outs to enjoy a good cocktail, or to understand the concepts or interlocutors in entry-level Kierkegaard.

If possible, though, can you or anyone else reading this help guide me, in layman’s terms, toward a system that could work. I’m not trying to be a 3 michelin star restaurant, I’m simply trying to make the Bib Gormond. Or, if you were taking a philosophy intro course, I’m looking for the survey data, I’m not looking to write a PhD thesis on the connection between sexuality, body politics, and their relation to finance-dominated capitalism.

If you could choose a nice-looking set up for somebody who looking to gain some knowledge but not dive into this headfirst, what’s respectable and what makes sense together based on the previous posts.

Also, I’m going back through everyone’s posts rn and looking at products and trying to understand them and why they would work together, just taking some time, I have some other projects I’m working on .
So if I read Doug's post correctly, it seems that he is not fond of Omega speakers. But I'm not quite sure as Doug's critique was quite subtle...

Although I recommended something different I would like to take a few seconds to rebut: it's true that Omega speakers, like almost every high-efficiency speaker, are not to everyone's taste just as low powered SET amps are not everyone's cup of tea. But I take exception to some of Doug's specific remarks that seem to imply that you are naive, clueless or just plain stupid if you don't accept what Doug considers to be good sound and proper audio design parameters.

Namely:
1- pretty speaker. Where's the problem here?
2- cabinet coloration. Yes, it's intentional and part of the design. There are many speakers that use resonant cabinets (Snell/Audio Note, Klipsch Heritage, virtually every Altec Lansing design, to name a few)
3- can't play at higher listening levels (repeated as don't play real loud). Well, my Omega Alnico 6s played plenty loud (92dB+) with my 5W SE EL34 amp in my 17x26 living room.
4- dynamically limited/bass very weak.Well, I guess that will depend on your needs and perspective. My Omegas 6s have taut, well-defined bass down to about 46 Hz. I didn't want more for years but when I did I paired small REL subwoofers. This worked very well for me.

My point is not that Omega is the best speaker. It's not. There is no best speaker for all ears, all music, all gear or all rooms. You need to decide what's best for you by listening, not magazine reviews or Audiogon opinions (even mine!). Yes, you have a challenge based on your price limit but it's doable. My suggestion is to look, then LISTEN and have fun while doing it.

I will second soix system. You’d be happy with the simplicity and sound. Easily last more than a couple years.
If a Blue Circle NSCS or FiTh ever comes up at the proper price point... grab it.