Newbie to the awesome audiophile world

I have to agree with a number of the posts as 1) you do have to consider the sources and 2) there are so many options and each of us have our own personal “bias” as it relates to the sound we like. For many years in the late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s I went on the quest for the best system I could put together - finding the most transparent speakers, neutral electronics, best turntable, etc - ultimately ending up with a system that cost over $20K (but wow what a system). At some point, real life (family, moves, etc) kicked in and all of this became secondary and time was spent on other priorities. About 4 years ago, I realized that I have time and missed just sitting down and listening to my records and CDs and was tired of listening to my digital sources on ear buds (OK, I did have some rather nice headphones) and restarted my search for some basic components. However, I was much more focused on the pure enjoyment of the music than the hunt for the best components and ended up with a PS Audio Sprout integrated amp and floor standing speakers from Q Acoustics (the 3050’s) - both had been well regarded “budget” components. I can’t recommend those enough (both have been updated since) and in all transparency I have since “upgraded” my system mostly by finding many of the components I owned in the late ‘80s. I share this because I was able to put together a truly enjoyable system for about $1000. The PS Audio Sprout had a decent phono stage (moving magnet only) as well as a built in DAC including Bluetooth. I think there are a number of these types of integrated amplifiers now on the market (NAD, PS Audio, Music Hall, etc) and you may find that these provide all that you need and will let you put more money into the source.

I think in addition to budget we need to know where the OP is coming from in terms of listening experience and expectation as well as where he wants to go.

OP, if your listening experience with high end audio is fairly low then that is a huge advantage as far as I am concerned. Inflated tastes are expensive.


And I agree with rok2id about what you can get for the money these days.


I have a modest $500 system at my cabin that sounds great to me and I enjoy it every time I'm there. It does not sound like my primary system but it most certainly doesn't sound 40x worse even though it cost 40x less.


Does that have anything to do with my lack of experience? My lack of critical listening/hearing ability? Sure could. But if I can't and won't ever be able to distinguish and appreciate some minute sonic distinction then it certainly does not make sense to pay for that distinction.

While I think listening to various speakers and amps in high end shops or on loan in your home is great advice............it isn't very realistic for most people. Most of us do not have high end audio shops nearby and even if we do the selection is likely to be limited especially when it comes to speakers that only cost $1000 a pair.

My recommendation: Find a pair of speakers that review well and meet you budget. Find an integrated amp that reviews well, meets your budget and technically meets the requirements of your chosen speakers. Chances are it will sound great and you will love it. Buy some large gauge high quality speaker wire, cut it to length and put decent quality banana plugs on them. This is simple and cheap. No need to spend 25% of a $2000 budget on cables yet. Do that later if you feel like you need to. 

Then spend time positioning your system in your listening room and hearing the differences. Then spend time getting the highest quality source material you can get. I'll be pilloried for this but don't expect crappy recordings to be made un-crappy in reproduction no matter how good your system is.

Don't let anyone suck the fun out of it by making the process painful. And don't get sucked into never being happy with what you have...unless that makes you happy.

I stared my audiophile journey as a teenager. Broke as a joke raking lawns and shoveling driveways for cash. 
Like me then, you can’t afford an amp with big balls so SHOP for highly efficient speakers that sound great to you. 
Listen to as many as you can before buying. 
FOMO is death. Take your time. 
Find a used integrated amp with the fewest features and the largest power supply. 
It’s gotta be HEAVY. 30lbs plus. 
All it really needs is a source selector and a volume knob. That’s it. 

Stream a high quality source like Qobuz through a decent DAC. You should be able to find a Musical Fidelity V-90. For a couple hundred bucks. 
Speaker placement is REALLY important. Get ‘em out into the room with you. 
In a small room or apartment a great pair of 2-way bookshelf speakers on a couple of cinder blocks will sound fantastic. 
Dim the lights... crank it up and enjoy. 

The best advice is to read and listen on your own and avoid these kinda forums.

Second best advice is to start with gear you can buy online and return.

I made a list of well reviewed gear I figure will synergize well around the 2K mark and change.

SYSTEM 1

Bluesound Node 2i streamer
XTZ EDGE A2-300 amp
PSB Alpha T20 floorstanders
Transparent Wave speaker cables
Audioquest NRG-4 power cables
Audioquest RCA Mackenzie interconnect cables

Or go even simpler...

SYSTEM 2

Marantz pm7000n amp/streamer
QACOUSTICS 3050i floorstanders
QED Silver Anniversary XT speaker cables
Audioquest NRG-2 power cables

Any piece of gear listed that you keep will be easy to sell as you upgrade.

I recently(a year ago) decided to dedicate more time to listening to music. I was in the same predicament. I had a smallish budget and just wanted great sound. I personally love old school floor standing speakers. I found a pair of original EPI M150's for $200. I bought a Sony receiver with Bluetooth and started streaming. This is my progression over the next year:

Onkyo receiver with phono stage
Tube buffer for iPod
More expensive tube buffer for ipod
Escient music server/cd player 
Fluance rt80 turntable(gift)
Upgrade cartridge in turntable 
Complete speaker rebuild from Human speaker, new cloth ect
Rogue Audio Sphinx 2(demo $1100)
Audio engine B1 Bluetooth converter
Fluance RT85 with Ortofon Blue

The moral of my story? I could have saved money if I commited to the Rogue Sphinx right away. The speakers are very personal and they look awesome and sound like more then $200 with a $365 rebuild. I still obviously have a very modest setup at around $3000. To me it sounds awesome. I think part of the sound is seeing the progression from low end to upper low end! It is night and day from where I am now and where I started. I see myself going to an Ortofon Bronze cartridge and having the sphinx 2 upgraded to the sphinx 3. I could live with this system for a long time until I really want to blow some coin.

You could keep it simple an jump right to $1000 integrated and $1000 speakers and be happy. I think you might just miss out on the experience.