Helping a friend build a new system


A good family friend has recently retired and is looking to build a system for his home office. He used to own a nice sound system some 25 years ago but hasn't been actively pursuing the hobby. He was visiting my home a few weeks ago and I guess listening to my system must have inspired him to finally build a new one. He asked me to help set up a new system (new to him, he's willing to buy used). I asked him a bunch of questions to find out what he wants and how much he is willing to spend. His responses are summarized below:

1. Budget -- since he's retired he wants to keep the total system budget to around $7-8K (including cables)
2. Components Needed -- bookshelf speakers, integrated amp, cables. He already has a CD player which would do for now, but he might get into streaming later on. He owns a few hundred CDs.
3. Room size -- around 10x12 with 10 foot ceilings. Fully carpeted with some furniture.  
4. Music genres -- jazz, blues, vocals (he's a big fan of Frank Sinatra, Chet Baker, Billy Holiday, etc.), and R&B
5. Listening preferences -- he is looking for an 'intimate' and cozy experience and wants to try tube amps with high sensitivity bookshelf speakers. He mostly listens at a moderate volume and can be sensitive to high frequencies.

He also mentioned that he has some hearing loss since he's in his early 60s and suffers from a mild case of tinnitus. I'm not sure if this plays a role in the choice of components but I thought it's worth mentioning just in case.

I will really appreciate it if you guys can provide some pointers. Please remember that he is retired so $8k is absolutely the max he can do. System synergy is important. And, please no Tekton or class D recommendations. He really wants to try some affordable tube gear as a starting point.

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The suggestion above to visit with John Rutan at Audio Connection in Verona NJ is a great one. I think he might steer you towards ProAc with the tube integrated, as he seems to favor solid state with Vandys unless you feed them much higher tube watts (e.g., Quicksilver tube monos at 180 wpc). 
The best value in the lower regions of the ProAc range is the Response DT8, but unfortunately that's a floor-stander.

Given the limitations, I still think Fritz is the best way to go.
@dcevans -- my friend and I really appreciate all the advice. And thank you for being on the front line looking out for all of us. I have two cousins who are in the same profession as you. So many folks do not realize the dedication, hard work, and enormous risks that physicians and nurses, and their families take every day. Thank you!
@twoleftears -- My friend has been researching Fritz speakers and really like the Carrera BE model. The problem is that there are none that are available in the used market at the moment. He can buy new, but if he ever decides to try something else (outside the 30 day trial window), he's going to lose money one way or another. I've bought and sold used Harbeth speakers and never lost a dime. We'll continue to search the used gear sites for Fritz Carrera or Proac.
VTL IT-85 is in the house! Since my friend hasn't bought the speakers yet, we've been testing it with my Harbeth M30.1s since this afternoon. I have to say this amp sounds absolutely sublime! No problem driving the 30.1s. The midrange is just exquisite on this amp ... it has the EL34 liquid smooth magic for sure! We were worried that this amp might be overly romantic or lush, but it's very balanced throughout the range. Vocals are quite good as well.

And yes, it is quite a bit better than the Blackhawk or the Moonriver 404. Has that big juicy room filling tube sound but without the bloat or even a hint of mushiness. Another thing we like is that it sounds excellent at low volume, no loss of detail or presence. My friend is saying that this is exactly what he had in mind when said 'intimate and cozy'.

This also goes to show how good the 30.1s are. These speakers definitely scale as you feed them a better signal. I must say this is the best I've heard them sound ... although, I've never tried them with my other amp, Audio Hungary a50i. Maybe I should.

The problem is that he now wants to buy my M30.1s too. We'll see about that.