Thank you again for the considered opinions on this subject. I just wanted to ask a couple specific questions to a few of you that gave specific recommendations on equipment.
To Dave_72 and Lowrider57: Thank you for the multiple category recommendations, however the Harman/Kardon HK990 is 2 grand all by itself, not really a choice when your total budget is $2500. I looked around for this used or sold second-hand and surprisingly (to me) came up with zero results. Is there something less expensive that you could think of? What do you think about my original suggestion of the Denon AVR-3805? Also, I'm kind of surprised you would recommend a turntable that's less than $200 (unless I'm missing something, all the Audio-Technica turntables are this cheap except the USB one which is unnecessary here). Finally, both your speaker recommendations are floor standing speakers and there just isn't room for that here, they have to be able to be either wall-mounted or put on a bookshelf, hence the desire for a sub to complement them. However, your speaker recommendations gave me a good jumping off point and in the course of clicking from one thing to another came across Monitor Audio RX2s and Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1s. What do you think of these speakers and what do you think about pairing them with a REL Strata 3? In my research, I found a good price on this subwoofer but have never heard it, seems highly lauded though. I looked at the PSB speakers website, again, I really can only consider the bookshelfs, but I was uncertain as to how to read the different frequency response values that were dependent on the axis? I thought that the tighter the variance, the better the output of sound, but in their specs it shows that when you go from + or - 3dB to 1 1/2 you lose frequency? And thanks to both of you for the Blue Jeans Cable tip.
Don't feel inhibited from commenting on this too, Audiogon community!
To Bifwynne: I appreciate you opening my eyes to hi-fi from the 60s, but I don't feel good about buying something that is rapidly approaching its 50th birthday :)
Finally, I appreciate everyone's concern for my friend that he actually gets something he wants, but I assure you that I would not undertake this task if I didn't allude to this in conversation. At a certain age, you're grateful for quality gifts, even if you already have an idea of what they're going to be :)
To Dave_72 and Lowrider57: Thank you for the multiple category recommendations, however the Harman/Kardon HK990 is 2 grand all by itself, not really a choice when your total budget is $2500. I looked around for this used or sold second-hand and surprisingly (to me) came up with zero results. Is there something less expensive that you could think of? What do you think about my original suggestion of the Denon AVR-3805? Also, I'm kind of surprised you would recommend a turntable that's less than $200 (unless I'm missing something, all the Audio-Technica turntables are this cheap except the USB one which is unnecessary here). Finally, both your speaker recommendations are floor standing speakers and there just isn't room for that here, they have to be able to be either wall-mounted or put on a bookshelf, hence the desire for a sub to complement them. However, your speaker recommendations gave me a good jumping off point and in the course of clicking from one thing to another came across Monitor Audio RX2s and Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1s. What do you think of these speakers and what do you think about pairing them with a REL Strata 3? In my research, I found a good price on this subwoofer but have never heard it, seems highly lauded though. I looked at the PSB speakers website, again, I really can only consider the bookshelfs, but I was uncertain as to how to read the different frequency response values that were dependent on the axis? I thought that the tighter the variance, the better the output of sound, but in their specs it shows that when you go from + or - 3dB to 1 1/2 you lose frequency? And thanks to both of you for the Blue Jeans Cable tip.
Don't feel inhibited from commenting on this too, Audiogon community!
To Bifwynne: I appreciate you opening my eyes to hi-fi from the 60s, but I don't feel good about buying something that is rapidly approaching its 50th birthday :)
Finally, I appreciate everyone's concern for my friend that he actually gets something he wants, but I assure you that I would not undertake this task if I didn't allude to this in conversation. At a certain age, you're grateful for quality gifts, even if you already have an idea of what they're going to be :)