$50k - $80k Budget…Opinions please.


Long story short, I sold my beloved 2-channel to reduce family debt. In about a year-ish, I’ll be in a position to rebuild with a hefty budget. I loved my Harbeth + Pass Labs combo. My REL sub died before I really got to integrate it, so opinions wanted there as well. I fully understand the diminishing margin of returns when moving into some arenas, but that’s ok, opinions are strongly encouraged.

I listen to a lot of Miles Davis/Coltrane, Radiohead, Tool, Pearl Jam, Brent Cobb. I’ve often preferred “organic” or neutral, not sure how technical that is.

toddcowles

With that budget, you might be able to build a dedicated listening room.  Depending on many factors, of course (such as the amount of work you do yourself and your existing floor plan). 

Accuphase Integrated.  I’d look at E5000.  Add Phono card.

Thorens 1601 TT with the avail MC cart.  Semi-Auto.

HiFi Rose DAC/Streamer: Get the 150.

Fyne Audio Speakers.  They have great Floor Standers and Stand Mounts.

Above average power conditioner and cables.

A bit of room treatment.

 

 

Yup. Diminishing returns.

Go to some listening rooms at a show or two, or at some decent shops. check out systems at 15k, 20k, 25k, 30k. Maybe a tad higher? But set a limit - no more than half of what you receive. Remember decent $$$$ down for treatment as that should be considered part of your system. See if there’s that much difference between them, but you may find yourself pretty darned happy with one not much more extravagant than what you had.

Invest the rest of your money and enjoy your peace of mind along with the music.

 

Like many threads, so many people coming from so many places. What I got from this thread is that it is best not to judge/advise others on financial matters. The primacy of a good acoustically treated/treatable listening space is a very important consideration. I would add to that, clean power is a thing of design/action and is critical to success, but every installation is unique. Don’t skimp on clean power. Previous posts suggest that it is wise to chose a speaker/amplifier combination that you can audition. There is much to criticize regarding auditioning equipment, but it beats reviews. Lastly, there are posters above that have decades of quality audio gear and lots of practical experience. One in particular has passed through the OPs budget and has compared equipment that I will never be able to afford, but the point is that this person is a valuable resource that has the experience to contrast different levels of system expense. In this case, it is a given that the differences are heard because of the listeners expertise and as mentioned in another post, is not simply because of the level of expenditure. I can’t say that I made all the right choices when building my system, but the best parts of my system resulted from me finding a couple of people that were rock solid with their advice.  Perhaps, having a couple of golden ear advisors that you trust and understand your tastes and room/financial constraints just might be the most important part of the selection process.  Good luck and use your next year listening and comparing.