$13K used Budget for new system


Hello Audiogon Community,

I could use some help with speaker and preamp choices. I recently purchased a Ayre V-5xe amplifier on Audiogon and will most likely be pairing it with a Ayre K-5xeMP preamplifier.

Speaker choice right now is a Wilson Sophia at a $6K bluebook assuming I can find one locally.

I've auditioned a Sophia 2 with the Ayre combo and loved it, although the higher end KXR/MXR was even more stunning.

My questions are:

Any other speakers I should look at that would pair well with the Ayre amp?

Any other preamplifiers in the $2K used budget I should look at?

As far as a DAC, does anything outperform the QB-9 at $2K worth looking at?

Thanks!
ayre-wilson
My system followed pretty closely to your own. I have a total of $9700 in my used system. I went with Ayre C5xeMP, Ayre K5xe, APC S15, Pass Labs X250, Magnepan 3.6, and Grover Huffman cables throughout. I have never liked Wilson's very much. So I guess my suggestion would be listen to some Magnepans. The 3.6's are a big step up from the 1.6's even though I was very happy with the 1.6's until I got the 3.6's.
Lots of speakers will pair well. Buy the ones you've heard and like and can integrate well into your listening room, with space to walls, etc. if needed.