Cwlondon:
You want to up the budget?? Okay my friend, you're on. And with a budget of around $15K used (and for an audio system only), there has to be plenty of great gear to pick from. Gear that was produced from about "ten to about twelve years" ago is right about the greatest gear that was ever produced in my opinion. And because quality of the materials used was better and quality of manufacture was both better and cheaper, even "high-end" from a decade ago has to be built better than the "high-end" gear that is available today, making them even better values in the used market. So with that said then, I would shop the used market almost entirely if I was putting together an audio system for about $15K today. One more thing to remember. Either high-end gear did not EVEN exist a decade ago. Or if it did, it was beginning to scratch the surface back then compared to what is available today. So even the most expensive audio gear from a decade ago can be an incredible value today, if you do your homework and shop hard enough just to land that incredible bargain.
So, with all of that said then, here is what I would buy if I had $15K to spend on an audio system today. And like you, all of the gear you will see below is used. So then, without further ado, here goes:
Speaker System: Aerial Acoustics 10T -- $3,500.00 (Used).
Power Amplifier: Mark Levinson No. 27 (200 Watts Per Channel) -- $2,500.00 (Used).
Preamplifier: Mark Levinson No. 26 -- $2,500.00 (Used).
Compact Disc Transport/DAC: Wadia WT-2000/Wadia 27ix Decoding Computer -- $2,200.00 (Used).
Turntable/Arm/Cartridge: VPI 19 MkIII/Graham 1.5 Basic/Benz Micro Glider Phono Cartridge -- $2,000.00 (Used) + $750.00 (New -- Phono Cartridge).
Cable: MIT MI-350 Interconnects and MIT MH-770 Speaker Cables ($750.00 Interconnects and $1,250.00 Speaker Cables -- Used).
Total -- $15,450.00 (Okay, Okay..... So I am over budget by about $450.00. What the hell. Want to find a remedy for that?? Take a bag lunch from home to work for the next month or so and stay out of McDonald's for a while. If you do that, you may finally recoup the $450.00 that you have overspent on buying this system. But hey, you will get to enjoy yourself and lose yourself into some beautiful sounding music when you get home from work in the evening. It is what I call the "American Dream". And isn't that what life is all about?? So, to hell with constraints. Go on the edge. Live a little. You only live once. Be good to yourself. You deserve to every once in a while).
--Charles--
P.S.: Now that was fun, wasn't it??
