Looking to get my first amp, speakers and turntabl

Why don't you at least mention the state you live in. You may be surprised to find more than one dealer within a few hours with help from the Agon members.

I'm in Richmond, VA. I don't have a lot of time to do much traveling.

I'd take a little trip to the DC area and check out the dealers there. I'm assuming you prefer floorstanders vs. bookshelf spks. Paradigm has exc. spks. current and former models which would serve you well. (PSB's as well.) I'd personally get a really nice int. amp. The Marantz PM6004 is now $499 new. Get a nice Marantz CD player as well for under 1k new. That would leave enough for TT (Rega would be a good choice) and you have the option of getting a seperate phono pre-amp if the Marantz's built in phono doesn't satisfy. It should be fine though. Now if you buy used, you could save even more. If you decide to go the home theatre route, an A/V receiver would work as well. There are closeouts to save you $. Probably will not sound as good as a dedicated 2 ch. system w/either int. amp/seperates. You'll need some $ for cabling as well. You should be pleased w/the sound vs. your present system. You do need to make the time. Also, going south you have the dealers in the Raleigh, NC area. Good hunting. Bill

John, How is your audio quest going?

I am not familiar with the B&W 683, have heard the 685, and have owned the Studio 20s v.4. I prefer 2-way stand mount speakers. The B&W speakers mate well with Rotel amps. I have heard the Rotel 1520 and think it a good contender at your price point. Has a phono stage, 60wpc. Has a pre out for a subwoofer, though for music I really don't think you should need one.

Is the wall behind the speakers to be the 12.5' or 26' one?

Sounds like you will need a CD player as well as a turntable. Do you own one?

Are willing to buy used? on Audiogon?

Two aspects of a system quality and character need to be considered. Quality is driven by having a correct balance and synergism between components at a certain budget. The character of a system is driven by owner preferences as to warmth and aspects of tonal balance and soundstaging that are most important. Speakers contribute the greatest to character. Speakers can only sound there best when driven by quality source components and amplification.

I would buy a integrated amp for ~1/3 of budget. A good integrated amp can serve for many years and survive upgrades to sources and speakers.

I would buy a CD player and a turntable for ~1/3 of budget. THe Rega at $450 is a good choice. Cambridge audio or Rotel make a good CD player within budget.

The remainder can be spent on speakers. and cables. There are many quality speakers on the market for ~$500. All are quality but differ greatly in character. Buying used allows one to upgrade without great expense.

Buy cables used on audiogon or Ebay. I would buy Canare 4s11 speaker cables and terminate myself ( can buy new less than $50). I would buy audioquest sidewinder or copperhead interconnects. These cables are far superior to what is offered free with components and will not detract from the need to allocate most funds to other components.

I think that between your local dealer and the on line market place you should end up with a very satisfactory system.

Hope my thoughts help. Keep us posted on your venture.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions. I have yet to buy anything. I'm still trying to figure out what I want. I will be traveling north soo, so I hope to check out some other shops. I'm definitely willing to buy used, although it is a little intimidating.

I will probably get the Project Carbon debut tt. The rest is still up in the air. Here are more recent suggestions that seem to fit my budget and my musical tastes for what I am looking for:

A couple options I'm considering: Peachtree Audio Decco vs Nova 125. I think i can get by with the Decco because I will rarely have the opportunity to really crank it up.

Other suggestions have been Marantz PM8004, but I think that is out of my price range. NAD seems to be suggested frequently

I keep hearing very mixed reviews about Golden Ear Trinton 2 and Trinton 7. I'd like to check these out.

PSB T6 were recommended based on my tastes, as were the Monitor Audio Silver RX6