Looking to get my first amp, speakers and turntabl

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

John , Audio Art located 3656 Hermitage Road , Richmond VA 23227 is a good audio dealer and in your area.

Timo, thank you for the lead. Going to check em out today

No way Jose to little stand mount speakers. They can't handle amplified rock, period. You can use a sub, but in my experience they never mesh 100 percent. You have a pretty big room, so why not floorstanders?

Look at the JBL Studio L890s. Better than those B&Ws, imo. I used to use them before I upgraded, and they served me well for 5 years. You can get them for under $1000 all day long.

As far as amps go, the Rotel is cool, but if you can swing say, Bryston, go for that. Those little integrateds aren't gonna do the job for rock music.