How to divide up $4,500, Amp/Speakers

Do you have the skills / tools / time to build a set of DIY speakers? If not, what about a kit (pre-made cabinets and xovers with a box of parts)? You could increase your amp budget to $2k and get a $2.5k speaker kit that would shame commercial offerings at triple their price....

Cathode, Sure, I am open to DIY. Who makes full speaker kits?

Milezone, I just sold off Soundlab's and Atma-Sphere and while they sounded great I don't want to revisit this kind of setup due to the fragility of the speakers and the heat from the OTL.

North Creek, using Lee Taylor cabinet work, is one option of the semi-DIY kind. Assembly is work of a few hours for reasonably handy person. Don't know if the savings would be 2/3, but value is good. John

My advise was the same as Trcnetmsncom, find the best speaker that you like and figure out the amp situation after.

You have a good front end and will need a good phono preamp too (Dont skimp).. There are lots of good used speakers in the 1500 - 2500 range.

Just my thoughts
Vandersteen 2CE, Spendor sp1/2e,B&W 801 matrix III, revel F50's

New - Magnepan 1.7, Eminent Tech LFT8b

Find a used Sim 5.3 phono preamp
Used Rogue M120 or RM200 amp or Odesey monos

and you will be set...

I understand your concerns about electrostats and otls in which case I stand by my suggestion of the TLD1 and an Almarro 318b. That's not to say the es and otl option is a better one. Just different. I think the TLD1's will be more enjoyable to listen to. They can play most music. They are far more detailed in the upper registers -- the modified raven tweeter in it is the best I've heard aside from the Acapella Plasma.

Of speakers at a similar price point, I prefer them over Audionote AN/e's (the pair I heard was a $20,000 version and it quite frankly sucked), spendors harbeths and the likes, klipsch cornwalls, various Zu speakers (far lesser than the TLD1's) and so on. I think in their price point there's nothing close to as good (the same can be said about the Almarro). And frankly the only thing superior in my opinion would require entering into the realm of super expensive compression drivers. Add a pair of TAD or JBL woofers and you're there.

My last thought would be to pickup a pair of Tannoy dual concentrics. They're very easy to live with but are a little less resolving than the Tonians, electrostats, and compression driver based systems.