A 'First' System for my Son

My sons each have a NAD 320BEE amplifier and a pair of Paradigm Titans. The Titans are wall-mounted (with Smarter Speaker Supports) so to tame the boom from the rear port, the port is stuffed with a sock.

Both of them stopped using their CD players quite a while ago. Their source now is iTunes and a connection from their computers.

One guy uses a 2-meter Zu Pivot cable from the headphone output. This cable was a very nice upgrade from a $10 Radio Shack miniplug-to-twin RCA.

The other guy listens a bit more carefully. He has a Muse Audio TDA1543 outboard DAC and a TeraDak USB-to-S/PDIF converter. Cables are by Canare (the S/PDIF cable is 1.5 meters long) except the USB cable. That's by Audiogoner Acreyes.

If the source were to be an iPod and not the computer, I would suggest using a Zu Pivot cable, or one just as good, and a SendStation PocketDock. The PocketDock gives you a line out jack from the iPod's dock connector. It's a cleaner-sounding alternative to the iPod's headphone jack.

More recent NAD amps in the C320 series have a minijack input on the front panel. Using it just means you don't have a cable hanging off a rear-panel input.

I gave my 15-year-old grandson an old pioneer recvr, HK-8350 5 disc cdp, a pair of cheap Dayton Audio bookshelf speakers and a cable for his ipod. He's in audio heaven with this system. Remembering my first stereo I would have loved what he's got.

Tobias and Timrhu already pointed to the two options I was going to suggest. Each has its appeal, and you probably know which your son would like best. The new small NAD integrated (C 316BEE) has an iPod input on the front -- so does the Cambridge 350A and the new Music Hall a15.2. And there are lots of great-looking vintage receivers around. For speakers, the suggestions above are great. I have Cambridge S30s in my office. They're really nice, especially for the price ($219 new, around $125 when they come up used).