A 'First' System for my Son

Why not pick up a vellman stereo amplifier kit under $75 with an off the shelf transformer. Easy step by step directions just some soldering. great father son project...listening to somthing you built always worked for me and you can theme the amp box from Yankees to pokemon.. also will drive most bookshelf speakers and can run right from his mp3 player. Enjoy your time with him and the music.

Interesting thread and great advice. I echo the concept of getting the child involved in the decision process and financial investment. Couple of thoughts:

1. Peachtree decco 2 with era speakers is very good system.

2. Pair of Sonos S5 with music controlled by ipod touch or iphone

3. Audioengine 5 with ipod

I have five kids and the above three routes are the most successful with my kids The Sonos route is the easiest, sounds surprising good, and the software allows you to mate the two speakers into a stereo pair (my twelve year loves this system.) The two kids who are most likely likely to become audiophiles, like the more versatile and more expensive, of course, and best sounding Peachtree combo. Interestingly, the most popular by far, among my kids' friends (my kids ages range between 24 and 12 years) is the Audioengine. I can not tell you how many of my kids' friends (and my non-audiophile friends) buy these easy to set-up active speakers after hearing them.

Respectfully submitted,

Reg

Give him advice, but let him pay for his own system. In the long run he'll appreciate it more.

I fixed my boys up with NHT M-OO monitors w/ S-OO sub and old NAD preamps attached to their computers. Speakers and monitors are internally powered. Both systems sound quite good but I seldom hear either one because the boys use their Grado headphones instead.

Save yourself headaches and expense by starting him with a decent pair of headphones and a preamp with headphone jack. He'll dig the privacy and you will remain safe from his music choices. All kids are used to digital music banks and will choose them as preferred sources. Hard copies of music will never be obsolete because of eccentric collectors and hard core hobbyists but they aren't in the plans of most of our children.

"Figure out how much you're willing spend and schedule a time to take him shopping to listen to different equipment with a not to exceed budget. Get him what he wants."

That's great advise. Nice post Mceljo. To me, choosing a stereo for your son, when there is only a "basic curiosity" there, would be a lot like fixing him up with a girlfriend. Does he like to listen to your rig with you? The more you can share about your sons interests in music, the more successful we will be in advising you. One thought: If, in general, he has a technical fascination for things and what makes them work, a simple tube amp kit might be cool.