MAN OH MAN I THOUGHT I WAS A PESIMIST, but after reading the replies to the O/P's question I see know that I have REALLY come a long way in the attitude dept...NEVER HAS THERE BEEN A BETTER TIME TO BE A POOR AUDIOPHILE!!!$250.00-$300.00 will by a nice little integrated from the likes of NAD-Cambridge Audio-Marantz etc..that will shame most $2500.00+ integrateds or seperates from 10 years ago & don't even get me started on HOW ABSOLUTELY AMAZING A SYSTEM CAN BE FRONTED BY ONE OF THE $500.00 CHINESE TUBE INTEGRATED AMPS READILY AVAILABLE TODAY!!!Multi Disc players from Marantz-Yamaha-Denon offer vanishing low distortion & a fairly honest portrayal of the original signal with a smooth,detailed sound anyone but the most jaded could live with for a lifetime & can be had for as little as $100.00 used to $400.00 for a BRAND NEW Denon BDP-1611 Blu Ray that plays SACD & DVD/A & will kill any $1000.00+ source from just a couple of years ago!!!AMAZING speakers from Quad-Usher-Monitor Audio etc.. can be had BRAND NEW for as little as $450.00-$500.00 & used for around $300.00!!!$50.00 Interconnects from companies like Wireworld(Luna 6 comes to mind)will give you 75-80% of what ANY $500.00 NEW interconnect brings to the table!!!Come on people,what has happened to you?My advice to you Dvjorge is BEFORE YOU SPEND 1 PENNY ON ANY GEAR, GO FIND THE CLOSEST PUB/BAR/ETC...THAT OFFERS LIVE, UNAMPLIFIED MUSIC & SPEND SOME TIME GETTING TO KNOW WHAT THE REAL THING SOUNDS LIKE!After that,find a budget that you can live with & then someone here on Audiogon that HAS NOT been completely jaded by this hobby will surely be able to help you put together a system that will bring a smile to your face & ears...Good luck & ENJOY THE MUSIC!!!
