Thanks to Audiogon and friends

First, let me apologize for the term "nubile." I meant to say "newbie", but you could see where my head was. Anyway, the suggestions regarding building my own speakers has some merit. My cousin has been doing this with some moderate results. However, the speakers I'm currently using sound, at least to me, better. They are(please don't laugh) original Snell K1s, circa 1986. My son found them boxed away in our basement. I had loaned them to my brother years ago and forgot he had returned them. They are pristine. They sound a little "bright", but do have noticable midrange as opposed to my consumer grade Bxxx surround sound. A contributor to their "brightness" might be the room. It is 12'x 24' with hardwood floors and 2 large display cases containing crystal vases and sculptures. Certainly not ideal acoustics but this is my living room, the last "bastion" from multimedia overload. Once again, thanks for any and all comments. I'm trying to recapture the days of my youth when stereo music was king!

You are in the right place for your quest to make stereo king again. Lots of really great folks in here, and no lack of opinions, sometimes to the point of emotional chest bumping. It's a pretty cool place.

I hope you enjoy your audio adventure as much as I have.

Mattzack2,
Thanks for the encouragement. Even my son, born in the digital age, can hear the difference! He is now a convert!

Hello, being a relatively new semi-audiophile perhaps I can pass on a few tips that generally don't come up until after you've already purchased components.

The room you listen in has a large impact on what you hear so before purchasing loudspeakers, etc. determine the size, shape, and how it is furnished. Many AudiogoN members can help in selecting the type/size of loudspeakers - and related components - for the room and your listening tastes.

Second, in order to help in selecting components you should start to "train" your ears. In the beginning we all just listen to the music but if you read some of the posts on AudiogoN and other forums you will see that people talk about subtle nuances in the music being played through their systems. You don't have to become a "golden ears" but you should be able to "hear" when one component sounds better - to you - than another. Welcome to the wonderful world of beautiful sounds.

Orpheus10, actually that's a very good idea although perhaps not building them from scratch. There are a number of excellent kits available - e.g., from Madisound - that are easy to build and have the crossovers already designed and built. I put together a kit after Christmas and have little experience. They are super; I would not have been able to afford retail loudspeakers of this quality.