Help a new guy get started

Thanks for your responses, they are helping me be real about this.
A little bit of backstory applies, I believe. I'm an English teaching trumpet player (thus the low budget) that has heard lots of music from the stage and the audience, but once we decided to start a family I have backed off on the playing so listening matters much more now. Sadly, trumpet players are very similar to audiophiles in that they like to tweak their equipment, and I can feel that starting with me. I have a Yamaha receiver Klipsch quintet combination for movies and it isn't cutting it any more. I bought a pair of Grado 60 headphones that I really like, so, in a way, I am trying to replicate that sound without walking around the house with a pair of headphones.

As always my friend Toby has some great insights. I just went through this myself, re-building a bedroom system. My system was a Linn Classik that can be bought here for under $700

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?intatran&1292776098&/Linn-Classik-CD-Integrated-uni

and a pair of B&W DM303 speakers. I changed up the speakers recently, stumbled across a mint pair of Spica TC 50's. So.. for call it $700 for the Linn all-in-one and another $200 for a pair of B&W DM303 speakers you'll have a very nice system for well under your budget, leaves you some coin for speaker cables and perhaps an upgraded power cord. Feel free to get in touch if I can help. Best Regards, Jeff

In the spirit of generating more possibilities to consider, a few speakers I've heard and liked in the $400-700 range used are:

1. Von Schweikert VR-1 (monitor with neutral, balanced character. Full sound and surprisingly good bass)
2. JM Reynaud Twin/Twin Signature (monitor with more lush/romantic sound. Very musical.)
3. Totem Arro (Small floor stander with excellent bass and big soundstage. Project sound like crazy)

All three of these speakers are efficient enough to be driven with a lower power amp (i.e. 50-70 wpc). The first two are now discontinued but come up relatively regularly on Audiogon. The third is still being manufactured and should be available to audition if you have a Totem dealer nearby. Have fun and good luck!

I, for one of several, will stand by the Peachteee Nova/Decco. I heard the Nova on a pair of Monitor Audio RS6 floorstanders a pair of AAD 2001 monitors, and a pair of Monitor Audio GS10s which I currently own. That little integrated never failed to impress. I'll get one eventually for a second system to be paired with the AADs. Welcome to the hobby! Hope you find it rewarding. Good luck with your search.

Hey Jeff! Thanks for the kind word (which could apply even better to you).

A_cross, note re Jeff's and my posts that the Linn Classik includes a CD player and the Audio Space Mini Galaxy includes a DAC.