software

TO, I'm posting here in public since perhaps there are others who might be in my situation. I also post in the ti*s and cli*s section so I don't have to listen to some of the opinions in the OT section.

Anyway, here's the poop. I've been sans a home stereo for about 6 or 7 years. I have a boombox, but mostly listen to music in the car where I can blast the crap out of it. My last real home stereo was one of those 80's monstrosities, a component system with those speakers as big as a Volkswagen. Well, wifey wants to buy a new entertainment center and redo the living room (i.e.... I redo the living room). So I was thinking maybe it's time to wrangle a stereo into the deal. Anyway, I want best bang for my buck, but I would like to keep it around the 5 to 7 hundred dollar range. Yeah, I'm cheap, but that's life. I'd rather put money into a Marshall than a stereo, but life is all about choices.

I know you work in a high-end sound place, and I have a buddy in town who mods stereos for people with big wallets, so I know that a person can spend as much as they want to spend on a system. I'm not one of those people, though (too bad), and was wondering what I might be looking at in that price range.

Oh, all I need is a CD player, radio receiver, and speakers. Sound quality more important than volume, and don't need a ton of volume either. Multi-disc player is preferrable. Home theater not included in this purchase, but perhaps in the future.

Thanks

Bump up.

My advice, Matt ---

Get the best source (CD player) you can afford, and then add:

1 x integrated amp. This is a preamp and amp in one unit. I would go with tubes, but there are some excellent SS integrated amps as well.

1 pr bookshelf speakers. LOTS of choices here. Give me a budget, and I can help.

1 x subwoofer. I would definitely go with a sat/sub system over floorstanders. They generally image better, play louder, and have a smaller footprint. You can place the sub virtually anywhere in the room.

Keep the AM/FM tuner for the table radio.

You can PM me with your total budget, and I can make specific recommendations, as well as see what I can do for you in terms of getting you great gear at a good price.

You're the man. I'll keep you posted as time goes by - and this on the horizon for the moment, I just wanted to start looking around as it has been so long since I'd shopped around that I wondered where to start. The good news now is that I don't have to look at all those one-piece units that look like some kind of R2D2 robot with ears. I prefer the component system, so that's where I'll start looking.

Thanks bud, I'll keep you posted.