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Spend $1000.

TeeJayHoward

TeeJayHoward

Limpness Supreme
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I figured this would be fun.

Given a $1000 budget, what audio equipment would you purchase? Assume that you don't have anything more than a $20 pair of speakers and an integrated sound card.(Obviously the first two things to replace!) Please also list what the audio equipment would be used to listen to - Video games? MP3s? Vinyl? DVDs?
 
Given $1000, I'd buy an Audio-Technica W5000 right now and save up the $200 left for a better source in the future.
 
I would invest the $1K into drivers, xover parts and cabinet materials and get a killer pair of speakers.

EDIT: then I would sit around till I have enough funds for an amp and a decent soundcard. :|
 
Annnnd both of you fail because you cant listen to any music.

How about an x-fi, panny xr55, and the other $650 on speakers/cables.

Done and done.
 
Assuming you have a steady supply of (CD, DVD or digital) music:


AKG K701 ($350), X-Fi Elite Pro ($400)
This'll give you something all-purpose. And yes, I'd use the Elite Pro headphone jack for the time being. It powers the AKG fine, and despite the not-stellar opamps of the breakout box the results are very good.


I'd then round it out with an iAudio U2 on closeout ($100) + Shure E3c ($130).
 
receiver+soundcard

5 speakers, and a sub.

X-fi for 100 bucks

receiver.. denon or harmon kardon or onkyo for 200-250 ish on ebay or new if you find a deal. hometheater receivers / a/v.

head over to avs or audioholics and see what you can get for the rest of the money on speakers...
 
Sound card - Chaintech AV710 - $25 (NewEgg)
DAC/Preamp - Theta DS-Pre - $325 (Audiogon)
Amps - ASL Wave 8s - $150/pair (Used, just bought a pair for that price locally)
Speakers - Klipsch Heresy 2 - $400 (Audiogon)
--- or ---
Speakers - Magnepan MMG - $325 (Audiogon)

Spend the rest on cables, and you're set. The Magnepans are a bit underpowered by the Wave 8s, though when I heard the combination, it worked better than I thought it would. The Klipsch, on the other hand, are easily driven by the little tube monoblocks, but lack the warmth and sweetness of the Magnepans. You'd have to stick to low volumes with the MMGs, but I think it just might be worth it for the quality of sound you'd get, assuming you're not a bass nut.
 
With a little 1K what would I do?

Two choices

A) Buy an X-Fi and Grado RS1 and headphone amp. Well Even if the Grado combo would be second had,the sound quality would almost eat any speaker setup you could get at this price,heck anything remotely close.

B)Again get an X-Fi and a pair of Dynaudio amplified monitor speakers.Even the least expensive amplified Dynes would leave any pretender in the proverbial dust.Transarency and accuracy,minus the deepest bass.But who needs deep bass when the midrange is colored? ;)
 
I would buy a high end yamaha reciever and home theater in a box the higher end ones are really nice
 
Steve01S4 said:
Sound card - Chaintech AV710 - $25 (NewEgg)
DAC/Preamp - Theta DS-Pre - $325 (Audiogon)
Amps - ASL Wave 8s - $150/pair (Used, just bought a pair for that price locally)
Speakers - Klipsch Heresy 2 - $400 (Audiogon)
--- or ---
Speakers - Magnepan MMG - $325 (Audiogon)

Spend the rest on cables, and you're set. The Magnepans are a bit underpowered by the Wave 8s, though when I heard the combination, it worked better than I thought it would. The Klipsch, on the other hand, are easily driven by the little tube monoblocks, but lack the warmth and sweetness of the Magnepans. You'd have to stick to low volumes with the MMGs, but I think it just might be worth it for the quality of sound you'd get, assuming you're not a bass nut.
Click to expand...

Hey, those tube power amps are actually pretty neat. Never heard of them till now, but just did some reading on it. Will keep these in the back of my mind before I order the AV123 package. Thanks.
 
If you're interested in the Wave 8s, you might want to start looking now. There aren't many of them out there, and most people who have them keep them. Most pairs that I've seen for sale recently have been pretty heavily modified with upgraded parts, and go for $200-$250. Mine only have one minor modification done to them (the previous owner did it, I'm not sure exactly what it was). If you buy them and don't like them, you can always quickly turn around and resell them, and probably only lose the cost of shipping.

Edit: There's a pair for sale on Audiogon right now. Doesn't appear to be modded, so I think the $295 the seller is asking is too much, considering the original price was $240. On the other hand, the things are just plain cool, and I think they might be worth $300. They were an incredible bargain at their original price, and I don't think an extra $60 changes that. On the other hand, I did pay half that for mine, but I did know the seller personally.
 
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