Low To Mid Priced Systems

The one thing I see over and over again is that your speakers should be 50% of your budget, your speakers should be 80% of your budget, etc., etc.

This may be true in many circumstances, but not all.

Example in point is the KEF speakers... I have read reviews for very high end components where the reviewer stated that he used his trusty LS50's when reviewing that $15k, $20k, etc. component.

I have also seen reviews where it is stated that for some speakers to truly come alive they require to be hooked up to quality power amps, many times the amplifier is more costly than the speakers.

It is really a matter of getting each component with your end results in mind. If one particular component cost more than another, oh well. It does not matter; if it functions as you need in your over all system configuration then it may very well be the perfect component for you.

In my view, which is admittedly a minority view on this forum, I do not feel I need incredibly high priced speakers. In fact my top headphones cost almost as much as both pairs of my speakers and subs combined :D. For my use I really love my two modest priced speakers and the reasonably priced, top notch subwoofers. I do not need to, nor desire to put oodles and gobs of money into huge fancy boxes which adds multiple times the price to speakers. In fact I very much prefer a small stand mount speaker or an open baffle design, both of which is much easier to live with in my room.

IMO,

Loudspeakers should be the majority of the budget , they bring the biggest difference to the table and sets the tone of where you’re going ...!




Regards
 
gotcha, but with both analog and digital sources that does stand to reason. Regardless, in the budgetary realm of this thread I would keep 30% as my minimum. Also, at the 5k level, myself I'd limit source to one domain, probably digital since it can be done to a higher level with a lower budget.

That certainly is reasonable.
 
That makes no sense. Especially if your goal is best sound for the money. If you have $3k speakers ad a $300.00 streamer all you get is a $300.00 sound. Granted the $300 sound will be better through a $3k speaker opposed to $300 speaker ingeneral.

You guys are killing me with this crap. It's crazy to spend 80% of a budget on speakers and feed it crap. Crap in, crap out, no matter if the speakers were $100k.

IMO,

Loudspeakers should be the majority of the budget , they bring the biggest difference to the table and sets the tone of where you’re going ...!




Regards
 
I'm one of those guys that believes there are so many outstanding components on the market that when systems are made up of certain components they will "hold their own" in SQ with systems costing twice as much. You just have to do the leg work and research and find the right combination of components. I believe such components are out there.
 
In the under $5k category, I would suggest looking at the KEF LS50 Wireless (now in version II). If you are already a Roon user, you can simply connect them to your network and you are all set. If not, they have digital and analog inputs as well as native spotify and tidal apps. I have a pair for my second system that I really enjoy. Mine are version I and while I haven't heard version II yet, all reports are favorable.

Morgan, since getting the LS50 Wireless II for my computer speakers & playing hd files as well as Deezer, I haven't gone near my main rig more than once in 4 months.
 
That makes no sense. Especially if your goal is best sound for the money. If you have $3k speakers ad a $300.00 streamer all you get is a $300.00 sound. Granted the $300 sound will be better through a $3k speaker opposed to $300 speaker ingeneral.

You guys are killing me with this crap. It's crazy to spend 80% of a budget on speakers and feed it crap. Crap in, crap out, no matter if the speakers were $100k.

Im glad you stopped at 80% and left a little something for the other components ..!

:)


Regards
 
Im glad you stopped at 80% and left a little something for the other components ..!

Ok, I agree 80% for speakers is overboard(although nicoff did include the room in that percentage) but what needs to be kept in perspective here on this thread is that we're talking entry and mid-level systems, thus my post #20
 
Morgan, since getting the LS50 Wireless II for my computer speakers & playing hd files as well as Deezer, I haven't gone near my main rig more than once in 4 months.

Doesn't surprise me. For the price, these are insanely good. I moved into an apartment for 6 months and all I had was the LS50W during that time. I sometimes wonder why I even went back to the big rig when we moved back into a house again. Don't get me wrong, I love my big system, but it is a reflection on how good the LS50's are that we could even consider making these moves.
 
OK, I'll take a shot at a $5000 system:

  • Raspberry Pi 4 streamer - $150
  • Topping D90SE DAC/preamp - $900
  • VTV Purifi EVAL-1 amp - $1050
  • Revel M106 speakers - $2000
  • Rythmik L12 subwoofer - $560
  • Bluejeans cables, about - $400
  • TOTAL - $5060
 
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Ok my take on a 5K budget system ...!
Enuff of a budget left over Streamer and cables , Blue jeans is a great choice as is Mogami ...!
 

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The Rega table and the Schitt amp certainly seem like solid choices. Maybe I am not understanding what you are suggesting, but if your speakers are $3700 a pair would that not pretty much blow your $5k budget?
 
My little, low budget system for office/bedroom includes Kef LS50W and a Linux computer music server. This computer was replaced with Lumin Mini. If I would like to upgrade this setup, I may be interested in the baby Harbeth and an all-in-one Naim Integrated
 
Ok, I'll take a shot...

Great sale... Wyred 4 Sound integrated ($1299, normally $2499):
STI-v2 Series | Wyred 4 Sound

KEF Meta speakers ($1499.98):
KEF - LS50 Meta Bookshelf Speakers (Pair)

SimAudio 110LP v2 ($475) - (get from Mr. Mike):
High End Phono Preamp | 110LP Phono Preamplifier | MOON - Simaudio

Rega Planar 1 w/cartridge ($525) - (get from Mr. Mike):
Rega - Planar 1 Turntable (P1) | Shop Music Direct

Marantz ND8006 CD Player/Music Streamer ($1299):
Marantz - ND8006 CD Player/Music Streamer

Total $5097.98... you could probably get a packaged deal and get it down to $5000 :).
 
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