Thank you for your post. I do appreciate what you're saying. But reality dictates that I will have to have a certain amount of trust in the judgement of others. I will never have the opportunity to go listen to all the audio systems discussed in this thread. I will be lucky to be able to audition just a few of them. But the more I can become familiar with many of the name brands of top shelf audio systems the better. Just knowing how highly regarded various components are is a big help. My ears can do the rest with driving distance being a limiting factor.
I live in a geographical area where there is only one high end audio shop within a reasonable driving distance (1 1/2 hours). The next closest is about 4 hours. Between those stores I won't even begin to scratch the surface of trying out a significant number of high end audio gear. So, like it or not, I have to depend heavily on the judgement of others regarding certain brands and models of audio gear. I'm just getting back to the high end audio hobby after about a 40 year hiatus. I'm already overwhelmed by the shear numbers of new companies. And it takes just as long to learn/relearn of all the companies that have existed for decades. I'm glad I have a year to research and learn about high end audio. I'll need it. But, when it comes to learning about current audio systems, I wish I lived in the Chicago area or Florida or California or other highly populated area.
With all that considered would you like to recommend a sub $12,000 system? I appreciate your high end audio expertise and would like to hear your recommendations. If you prefer not to, that's OK too. Either way, thank you for posting.
I can not recommend an entire system, nobody can. That is foolish to even try. I would question anyone recommending an entire system right off the bat because since you can't hear it you have no idea whether it works for you or not and if it doesn't you have blown your whole wad on dissatisfaction. If you are anything like me, you can only do this once, there is no money for do-overs, your decisions have to be as educated and vetted as possible.
I don't like to strongly recommend particular pieces in this manner because it is completely subjective. What I like, others will not and visa versa. I can tell you my experience with this or that, but it will likely not be the same as yours.
I am glad you are taking a year to research this, that should be enough. The best thing to do first is ask yourself the following questions:
1) What are your dominate media formats for listening (vinyl, CD, stream, PC, etc)? This is important as it initially narrows down the type of gear to look at.
2) What size is the room you plan on having the system in and how much space can you allow for the electronics and the speakers? Cramming a pair of towers into a rather small room will severely limit your sound quality because the will be no room for setup.
3)What kind of overall sound signature do you like most (something that leans toward the warm side of neutral or the bright side? Something that is mostly flat? Something that is more analytical or fun and musical? etc)?
I do highly recommend building this system one piece at a time. I also recommend sectioning your budget. For example: so much allocated to the amp, so much to speakers, etc.
I do recommend starting with the speakers. I would also allocate the largest portion of your budget to speakers. Without good and the right speakers for you, nothing else will matter. I can't tell you how much of your $12k to allocate to the speakers, but no need to go crazy with something like $9k or $10k. You can get incredibly fantastic speakers to your liking for as little as just under $1k. I'm not saying to limit yourself to that amount, it is just an example of what is possible. In other words, if you really like a pair of speakers and they check all the boxes for you, but they are say, $1200 for example and not considered "high-end" or "audiophile" by most of those folks, DO NOT let that influence your decision! This system is for you, nobody else.
Once you have the speakers next you will want to find the amp. It is far easier to find the amp after you select the speakers because you need to match amp to speakers. Beyond just load requirements (4 ohm, 6 ohm, 8 ohm) you need to match the signature timbre of sound. If you have bright speakers you do not want an amp the leans toward the forward side of neutral (bright). In that case you would want an amp that is as close to neutral as possible or something that leans towards the warm side of neutral.
After you have that, you can then work on the source gear.
I would not worry about cables. Cables may give you about 1% sound "improvement" at best. No need to go nuts, just get decent ones, hell, some $30 or $40 interconnects will more than do the job. Same with speaker cable, you can get away with a lot or make your own from Beldin or Canare or one of the industry standards like that. (That is what a lot of the uber expensive cable makers use).
At the end of the day you want to have some money left over for music if you do other than streaming. In fact, the goal is also to come in under budget by any amount.
I live in California, but let me tell you, there may be a few more shops around, but not much. For me I only have four within driving distance and the closest one of them I would not trust as far as I could throw them. Another one is some distance, but doable. Another is just a shade too much of a drive.
If you are comfortable with this, I would also recommend contacting those makes that allow for in-home demo. That is becoming more and more popular. One example would be PS Audio, there are others, I just can't think of them off the top of my head right now. For speakers it is a challenge. there might be some makes that will lend bookshelf speakers for demo, but towers, no. The shipping alone makes it a non-starter.
There is usually a charge for in-home demos so be aware. I would narrow it down to two choices if possible if you are going to go the in-home demo route. That way you don't spend 30% of your budget doing that.
If it comes to the shove, you can get speakers first and if you have nothing to hook them up to, you can get a cheap integrated like an Outlaw or Marantz or something for $200 let's say to give you something to listen to while you shop for your main amp or what have you. If you have an amp already, by all means use that as long as it can handle the speaker load.
This is just my take in a nutshell. I'm not an audiophile by any stretch. I just like and know good sound quality for my music. Music is the most important to me. The gear is just a means to an ends. I do have experience in the industry including journalistic, but that adds up to a whole lot of nothing. I'm just a realist.
