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September 17, 2012 - 6:17pm
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Audiophilia Newbie Looking to Expand System
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Your budget is so small that it is hard to name any one thing that might work.
One thing that comes to mind is a pair of Polk Monitor 40 speakers for your main speakers. You should be able to get them from Amazon for under $200 new.
Almost every HT receiver is made in China; lots of luck finding anything that isn't.
I wasn't thinking of buying anything new at all, more like used gems. Some examples are: I bought a Pioneer BDP-51FD in Mint condition for $80 Including shipping (IE around $50, was $600 new), Super Silver HGA cables for $50 (Were $230 new). You can even buy a receiver that was $2000 new just 10 years ago that was Made in Japan and now costs $200 on eBay or Craigslist. B&K is a great example of this... Just like you can buy a used Loewe TV for $100 that cost $3500 new 10 years ago and still beats out many modern sets in terms of contrast, colour, and definately black levels. I guess I am looking for the audio equivilent of this in terms of a Receiver OR Amplifier and Speakers.
I quite like some 90s A/D/S speakers I have seen but need more recommendations and specific ones. Maybe most Japanese brands now make their receivers in Malaysia, but 5-10 years ago many of them were still made in Japan. Most American and European companies with extremely high end audio still produce in the US with the exception of a few such as Rotel, Cambridge Audio, Arcam, etc... who have outsourced a lot.
So I've decided to upgrade my speakers first and upgrade my receiver/amp/preamp later. So I am debating between two options: passive speakers directly to receiver or active speakers via a preamp. I want to get The speakers I have been seeing in my price range so far include:
Mirage M-790's
JBL Northridge E90's or 100's
ADS L1290 or L1590 (If I can find them in my price range)
Polk Audio Towers
Paradigm Export Bipolar
B&O Penta (Built in amplifier). For these speakers or Active ones, I would get a pre-amp. Has anyone any experience with the DavidYeeAudio Tube Preamps or Amps? They seem pretty inexpensive but I'm not sure how the sound quality is on them... Supposedly they are handmade by him in Canada.
Please help me narrow down the list to see what the best would be within my budget. I could also get Spica TC-50s or something similar but I prefer Towers... If you have any that should be removed from the list or any other ones I should be searching for to add to the list please let me know. I am looking for the best sound quality possible within my budget but also with a decent design (I prefer Black speakers that look sleek, not old looking brown 70s style ones). I prefer Speakers from the 80s-90s or perhaps the early 00s at the latest. Thank you!