benespey
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Looking for advice/recommendations for building a system
hcsunshine
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i'd stay away from the audio technica tt. i had an atlp-60 and it was very underwhelming. i can recommend the music hall mmf 2.2 tt ($450) which i now own and it sounds amazing. for a phono pre-amp i'd go with the musical fidelity VLPS 2 ($190) which i also own. instead of a receiver i'd go with seperate components. for a pre-amp i recommend either the emotiva USP-1 stereo pre-amp (now on sale for $369) or the emotiva XSP-1 differential reference pre-amp ($899). for amps i'd go with emotiva XPA-100 (250 watt) mono blocks for $449 each. for amps and pre-amps emotiva is the "bang for your buck" leader. maybe someone else will recommend  speakers and a cd player for you. when buying speakers, i'd try to stick with ones with paper coned woofers (instead of polypropylene or alluminum). good luck and happy listening. john 

jackfish
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Joined: Dec 19 2005 - 2:42pm

Speakers should complement your subwoofer, vice versa. Since you have a subwoofer that is really a decent performer for music, good bookshelves on stands would work well, particularly given your room size. Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1 bookshelves on good fillable stands should get consideration. Set your subwoofer low pass filter at 40 Hz and enjoy.

http://www.avrev.com/home-theater-loudspeakers/bookshelf-monitor-loudspeakers/ascend-acoustics-sierra-1-monitor-loudspeakers.html

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0907/ascend_acoustic_sierra_1.htm

http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/reviews/AA_Sierra1.pdf

http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/reviews/SSAV_AscendAcoustics.3.pdf

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/bookshelf/ascend-acoustics-sierra-1

http://audioreview.ca/default.aspx?pagename=review&reviewID=15

A great CD player if you can beyond the blue lights is the Emotiva ERC-2. One can dim the display.

http://www.stereophile.com/content/emotiva-erc-2-cd-player

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cd-players/cd-players-reviews/emotiva-erc-2-cd-player.html

http://www.hifi-advice.com/Emotiva-ERC2-review.html

An integrated amplifier with room to grow your system would be the Anthem 225 Integrated. It has a good phono input, plenty of power and you could plug your subwoofer into its preamp out. The ERC-2 could be connected with XLR cable.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/amplifier-reviews/anthem-integrated-225-review/

http://www.avguide.com/review/tested-anthem-integrated-225-integrated-amplifier

http://hometheaterreview.com/anthem-225-integrated-amplifier-reviewed/

http://stereos.about.com/od/reviewsandrecommendations/fr/Anthem225.htm

http://www.hifihouse.com/hdliving/blog/2012/05/hifi-meditations-anthem-integrated-225/

http://www.goodsound.com/equipment/anthem_integrated_225.htm

Now, with this system you will quickly discover the limitations of your turntable and will be looking to upgrade that as well.

commsysman
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I have 3 recommendations for you:

Speakers; the PSB Image T6 speakers, for $1300/pair. I suggest that you read the Stereophile review on these. They are excellent speakers; hard to beat for under $1500.

Turntable; the Music hall MMF-2.2 for $450.

CD/SACD player; the OPPO BDP-103 for $500. This is an amazingly good CD player for $500. There is nothing that comes close to its sound quality for under $1000 (and it also playes DVDs and BluRays).

Those three upgrades will make a huge improvement.

You didn't say if this to be only a 2-channel system or a 5.1 system.

If iit is going to be a 2-channel system, an integrated amplifier should be purchased, but maybe you should address that issue first.

benespey
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Joined: Feb 26 2013 - 7:08pm

This is exactly some of the info that I was looking for. I've been reading these forums and also ordered the 2012 recommended omponenets magazine that steroephile offers. I will continue to read and welcome any other recommendations that someone may have. Thanks again. 

benespey
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A 2 channel system is what I would like to put together. I will definitely read those reviews. Thanks again. 

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