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March 7, 2013 - 4:11pm
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Looking for advice/recommendations for building a system
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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
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.
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.
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.
A 2 channel system is what I would like to put together. I will definitely read those reviews. Thanks again.