For a free system you certainly could have done worse. I would concentrate on new speakers before anything else. The 301's are not horrible but their faults are definitely of the type that suggests a lack of fidelity to the real thing and makes most music sound very one note with no real personality of its own. In other words, they don't play music very well. Getting you involved with the performance should be one of the prime requisites for any system at any budget. I don't think the 301's do this very well.

Set a possible budget for your purchase and pull together some selections from the threads you find here.

My problems with the 301's is the same I have with all Bose speakers...you have to play them loud to get decent sound. Quiet play is a real letdown.

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Thanks for the response Jan. I found a deal on some Polk Audio Rti8 floor standing speakers for $300 for a pair. It seems like a pretty good deal, so I may pick them up before they sell out and audition them. Does anyone have any experience with these speakers?

My sister has them and I find them to be rather dry and uninvolving. Is it possible for you to increase your budget to perhaps $1500 level? If so, the realm of possibilities opens up a great deal.

I'm not a speaker guru, and someone else will surely provide you with good information.

I sought to build a system in your price range, and I wound up spending about $1800, and was extremely happy with everything. I highly recommend considering used speakers. I found some fantastic speakers for about 1/2 of what they were new (some ProAc Tablette 2000s), and I expect not to lose too much on resale value, although I'm not looking to part with them anytime soon. Some of this depends on where you are - being fortunate enough to live in a large city opens up the options a bit.

A new speaker to consider is the Magneplanar MMG (somewhere around $550/pair). People rave about them, and I believe the company has a great return policy AND will give you full trade-in value if you upgrade to another one of their speakers. Just a thought. Like I said - I'm not a speaker guy (hopefully over the next year or so I'l have time to audition a bunch).

You might just find a good speaker match for your current system, and see if you just want to stop there for now. If so, feel free to ignore the rest of this post.

My system also included an integrated amp - I got the Marantz PM7001 (I picked up a "scratch and dent" version for less than $500 and there was nothing wrong with it), which I believe has been replaced by the PM8001. Others to consider are the Jolida 1301A and 1501A (listed at $390 and $675, but you can probably find them cheaper), the Onkyo A-9555 (always sold well below list), or one from NAD. Get your speakers first, and research (audition if possible) how much power you need. Depending on which of these you get, you may need a separate phono stage (note: I wasn't happy with the Marantz's phono stage, although I'm overall happy with the amp itself and I also suspect that I would have had the same experience with any integrated phono stage). I like the Bellari VP-129 (I think it might be the VP-130 now) at $250, but there are solid performers for under $200.

As for TT, I got a Rega P2. You can grab the P1 as well as several others in the price range (just under $400).

I got my cable from bluejeans and wired everything for less than $100.

These options can bring you to about $1500, AND you'll have a great sounding system.

The PM7001 puts out 70wpc, and it'll drive most speakers in the range you're thinking - I think. That is a decent deal for that integrated amp, and I suspect the price is dropping because it has been replaced by a newer model. Partially because I wouldn't mind having one, I was hoping you'd find some speakers that are a good match for the Jolida (and, for all I know, its lower watts (30wpc) doesn't mean it won't drive as many speakers - like I said, I don't know enough), and get that. While $330 is okay, it probably won't be the last one you see in that price range or less (in other words, I don't think falls under the "too good to pass up" category). So I think you can safely hold off and do more research if you want.

I hope someone else chimes in about speakers, though.

Craigslist and local newspapers are good choices. Audiogon is a little riskier, and ebay is a crapshoot. I'd only deal locally for speakers myself, though, so I could check them out and make sure they aren't damaged in transit.

I ha e owned a set of MMG's for years and consider them perhaps the best money I have ever spent for audio. Just make sure you have enough power, say 50 watts, to power them.

Magnepan MMG are sold factory direct only. The smallest practical speaker that Magnepan dealers carry is the 12QR which is an absolutely KILLER speaker. Please note when thinking about buying Magnepan while the speakers are a great value for the money with respect to how much performance you get for a relatively modest price they do like to have better amplifiers and are a bit power hungry. So a lot of the money you "save" relative to what other speakers with similar performance might cost ends up being spent on a better amplifier. Magnepans are very revealing if you skimp on the quality of the amp, so that very clearly.

I'm also a fan of Paradigm Mini Monitors. Which are much more efficient and will be less demanding on the quality of electronics.

mrlowry - Are you saying that the Maggies need better power, more power, or both? I've heard some say they need at least 50wpc, but would it be better to have a $300 100wpc amp, or a $1,000 60wpc amp? Of course the answer is, "you'll have to listen," but I'd appreciate your best guess - I'm just asking because I'm curious. Thanks.

They require better power because they are incredibly revealing sonically and more power because they are a difficult load to drive, so both. Receivers and amps are rated very, very differently. Every manufacture picks their own methods so the only way that watts are 100% useful is within a given manufacturer. Is the 300 watt Bryston twice powerful as the 150 watt Bryston amp? Yes any comparison other than that and you really start to get into gray areas. Receivers, for the most part are rated by the marketing departments and their wattage ratings should be closely scrutinized. How wide of s spectrum of frequencies were drive, into what impedence, and resulting in how much Total harmonic distortion. Even that is a bit of a simplification. If you were talking specific brand receiver vs. specific brand amp an educated guess is possible. For example a 60 watt Bryston (B60) would drive Magnepan MMGs or 12QRs with relative ease, a 60 wattRotel (RA1062) would do a good job but wouldn't have as much authority in the bass or dynamics, and a 60 watt Sony receiver wouldn't stand a chance in hell of sounding good.

That makes sense, thanks.

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