What system would you build with a $5,000 budget?

[realhifi]

$5,000 is a fair bit of money and especially so for an office system. I'm assuming there is somewhat limited space so a compact system might be in order. Here is one that is simple, super high quality and nice and compact.
Linn Majik DSM all in one integrated amp, dac, streamer w/ a pair of their Majik 109 bookshelf speakers.
This is actually a bit more than your budget but if you search hard enough you MIGHT find the speakers used so you could probably squeak this sytem for $5,000 or so.

Fantastic sound and fantastic flexibility.

[James1776]

Can't build a good system for $5k.

Bull...try a Benchmark DAC ($999) a Prima Luna premier ($2300), Monitor Audio Silver RX6 speakers ($1300) and that leaves a good $400 for interconnects and speaker cables.

[Part-Time Audiophile]

I'd do this, if you're willing to work with a desktop system:

• Magnepan Mini System
• Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum
• Oppo BDP-95
• Black Cat Cables

... And done!

That should be just under $5k MSRP, and you don't even have to have a computer hooked to it to have it play and sound great.

[prufrock]

"I am more interested in forgetting the speakers are there and feeling the music is almost live then technically accurate sound. Hope this helps.
Thanks for all the responses."

You may like to try and explain exactly what you mean in this regard. I have just done something similar to what you intend (but in a bigger room). Do you intend sitting at your desk to listen to music, with the speakers on the desk? If so there are some very good small bookshelf size speakers around. However at close range they will give you a very accurate sound. If you have not done this type of listening before, you may not find it to your taste. If you like bass, it could be a challenge in such a small room. If you want to forget about the speakers, Mirage do a line that would fulfil that requirement. However they will not have the accuracy of a good monitor. If you go the passive route, you can now get Amps with built in DACs - this is what I chose.

[ringenesherre]

I second Julf's recommendation to go with a USB DAC and some active monitors. Any reasonable studio quality active monitors, but I would also vote for some Genelecs. Let's say a pair of 8240s (will set you back approx $3000). Some decent possibility to output AES from your computer system (let's say $200) and you are set. And that system will rock :-D

Cheers,
Peter

[Hoover]

I would go the used route! Taking a quick look through audiogon you could get the ZU Essence speakers with a simaudio moon i-5 integrated and perhaps a peachtree dac-it or schiit bifrost. That would end up right around $5k (current asking prices) and be a pretty nice system.

[Bear]

W4S DAC 2 $1,500
W4S ST-500 $1,500
ZU Essence or Acoustic Zen Adagio (used) $2,000

Should be a kick-ass system for $5,000.

[sidssp]

Here is what I would do:

Mac Mini - $799
Audirvana - $49
Benchmark DAC-1 USB - $1295
Focal Solo6 Be - $2400/pr
USB cable, XLR interconnect - $200

Total: $4743

It will be cheaper if you buy used.

If you want more bass, add a Focal Sub6 for $1,700 but it might go over your budget.

This is an absolutely killer system for listening within 3 to 10 feet from the speakers.

[jackfish]

Using a PC with J River media player. Need Speakers, Amp, and DAC. Open on new or used.

Thanks for the reply

Salk Songtowers $2,000
Anthem Integrated 225 $1500
Schiit Gungnir w/USB $850
Cables $650

[davidl10]

Thank you everyone for your help. Speakers are definitely the biggest challenge. I am off this weekend and now have some speakers to audition. Thank you again for the suggestions.

[cjf]

Some good options here. With $5k I would do the following:

Benchmark DAC1 USB $1300 (just bought one myself for my office PC based system..Nice unit!)
Used Amp from Audiogon (idealy with balanced Inputs) $1200
Harbeth P3ESR ($2200) OR Dynaudio Excite X12 ($1200)
Remaining money on cables

[davidl10]

If anyone was curious I wound up buying a used pair of Vandersteen 3A speakers-$2,000, NAD M3 amp $3,000 and stealing the IDAC from the other room $0. I also decided to put it in the living room and move the Marantz amp and klipsch speakers upstairs to the office.

[xyz]

You couldn't have made a better choice in speakers. I use Vandersteens as well. Tried a lot of other speakers but I haven't found their equal yet. What I like best is that you can keep upgrading your electronics and not outclass the speaker. As far as setup and placement goes, I highly recommend you follow the instructions in the manual; it makes a big difference.

[davidl10]

Thanks XYZ, what are you driving them with? I am not sold on the NAD it was what they had. I have not opened it yet and thinking of returning it.

You couldn't have made a better choice in speakers. I use Vandersteens as well. Tried a lot of other speakers but I haven't found their equal yet. What I like best is that you can keep upgrading your electronics and not outclass the speaker. As far as setup and placement goes, I highly recommend you follow the instructions in the manual; it makes a big difference.

[4est]

NAD: Maybe I am too old school, but I have to wonder about spending more on an amp than the speakers -unless you are intending to upgrade the speakers soon. IMHO of course...

[realhifi]

NAD: Maybe I am too old school, but I have to wonder about spending more on an amp than the speakers -unless you are intending to upgrade the speakers soon. IMHO of course...

Yep. Me too. I recently heard a pair of $5500 speakers with a used 50 watt integrated amp that cost $500 and it sounded
superb.

[ringenesherre]

Congrats to the new stuff, even when I agree with the conservatives here that I would never spend more money on an amp than on speakers. Given that the speakers are good though, you should still get a decent sound.

Cheers,
Peter

[xyz]

davidl10

I knew there was something familiar about that new thread. Your answer is on the new thread. My reply is pretty general so if I left something out, post and I'll answer as best as I can.

4est and realhifi,

I'm kind of suprised at your comments. Being "old school", I would have thought you guys would respect good value in a product. I like the fact that I don't have to upgrade my speakers just to take advantage of new electronics. Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not a "Status Symbol" audiophile. I go by sound quality and build quality only. If other people want to go out and spend big money on names and trends, thats fine. Its their money and their business. On a personal note, I do think that kind of spending does the high end audio community no good. It changes peoples perceptions on how to allocate their resources to achieve good sound. There's no better example than my own best friend. I know a lot more about audio than he does yet he had to go out and buy these big, expensive Krell amps. I told him he could get the Ayre amps that I have for a small fraction of the price, and get better sound, as well. Didn't listen. Same thing with the speakers. Spent 4x more than what the Vandersteens cost. At least he now has the names he's always wanted.

I know that I'm going on about this but I feel that if I can help someone from making a huge mistake either in sound quality or price, its worth me being a bit annoying. And if that's not enough, I don't even have "top of the line" cables. So there.

[realhifi]

davidl10

I knew there was something familiar about that new thread. Your answer is on the new thread. My reply is pretty general so if I left something out, post and I'll answer as best as I can.

4est and realhifi,

I'm kind of suprised at your comments. Being "old school", I would have thought you guys would respect good value in a product. I like the fact that I don't have to upgrade my speakers just to take advantage of new electronics. Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not a "Status Symbol" audiophile. I go by sound quality and build quality only. If other people want to go out and spend big money on names and trends, thats fine. Its their money and their business. On a personal note, I do think that kind of spending does the high end audio community no good. It changes peoples perceptions on how to allocate their resources to achieve good sound. There's no better example than my own best friend. I know a lot more about audio than he does yet he had to go out and buy these big, expensive Krell amps. I told him he could get the Ayre amps that I have for a small fraction of the price, and get better sound, as well. Didn't listen. Same thing with the speakers. Spent 4x more than what the Vandersteens cost. At least he now has the names he's always wanted.

I know that I'm going on about this but I feel that if I can help someone from making a huge mistake either in sound quality or price, its worth me being a bit annoying. And if that's not enough, I don't even have "top of the line" cables. So there.

Not sure how either my nor 4est's replys can be thought of as us looking for someone to spend more money. I actually think we may have both been advocating spending less not more. That said, when you look at allocation of funds I (and I believe 4est was also) simply looking at HOW those funds were being spread out and that if you have $2,000 a pair speakers then you can certainly spend LESS on amplification than what the OP was considering. Conversally, you can spend more on speakers in a budget and find some inexpensive gems for amps that will make those better speakers sound fantastic. The budget stays the same.
I know from experience that this can work as well or better in some instances and that then IF you ever get a hankering to replace anything that you can look at another amp down the road to go with those speakers.

[xyz]

If I didn't get the correct meaning of your post, I apologize. Didn't mean to offend in any way.

"Not sure how either my nor 4est's replys can be thought of as us looking for someone to spend more money. I actually think we may have both been advocating spending less not more. That said, when you look at allocation of funds I (and I believe 4est was also) simply looking at HOW those funds were being spread out and that if you have $2,000 a pair speakers then you can certainly spend LESS on amplification than what the OP was considering. Conversally, you can spend more on speakers in a budget and find some inexpensive gems for amps that will make those better speakers sound fantastic. The budget stays the same.
I know from experience that this can work as well or better in some instances and that then IF you ever get a hankering to replace anything that you can look at another amp down the road to go with those speakers."

I think understand what you are saying in that last quote, but I'm not sure if I agree with it. I based my recommendations not as a general comment, but on what the OP was asking for in this thread. The Vandersteen 3's are extremely good speakers. In my opinion, and many others as well, Ayre is considered to be the best solid state option for Vandersteen's. Of course, others may think differently; as we all have different tastes. But in order to get best results with Vand, you need electronics that can fully take advantage of the speakers design. I think Ayre does that better than anything else I've heard. That's why I don't agree with your post. You are basing it on future upgrades of amps and speakers. I'm not. What I'm saying is that the Ayre/Vand combo is such a good match, I don't think you need to upgrade. (At least not for a long time).

I hope I was able to clarify my point. In the end, I think we can all agree that we want the best sound possible. We are just taking different paths on how to achieve it.

[chg]

NAD: Maybe I am too old school, but I have to wonder about spending more on an amp than the speakers -unless you are intending to upgrade the speakers soon. IMHO of course...

That's the first thing I thought as well.

Speakers should be first priority in the budget, but didn't want to criticize your new system. But, since you have the option to return...

As mentioned in my earlier reply, priority should be;

1) Speakers
2) Source
3) Amp
4) Cables

Get the best speakers budget allows. You will see the most significant improvement in speakers as price goes up. Source is next, but there are some very decent dac's in the <$1k range. Amps, IMO, are last in the price/performance scale. You can get some very nice sounding amps in the $1k+ range. Then, you upgrade components around the speakers.

$4-5k monitor speaker will give you near world class refinement. I'm a little over budget, but you've got a speaker that you're more likely to keep for many years.

I will say, you don't mess around. I usually take forever researching, learning, testing, before I buy.

[davidl10]

Thanks for all the comments. I agree speakers are the most important. I do not have any speaker stands so that would have added to the cost of monitors and did not have room for a sub. I actually have been looking at speakers for a month. I heard the 2ce and really liked them. When I found these for a fair price I jumped. I am really enjoying the Vandy's and are quite happy with them. I also think that is too much for the amp since it leaves no room for another DAC. I am currently moving the DAC back and forth to the basement.

The big change in this is they never made it to my office. When I got home I had no way to get them upstairs so I set them up in the living room. My wife enjoyed them so much they never left. I still need an amp but may need 2 DAC's now. The old Marantz will relocate to the office and probably at some point will need speakers again. I do not love the small wife approved speakers that were in the living room. Back to the drawing board.

[xyz]

That's the first thing I thought as well.

"Speakers should be first priority in the budget, but didn't want to criticize your new system. But, since you have the option to return...

As mentioned in my earlier reply, priority should be;

1) Speakers
2) Source
3) Amp
4) Cables

Get the best speakers budget allows. You will see the most significant improvement in speakers as price goes up. Source is next, but there are some very decent dac's in the <$1k range. Amps, IMO, are last in the price/performance scale. You can get some very nice sounding amps in the $1k+ range. Then, you upgrade components around the speakers.

$4-5k monitor speaker will give you near world class refinement. I'm a little over budget, but you've got a speaker that you're more likely to keep for many years.

I will say, you don't mess around. I usually take forever researching, learning, testing, before I buy."

I hate to have to say this, but with regards to the above comment; There is no basis in reality for it whatsoever. You have no clue as to how good the OP's speakers are, what type of equipment to match it with, and a very poor understanding of audio equipment. At best, that statement is a guess (And a bad one at that). I don't mean to offend, but the reason I am saying this is that someone may actually make a purchase based on it. Let's take a look at some of it.

"As mentioned in my earlier reply, priority should be;

1) Speakers
2) Source
3) Amp
4) Cables"

Wrong. With the exception of cables at #4, choices 1, 2 and 3 are all equal. Mess one piece up and the whole system is bad. Thats just common sense. Also, you forgot the preamp and thats usually the hardest peice to get right.

"Get the best speakers budget allows." I agree; the OP has done that.

"You will see the most significant improvement in speakers as price goes up." I don't even know what to say to that one, other than its a childish statement and leaves me speechless. There is so much out there to prove that statement wrong, I could literally write a book on the subject.

"Source is next, but there are some very decent dac's in the <$1k range." As stated above, source is not next, but equal. The rest of the statement is OK.

"Amps, IMO, are last in the price/performance scale. You can get some very nice sounding amps in the $1k+ range." The only credit I can give you there is that you admit this is your opinion. As for being last on the price/performance; simply not true. As for nice sounding amps in 1k+ range, I believe that to be true; in general. In this discussion, though, the OP has Vand 3's. What are we recommending for THAT speaker.

"Then, you upgrade components around the speakers." Dosen't apply here. OP is getting the right stuff to begin with and will be listening to his system, not upgrading it.

"$4-5k monitor speaker will give you near world class refinement. I'm a little over budget, but you've got a speaker that you're more likely to keep for many years." Great. You're leaving out 2 things, though. 1. How do you judge world class refinement? 2. What speaker? Just buy anything for $4-5k?

"I will say, you don't mess around." I agree. OP got the right speaker on his 1st pick.

"I usually take forever researching, learning, testing, before I buy." I don't know if I believe that, but if you are having trouble picking good audio equipment, I would ask davidl10. He seems to know what he is doing.

[4est]

xyz:

I think that you are presenting a skewed perspective. The OP asked for advice- you presented yours and I have presented mine. A common "methodology" would be to spend half on the speakers, and the balance on the rest. I am sure that you love your Vandersteens, and maybe they are all that you think they are, but there are many fine speakers in that price range. In most all cases I would seriously consider before spending more on an amp than the speakers to drive with it. Period!

With 5K to start, less $2300, I would upgrade the source and spend about $1500-$1800 and that leaves about 1K for a 150-200w/channel amp. Save the more expensive cabling for later if desired.

That said, I must confess that I am running a pair of 8K amps with a pair of 2K speakers while my ESLs are being stored due to the large remodeling project where the ESLs belong.

[xyz]

"xyz:

I think that you are presenting a skewed perspective. The OP asked for advice- you presented yours and I have presented mine. A common "methodology" would be to spend half on the speakers, and the balance on the rest. I am sure that you love your Vandersteens, and maybe they are all that you think they are, but there are many fine speakers in that price range. In most all cases I would seriously consider before spending more on an amp than the speakers to drive with it. Period!

With 5K to start, less $2300, I would upgrade the source and spend about $1500-$1800 and that leaves about 1K for a 150-200w/channel amp. Save the more expensive cabling for later if desired.

That said, I must confess that I am running a pair of 8K amps with a pair of 2K speakers while my ESLs are being stored due to the large remodeling project where the ESLs belong."

If you are comparing how I approach the problem to your way, then yes, my perspective is skewed. When you say we both presented advice in your above statement, I think you are going a bit too far. I have yet to see your advice. All you talk about is some silly pricing sceme that you say is common methodology. Buying equipment, like you say, based on price is the best possible way to ensure failure. More often than not, price has very little to do with how well components match with each other. With regard to Vandersteen, it dosen't matter if I like them or not; if you read the origional post, this is what we have to work with. Since I also own them, I may be in a position to make some valid comments.

Explain to me how this is helpful: "I am sure that you love your Vandersteens, and maybe they are all that you think they are, but there are many fine speakers in that price range. In most all cases I would seriously consider before spending more on an amp than the speakers to drive with it. Period!" What can someone do with that statement you are so confident in making? Your alternative? You are implying the OP made a mistake but you can't back it up with a recommendation of your own. (Sorry, I forgot: Prices Only!!)

And this, for that matter: "That said, I must confess that I am running a pair of 8K amps with a pair of 2K speakers while my ESLs are being stored due to the large remodeling project where the ESLs belong."" Why confess? It a temp system. What should we be taking away from that one? -- Let me give you some advice: Get rid of your Generic $2000 speakers, buy a pair of Vandersteen model 2's for $2000 and you'll have you main system. Sell whatever expensive stuff you have put away and use the proceeds to get into another hobby that you are better at.