How I got to my my happy place, (formerly the how to spend $3000 thread) - Page 3

$3250? price seems high. sr-507 or sr-404le and a cheaper amp imo.

Please don't waste your money on a fancy USB cable.  They litterally make no difference whatsoever, especially for something with so little bandwidth as sending audio over just a couple of feet.  I can understand higher quality cables if you are going to span a very long distance and signal degradation might be a problem...but over a couple of feet you are just wasting your money.

As for an amp, I would suggest a used Stax SRM-717.  They are really great amps that can then eventually be used quite succesfully with the O2.  The problem with the GES is that its very underpowered for the higher end headphones.  Knowing that 99% of head-fiers out there want to try new things and move up, I don't think you will stay with the 404 forever.  I don't thinkt the GES has great resale value either.  Also, have you ever tried stax headphones?  I would before investing so much money on them coz 404s are very hit or miss for many people...so just because its expensive, it doesn't mean that it will suit your musical tastes. 

The benefit of a good dynamic amp is that you can then buy and sell tons of great dynamic headphones (new or used) and make your journey to the best sound signature that you like.

just my 2 cents :)

Are you sure you want a home-rig? Those JH-3A's look mighty tempting...

Yeah, based on my impressions from Canjam, the JH-3A with a great digital source (something that can output coax) would probably beat the pants off anything you could muster up for a $2000 home rig :) And on the bright side, its portable

You should definitely keep a close eye on the Electrostats now that the SR-507 is almost around the corner.

A used one will run you about $900+ on this forum.

SR-507s sound interesting but they are almost twice price of the 404s but I don't see drastic changes in design to warrant the price tag.  Also I'd wait a while before trusting people's impressions on them...most have new toy syndrome where everything new sounds "the best" ;)

the last few srm-717's I've seen sold were in the 900-1000 range.

$3,000 will put you solidly into the high-end if you bought used gear and went with ordinary cables for the time being or learned how to make your own.  Buying a mid-fi setup with $700 on cables isn't going to make it anything other than mid-fi.

If I were you, I'd take a very hard look at the used market and look for superior components.  $3,000 will buy that used, but not the way you're spending it.  The Sonett is a good amp and will hold value, but the rest will depreciate like mad.  If you check prices on Audiogon, you'll see that cables take an especially huge hit a few years on.  DACs drop fast, as well.  Both leave you with very little a few years on.

I'd also highly recommend spending $5 for a Radio Shack soldering iron.  Making cables is easy, there are lots of tutorials here and you can have exactly what you want for a lot less.

If I were to spend $3,000, it'd be more along the lines of:

Used Rega Planar 3, $400

Sonett, $1,200

Used NAD integrated or receiver (with phono): $300

Used Magnepan MMG or MG12: $400

Used DAC: $300-$500

Use the rest to buy a soldering iron and whatever fancy cable and connectors you want.  After you build a few, you might end up wondering where the extra money goes in commercial cables.

A system like this would give you many times the performance and flexibility of what you've listed.  You'll never lose money on a Rega and the MMGs - they're hugely popular.  An integrated will sink in value a little, but the good brands hold up.  And buy a fully depreciated DAC since people will always pay a few hundred for a working one.

If you wanted to go with a serious speaker setup, you could eliminate a few things there and really focus on one.  You could get some incredible speakers, like the Quad ESL-63, Klipsch horn, B&W Matrix 801, Magnepan 1.6 or 1.7, Vandersteen 3, or many others used for $2,000 or a bit less.  Then you could pick up a nice used amp from Bryston, Conrad-Johnson, Dynaco, or others, for $300-$1000.  Any of these would make for a very respectable system - not mid-fi in any way.  You could probably toss in $200 for a Bottlehead Crack, too, and keep the headphones around.

So don't throw away $3,000.  That's enough to get into the top tier of performance.  Heck, I'm spending the same to put the Orion3 together.  The kit is $300, the drivers were $1,800, about $400 for two Adcom GFA-2535 4 channel amps, another $300 for the active crossover's parts, and it'll be about $100 for MDF for the cases and some paint.

There are lots of options and you need to take an intelligent approach to spending the money.  Don't get ripped off.  $3,000 can get you close to the best available if you don't waste it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kboe 

And now, a second possible rig.  Dynamic based to allow me the option of easily changing headphones between brands and house sounds, as to not be stuck with the Stax sound.

Considering all the Stax I've heard there is no definitive 'Stax sound', i.e. they all sound different to each other.