[Chaucer]

Also, the Ver 2 had a bad tweeter on the left channel. It made a bad vibration on certain frequencies. If I decide to go with these and I force the dealer to replace the tweeter beforehand, is it an easy thing to fix and I can rest assure that it won't haunt me?

 

[ooheadsoo]

Don't forget guitar center for some powered studio monitors

 

[duff138]

Axiom speakers (either the M22ti or M3ti). I own the m22ti and think their great sounding speakers. check audiogon, they often have used pairs. For a receiver I'd check out the panasonic digital receivers from Best Buy or Circuit City, if your cd player has a digital out. I was impressed with them when I listen to one at Home.

 

[peter braun]

You will probraly have to spend a little more to get a decent sounding new integrated such as a NAD 320 BEE ($400) or Creek 4330 ($350-450). These are supposed to be good models but will not however offer the build quality of a vintage Marantz or Sansui unit.

 

[Wodgy]

The NAD C320BEE doesn't offer the sound quality of a vintage Marantz either.

 

[darkclouds]

I'd personally would go with a pair of Von Schweikert VR-1 along with a marantz 22XX or a pair of ASL Wave 8.

 

[augustwest]

If there is any doubt about the quality of the vintage Marantz 22XX as compared to modern equipment, here is an interesting quote, from the Marantz Legendary Audio Classics site.

"Why does a 35 watt Marantz sound better and louder than many 100 watt receivers?"

A: Because 35 watts/channel as specified by Marantz in the 1970's meant...

" The unit can deliver 35 watts into 8 ohms for one hour, from all channels at the same time, with no significant change in distortion, or other specifications, at any time during, or after, the test hour."

...while 100 watts/channel today (for instance, in my JVC surround system) means...


" The unit can deliver 100 watts for a fraction of a second, in one channel only, if the other channels aren't running and nothing else high energy has happened to drain the power supply of stored energy in the last few seconds."

To read more on this topic, see section 2, here is the link:

< http://www.classic-audio.com/marantz/mfaq.html >

 

[BlindTiger]

Best Buy has Athena speakers at 25 percent off per their weekly flyer.
They should be much better than other mass market stuff. (bose, jbl etc.) Of course, the paradigm studio 20's are much better.
All I know is your system will probably be better than what I had as my first.

 

[Gopher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkclouds I'd personally would go with a pair of Von Schweikert VR-1 along with a marantz 22XX or a pair of ASL Wave 8.

If your front end is taken care of, this is probably the best advice you've been given yet (including my Magnepan reco). Matching those speakers with vintage amplification or an affordable integrated until funds permitted an upgrade would be a spectacular option.

They are the cheapest component in my 2 channel rig (even my previous speaker cable carried a higher retail) and they are by no means the weakest link.

 

[jcmkk]

As far as budget integrated amps are concerned I've heard good things about the Norh SE 9. That is if you're looking interested in a tube amp. Also, if you're not afraid of a little DIY can get a lot for your money building speakers. If you're not good at the woodworking you may want to check out the Plop-in-the-Box from Dennis Murphy. You can also get pre-made cabinets for many speaker kits at Madisound, Zalytron, GR-Research, and of course Parts Express. And if you're handy with wood, you can build speakers from any one of those websites for even cheaper. You can also build an amp if you'd like. You may want to look into a gainclone. BrianGT makes kits for gainclones that take a lot of guess work (experience) out of the equation. You can get more info about them at the Chip Amp section of diyAudio.

<Edit> Also, for already made speakers you may want to take a look at the Eilish's at Shamrock Audio. They have a forum over at Audio Circles where you could get even more information. They wouldn't leave a lot for an amp though.

 

[ooheadsoo]

Yup, a second recommendation for Dennis's plop in the box. Go Dennis! Also, Dennis has crossover optimization for the norh se-9, but it's a pretty pricey speaker.

Also, if you're a regular on AC, you know that the $22 tripath amps are getting rave reviews and can power the eilishes in a pinch.