I would say if you could swing 500 for the primary speakers and amp, you would be getting a set up that might retail for 1000-1500.

you may even choose vintage over used, as there are a lot of good vintage well cared for items around.

seeing as this is basically a 2 channel analog set up, you dont really need to consider hdmi or other digital interfaces for now... though anything you buy would probably come with it

Priptonite,

If I'm reading you correctly, you mean 100-200 for the speakers, and 100-200 for the receiver. If so, swing up 50 bucks and get the b-stock Arx A1b bookshelves.

I would bet my life that you can't find a better pair of speakers for under twice that. They best my buddies 1000 dollar Polk towers. I literally have not read a single bad review of the speakers; user written and professional (example). The planar tweeter alone places it in a category above speakers much more expensive than these. There is no way I can overstate how amazing a deal these are. They have solid coverage for your lower frequencies, to boot, so you won't feel like you're missing out not having a sub-woofer. I'm absolutely in love with mine (they were B-stock as well, and show no signs of anything less than brand spanking new). When you decide to upgrade, move these to the rear or 2nd room and get the A5 towers (which recently won a sub-$1000 speaker contest). These are the perfect investment for somebody who wants quality but also plans on upgrading later. The receiver below has an A-speaker/B-speaker feature, so you can simply migrate these to another room when you're ready to upgrade. Or keep them as surrounds if you want to move to a home theater setup with an AV receiver.

If you absolutely have to stay under 200, get the Polk Monitor 40s.. One of the best bang for your buck speakers out there. Polk can be hit or miss, and often relies on it's brand to do the heavy lifting when the quality isn't on par with their price tag, but these will keep anybody happy at $150 a pair.

For your receiver, your best bet is a stereo receiver unless you plan on expanding the usage to movies and TV. The Harmon Kardon 3390 is legit. Amazon Warehouse has a deal on a used one for $200. It's a phenom, and will pump enough amperage to your speakers such that you can put them on fearless blast when your neighbors are out and you wanna fill your apartment with quality tunes. It also has the option of a second pair of speakers which can be powered at the same time as your primaries (something you won't want to dare with cheaper receivers even if they offer the option). So you can have music in two rooms if you want (the polk monitor 30s would be a perfect B set of speakers, btw).

If you do plan on migrating to an Audio and Video setup, I'd recommend simply investing now in a quality home theater receiver. Accessories4less.com is a reputable site, and authorized reseller of refurbished equipment. I just bought a Denon AVR-1913 from them and was legitimately surprised at how much better my Arx sounded with the upgrade from my old Onkyo. A4L gives a 1 year warranty from Denon, and an option to extend it 2, 3, or 5 years (50 bucks for 5 year warranty)

OMG... polk ITT?

I'm sorry man, but I have to really put my foot down now!

OP, we need a few more ideas of what you need and what your goals are before we can APPROPRIATELY give you any advice. but one thing is for certain... polk, mutha effing :facepalm:

are we correct in assuming this is a 2 channel set up primarily for vinyl playback? Did you budget for a cartridge?

Brand hate gets blown out of proportion. At discounted prices, they can be worthy, though, I generally agree with you.

Sorry for the lack of detail, this is gonna be a learning experience for me. I've wanted a record player for a while but always thought it was impractical living in an apartment. But I realized that I could be living in an apartment for years and I shouldn't let that stop me. 2 channel set up for vinyl playback is correct. We're still unsure where/how exactly the speakers will be arranged, so primary listening area is hard to estimate.

It sounds like I should spend more than I was planning on spending, which is fine. I was just thinking I didn't want to spend a lot if I was going to upgrade when I moved into a house. If I can get bookshelfs that will transition well to a home then no big deal.

And no plans currently to upgrade the cartridge.

Edit: I realize this probably still isn't enough information thank you guys for taking the time to help. There's so much info out there that I quickly overwhelmed myself.

there is a lot of truth in your statement for sure... but in general this is how I feel and my personal moto:



Klipsch @ CES

sorry I dropped the ball here, is your budget from primary speakers still set @
200$ range?

you definitely want to be buying used here, in that way you can stretch your listening dollar... and your original assumption that anything you get now is a compromise and will be replaced later is pretty much a truism.

not trying make anyone feel bad or "low", but we're really at the bottom of the listening barrel in that price range. Still, I think you can get something that will make your toes tap and your brain happy.

right around that 250'ish to 350'ish mark, you can get into a pair of Klipsch Bookshelf speakers that is there RB series two way(buy used)
there is the rb41, rb51, and rb61(they go to the rb81) and if you are a prudent shopper and take your time, you may find an outstanding deal on those. One major factor is, that you can always resell them for about what you pay or at a minimal loss...unlike many speakers.


if you can swing 300-450, you can get into the Klipsch Heritage line by buying a pair of Heresys(better for analog playback). these are a full three way design and will begin to show the true nature of good speaker design. these speakers were designed in the 1950's and are still relevant even today... I've owned several pairs of these over the years and they will blow you neighbors out of the building with good amplification. My personal speakers are big brothers to these heresys and were also designed originally in the 1950's.





you need some room for these as they are approx 23"x15"x13"...

here is an article that reviews them in todays terms: Klipsch Heresy

Thanks MSchu, I'm a bit worried about buying used because of my lack of knowledge but I'll definitely look around. I hear audiogon.com is pretty reputable. Do you have any recommendations aside from Craigslist and eBay?

not really... depending on where you are. craigslist is great for resources and some places in the country is much better than others. you could literally save 70-80% off retail with some searching your surrounding areas.

let me know where you are and I will look for you and give you some ideas.

Pennsylvania? anywhere near the Martin guitar factory?

fair deal... offer the guy 400.

not sure where the audiophiles stand on Sonos, but I just 'installed' one for our kitchen and it was about the most pleasant tech experience I've ever had. it's more foolproof than anything Apple has put out, which is saying something. sound quality - well I'm far from a speaker guy but it seems very decent to me. for $200 I'm very pleased given how easy it integrates with everything else I already listen to - my only gripe is that it requires Spotify Premium, which I was thinking about signing up for anyway.

hard to see how similar systems aren't the future of home entertainment

Man, this is top notch service, thanks MSchu

I'm in the Seattle area.

Boom...

Heresy

offer the guy 350 and settle for 375-400.

really, on quality goods you dont need to worry as much because people that buy these quality goods tend to take care of them and in addition, they are for the most part repairable.

if you were to buy these.... they would ALWAYS be worth between 325-450$.

these have free shipping and are a great buy up to about 600$

Klipsch RB81ii

currently they are only about 350$ with one day to go. top of the line bookshelf speaker that retails for somewhere around 900$

That looks like an awesome deal, I think I'd be willing to go up to $500 or so. I'm guessing I could resell those at any point for $500-$600?

yes you could... it's an easy resell at 475-525$ or so.

Better Klipsch (like these) hold there value very very well after the initial dealer purchase devaluation.

I am willing to bet those will end up in the 475-500 range on closing because new "discounted" units are going for about $650'ish or so.

Awesome, thanks again MSchu. Do you have any opinion on the Arx A1bs? I think if I strike out in the used market that those will be my top choice.

Any receiver models you recommend looking for used?

Is this a good deal?

http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/ele/4254794255.html

not a particular fan of those... the planar require a lot of power to perform, where klipsch are just about the most efficient speakers made. you can drive most klipsch to reference levels with one single watt of output they are that effective and efficient. of course, that means if you have crap going in, you will have crap coming out... where as other speakers might mask that crap slightly because they color sound instead of giving you accurate sound.

what's your budget for an amplifier? under 100 used? you really need to make a choice on speakers because that determines what output you might need from your amp. less efficient speakers need much more power to drive. that pioneer is okay for a starter @65 bucks... 110 wpc in 2 channel mode, I doubt the claim of 110 wpc in multi channel mode.

almost anything made by pioneer is good... but some are better than others. if you are using this mostly for 2 channel analog, you dont need a bunch of fancy home theater crap in your amp.

Onkyo is another good starter amp... mostly trouble free and nice performance.

electronics is slightly different than speakers when buying used, you need to be more careful though I would never steer you away from used... I buy all my electronics used(big money saver when you are buying big bucks items). just have the seller prove to you it works BEFORE you walk out the door.

I can't help but pimp my cobbled system here...



those klipsch cornwalls are about 3 feet tall and are about 40 years old... still performing better than 95% of the crap being sold today including the highend goods.

I have no issues spending on a receiver (up to $300 maybe?), just saw that deal and thought I'd ask. And yeah, the receiver will just be used for 2 channel analog for now. Won't be upgrading to a larger system for several years most likely. I know that I need a phono preamp since my turntable doesn't have a built in one.

For the speakers, I'm going to try to nab these RB-81s and if that doesn't pan out I'll call up the guy with the Heresy IIs. If neither of those work out, back to the drawing board.

Still at $455 with 40min left. Hoping to snipe for $500 or less, one time pls.

Got em for $480

I need to find a surround sound system that is small and doesnt take up space but still sounds good and has some good bass. I dont want to go with Bose but they are the leader in small/simple. Wireless rear speakers would be nice.

What are my options? I am open to all in one systems or buying things separate.

oh wow... very very nice dude.

$480? I'll buy them off you for $500! j/k.

now the search for an amp begins... you know, speaking to your thought of having to get a phono stage/pre amp... if you run a high output cartridge, you really do not need a set up or phono pre amp. of course the ideal set up is a low out put with a tube phono stage, but that is splitting hairs.

did your carbon come with the ortofon cart?

specifically for home theater... or do you listen to 2 channel also?

on the lower end, I don't personally have an aversion to most all in ones because at that level, you really are not getting into items that are pricey.

do you have an amplifer already? if so, how do you plan on running it as a 5.1/7.1/9.1?

most importantly, did you happen to have an idea of what price point you are willing to spend?