John Warren Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 My dentist asked me what I'd buy if I was to spend $20,000 on a basic 2-ch setup that includes CD and FM radio sources: My suggestion: Amplifier-Preamp: McIntosh MA6600 $6500 Autoformer outputs allows to use any speakers he decides to "upgrade" to in the future. Plenty of power Great re-sale if he decided it's not for him. Remote Control Super, super quiet Optional AM/FM tuner module (turns the MA6600 into a receiver): $1000 Speakers: B&W Diamond 804 $7500/pr. Sound great in both near and far-field Solid bass extension Small footprint WAF very high (and they like the sound too) CD Player: Pioneer PD-D6MK2-K $700 192 kHz/24-bit Burr-Brown D-A converters extremely low jitter High frequency extension is amazing Massive amount of technology for the price (only folks like Pioneer can do this) Total $16,700. How did I do? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minermark Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Works for me. Being a very clean set up and that is what Doc's like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
001 Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 How did I do? great... except no klipsch??? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juniper Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 I heard some of the larger b&w speakers at are local hifi spot with my wife with large dual mac mono's and a mac cd player, the system was about 75k. I popped in take five.... My wife and I couldn't believe our ears, it was lifeless and sounded colored. Maybe it was the room? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimjimbo Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 How did I do? great... except no klipsch??? Yea, no tubes, no Klipsch? I suppose you could make up the rest of the 20K with a power cord and pair of speaker cables..... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 A walnut Cornwall III comes to mind ($4,000 MSRP and so-so WAF). New K-Horns also come to mind, if he has a room that they will work in ($9,000 MSRP and high WAF). With either of these speakers, you could save money by picking a smaller Mac integrated. Both are old-school like the McIntosh you picked out, and best of all, designed by PWK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
001 Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 & if the WAF kills big k-horns. how about palladiums? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbtwsp Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 I like all of your comments. If someone asked me the same I would say, "Lets spend a day or two, and go to some local shops and listen to gear together and talk about gear". If he is serious about spending that kind of money he really needs to listen. That's my feeling because I really like interacting and talking with people. Bob 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 (edited) Khorns, Cornwalls or RF7-IIs depending on wife factor VRD's NBS Preamplifier if at some point he might use Vinyl Decent CD player as a transport Decent quality DAC with extra line level inputs and remote control Countless reasonably good tuners... Would easily be less then 20K and sound like 50K or better of course my opinion might be a bit slanted! Edited March 22, 2015 by NOSValves 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 I agree with rbtwsp, 20 grand is a lot to drop on anything other than a car or house. I would recommend some good brands, and yes take him to demo those brands. I do like McIntosh and Klipsch or horns for that matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthews Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 (edited) How did I do? ...a word DISAPPOINTED!!! Edited March 22, 2015 by Matthews Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max2 Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Pio over Oppo? B&W over Klipsch? Hmmm 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckAb3 Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Just my taste I suppose, but I'd never pick B&W over LaScalas or Cornwalls or k-Horns. I would also strongly prefer Oppo or a better Marantz SACD player to Pioneer. The new or newer-used market would bring the system in within budget. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muel Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Khorns, Cornwalls or RF7-IIs depending on wife factor VRD's NBS Preamplifier if at some point he might use Vinyl Decent CD player as a transport Decent quality DAC with extra line level inputs and remote control Countless reasonably good tuners... Would easily be less then 20K and sound like 50K or better of course my opinion might be a bit slanted! Works for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 (edited) Pio over Oppo? B&W over Klipsch? Hmmm Reminds of the Foghat "Fool for the City" album cover. Edited March 22, 2015 by mike stehr 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minermark Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Well, as the OP ask, how did i do? Id say just fine, i know of no one who started out with Klipsch, and to me that is a good thing. You need to play the field a little before you set your standard of what YOUR ears like or Not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justinsweber Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Going with the basic theme you might go B&W 802d for speakers and a vpi classic or the new pioneer direct drive sl-1200. Other thoughts would be mc c22 and mc75s that just came out and the new la scalas for w retro looking throughly bad *** setup. The cd sugested CD player and then a Mac mini with cd drive for digital library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Speakers: B&W Diamond 804 $7500/pr. Sound great in both near and far-field Solid bass extension Small footprint WAF very high (and they like the sound too) Maybe I haven't heard that particular model, but B&W's tend to sound withdrawn and lifeless to me. The quality, fit, and finish of the materials are terrific and may be worth that kind of money.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptorman Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 & if the WAF kills big k-horns. how about palladiums? That's what I thought….trade in the B&K for P37s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max2 Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 & if the WAF kills big k-horns. how about palladiums? That's what I thought….trade in the B&K for P37s. Guys that pull down 7 digits don't have WAF in their vocabulary. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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