My Assembled Budget System!

[n2dablue]

Seeing as you all were so helpful with my questions about putting together my first sytem (on a tight budget) a couple of months ago, I thought I'd share what I ended up with. Thanks to all that took the time to answer my questions. You are what makes this board great!

Speakers:

Klipsch KG4s: 1990, 6 Ohm models in great shape from Ebay. $200 (a steal)

Reciever:

Denon DRA-835R: apparently rare, 2 channel, 100wpc, sold between 1991 and 1995, latest MSRP being $800. Nearly perfect condition, a full 25 lbs of awesome sound. AudioGon Classified for $150 (another complete steal)

Player:

Pioneer DV-563a: DVD, DVD-A, SACD, CD, MP3, Anything else you can think of. I got it as a floor demo from Circuit City cheap, knowing I could return it if it didn't perform. So far, very happy, and get this: $100!

Connections:

For speakers: Monster XP 14GA "lampcord". Free, it was laying around.

For components: Monster Interlink 400 MKII 1 Meter : $25 new off Ebay.

Thoughts: I know this is not the greatest stuff, but considering the budget I was aiming for, I think I made off really well. The appartment has a large enough living room to allow me to properly position the speakers, couch and TV, and I feel I am getting just about all I can from the setup.

The KGs are surely not my father's Fortes, but there is no mistaking that Klipsch sound, and I enjoy them enough to hold onto for at least a few years before worrying about ugrading to Fortes or similar. I am still undecided weather or not I will try to upgrade the crossovers or just let them be.

The Denon receiver is exactly what the seller said it was: From a time when Denon was still focusing on 2 Channel. It shows. The DRA-835 just blows the current best, the DRA-685 out of the water, and is no match for most any affordable multi-channel receiver in stereo mode. Strangely, there is NO information about this model on the web, everything I know about it came from the seller and/or a Denon rep.

I was hesitant to buy the Pioneer all-in-one player. For the moment, however, I am rather happy with it. Its SACD capabilites (In stereo, I don't know about Multi-Channel) I'm sure are not as good as it gets, but it is definitely very fun to listen to. Standard CD playing is not spectacular, but not bad either. DVDs play just fine, I have no complaints. I recently picked up an Entech "Numbers Cruncher 203.2" DAC, though I haven't played with it yet. I got it more out of curiosity than anything else, But if it improves standard CD playback, I may keep it. I will probably test it out next month when I get back from this trip that I'm on.

Being that this is my first system and I am only 19 I am quite pleased. Not bad for about $500 eh?

Ok, so I will stop sharing now So what do y'all think? Thanks again to all who were able to give advice, I appriciate it!

Paul Larson

[Deang]

I think for the money you spent you did excellent. You could have spent twice as much and not did as well. Good job!

[bkrop]

You will hang on to those KG-4's for something , no matter what you upgrade to!

[WMcD]

Congrats Paul.

Some time ago Bill H took me along to help evaluate his planned purchase of some KG-4.2s. He told me he wanted a second opinion before he forked over the cash. But it was really a ploy to get free labor to move them to the van. Smile. Nice units. You have to know when to walk away, and when to run. I helped him run with them.

A bunch of us went to Indy for the tour this year. There were lots of demonstrations of small, medium, and large systems; always starting with the smallest, and going up.

Now it is true that the bigger ones are better. But the first impressions were smaller units and I was very much taken by their good performance. So you've got nothing to be bashful about.

Best,

Gil

[Scp53]

congradulations on your hunt for audio stuff. looks like you snagged some very good deals. I have a decent system for being 17 but nothing like yours, at least for the money mines nothing like yours(I spent over 500, thats for sure). actually it would be pretty darn nice if I got a decent amp. right now I m powering my rb25's and sb3's with a rca stereo receiver 100wts x 2 into 8 ohms(can't remember the THD rating but its really low) and have a toshiba sd-4900 DVD player and a titanic mk3 10" sub. all wired with monster cable(I bought this when I thought it was good stuff but now would buy cheaper wire. actually its good but just pricey). enjoy your setup. by the way, have you heard synergy stuff?? how does older Klipsch, not heritage, compare with the newer synergy's?? I guess I don't care but just curious. I don't use the sb3's any more because I have the rb25's- very good sound. but they need a sub to really get full frequency performance.

any way, enjoy your setup that you stoled.

scp53

[edwinr]

Good work. You've obviously put a lot of thought into getting the most 'bang for your buck!'. That Pioneer has some good reviews - a good way to go when we have no idea what high res format - if any - will supersede the only true high res format which I think will never die - good old vinyl.

That Denon 835 was selling in Australia for while and I think has been superseded by the 1600R - still 100 watt 2 channel. Denon won some awards in Australia for it's 2 channel amps and they still sell some models here.

[n2dablue]

scp53,

Sadly my personal listening experiences have been quite limited, I haven't ever even had a chance to listen to tubes! Adding on to that, I have not even got to hear my own system in the last 3 weeks, and it looks like it will be another 3 or 4 before I get to go home. More on that in a second.

So while I cannot compare to KG4s to a whole lot else in the Klipsch lineup, new or old, I can tell you a little about my impressions of the KG's. If you like rock, chances are you will like the kg4s. They play rock, in my opinion, very well, which I should include with that, most any kind of acoustic guitar. Bass is very good, but positioning is critical. I had to do a lot of moving around living room furniture to find the proper setup to avoid those audio "black holes" where bass is almost totally lost in certain frequecy ranges. Now that set up is right, I cannot imagine needing / wanting a sub at all, the KGs seem to reach down pretty darn low, especially considering the driver size. Techno/R&B/Pop are also good. Classical music is not where these guys shine, but they still hold their own. Horn instruments are absolutely no problem, same goes for any vocals: The Norah Jones SACD sounds just awesome by the way, even though I read that its not a very impressive SACD, I guess I need to buy more SACDs to find out! Stringed insturments such as the voilin are probably the most troublesome for the KGs, but like I said, they hold their own. The KGs will get plenty loud, loud enough that Im sure I could get arrested and or eveicted if my neighbors didn't actually enjoy the music we play.

Sorry I cant be more descriptive, I am in the Air Force and am TDY (temporary duty) right now. I left just a couple of days after I got everything put together. Figures, right? Enjoy being 17, you will have money one day, but its a safe bet you wont have time to enjoy by the time you get it. If your still in high school, enjoy, experience everything you can, and dont leave anything undone to regret!

edwinr,

Thanks for the tip, thats some good info. What kind of household power do you have down there? Do you use 110 volt, 60 Hertz?

[PAR69]

Paul,

I too have KG4's and still love them. You built a great system within your budget and the most important part of it is that you enjoy it.

Cheers,

(another)Paul

[Audio Flynn]

Good system!

Others I know get better deals than me but I do not snipe and I travel out of the country on business and have limited time.

Keep an eye out for an MSB DAC and you are really jammin'!