What would you get if you had about $21-$22K for a nice HT and Stereo system

TomIV

Member
So if you had about $21-$22K to spend on a nice Home Theater and a stero system whay would you get, excluding speakers.
Preferably new.
 
I’ve got the amp. I’ve got the preamp. I’ve got the DVD player......so, all would be spent on the best speakers for that money. IMHO
 
What would you get if you didnt have those things, just courious...
Pass Labs integrated amp,lower end. Oppo 105 player, used. VPI turntable with a quality cartridge. Either Tannoy or Von Scweikert Speakers to fill it out. IMHO
 
In all seriousness I’d buy two separate systems: one 5.1 for home theater (7.1 is silly IMO) and one for two channel music.

HT: assuming you already have a tv, I’d buy one of the new Sony 4k players and the matching AVR, together will run about $1500. Budget maybe 3k for a 5 speaker setup plus a sub from a decent line; PSB comes to mind. Nice performance and excellent value there.

That leaves about $15k for a VERY nice two channel system. Endless options there but that will definitely get you into a powerful tube based system that will push pretty much any speaker you like.
 
bob carver tube monoblocks.


the deal is, it's best to match amp to speakers, hence 'what' speakers matters.

But, If I had Magnepan 20.7

Already, I'd buy a pair of Bob Carver's monoblock tube monsters

Carver%20Silver%207.jpg
 
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I already have the speakers for a 7.2 surround plus I will add 4 or 6 atmos at a later stage. Speakers are B&W 683 S2 Fronts, HTM61 S2 Center and 4 booshelves 685 S2, for subs I have 2 JL's D110 - New Yamaha Pre/Pro might be a nice setup for the HT.

I bought the new Marantz AV8805 and paired it with a new McIntosh MC8207 but than I realize that I needed a nice stereo setup which left me with not a lot of cash to spend on those components, so what I did was I returned both the AV8805 and MC8207 which I think was money spent stupidly for surround. I could not tell a difference between my all in one Marantz SR6013 and those two except that the MC8207 was a much powerful amp but for surround was not worth the $6000.

So if I go with the two Yamaha pre/pro components for my HT that would put me at $5000 maybe less with a discount, and would have about $16-17k to spend on pre/pro for my stereo and maybe a nice set of speakers. I could get the new MC462 and a matching pre amp but that would be it, no money to spare for new speakers or get the MC452 used with a used matching preamp which will leave me with about $7-8 for speakers.

I wanna know what else good is out there to check out. Almost all the shops I went to have McIntosh and Audio Research for demo and that's pretty much it. Anything else would be blind buy which I hate to do.
 
If you go for the Yamaha separates, it would be worth listening to them in 2 channel mode before spending any more on a dedicated system. You MAY be pleasantly surprised at their capability.
 
If you go for the Yamaha separates, it would be worth listening to them in 2 channel mode before spending any more on a dedicated system. You MAY be pleasantly surprised at their capability.

I would love to have one setup for everything but my HT is in a different/dedicated room and my stereo would be upstairs in a completely different location from the HT.

How would you compare the Yamaha to the Marantz or Denon components
 
Well, not to toot my own choices but I’d encourage you to check out the options from Rogue Audio. I didn’t spend anywhere near your budget but I listened extensively to things in that range from Manley and Hegel. Rogue gives up nothing to any of them. If you don’t NEED to spend that much on electronics put the rest towards speakers.
 
I would love to have one setup for everything but my HT is in a different/dedicated room and my stereo would be upstairs in a completely different location from the HT.

How would you compare the Yamaha to the Marantz or Denon components

I wouldn't pretend to be able to compare them, because I've only heard Yamaha HT products. I've read that the Yamaha products are more reliable than the competition, but that their proprietary room EQ system is not as popular as that offered by Denon and Marantz.
 
Well, not to toot my own choices but I’d encourage you to check out the options from Rogue Audio. I didn’t spend anywhere near your budget but I listened extensively to things in that range from Manley and Hegel. Rogue gives up nothing to any of them. If you don’t NEED to spend that much on electronics put the rest towards speakers.

I had the chance to listen to the Rogue Sphinx that was hooked up to KEF speakers and I really like the sound of it but I was told to stay away from it because it was not a true tube amp. But for the money it sounded pretty good.
 
Sphinx is a hybrid; tube preamp and class D amp, so yes that’s correct. Rogue also makes full tube separates including huge 180 watt monoblocs that are absolutely breathtaking in power and smooth detail.
 
That kind of scratch puts you solidly in McIntosh showroom. IMO, it is the one high end audio brand that needs no justification when you tell them what you paid.

I am really leaning towards the new MC462 amp and either C52 or C2600 for preamp.
 
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