Building the Best "Used" Budget System under $3000

Audio Refinement Complete
B&W CDM 1 NT
Arcam FMJ CD 22
Acoustic Zen cables throughout
Your choice of stands

This is my opinion only of course. I like monitors more than floor standers because of value, but you have to give up some bass response, which I'm fine with.

Jolida Integrated 202, 302, 502 ($4-700 used)
Rega Planet CD ($400 or less used)
MANY used tables (non audiophile brands) available with cart. for under $200 (luxman garrard, etc)
Sumiko Phono Preamp ($100 new)
B&W Nautilus 805, JM Reynaud Trente, MM DeCapo, ProAc 1SC speakers.
All available at or below $1400 used.

that leaves $200 to $500 (Obviously, give or take, depending on a variety of factors) for speaker cables, interconnects, and some stands.

it can be done.

Ok,I'll play.

-Monarchy preamp/dac model 33, 550 dollars
-Van Alstine amp 240 or 260, 800 dollars
-Nad 521i cd player(used as transport),200 dollars
-Cambridge Audio tuner, 200 dollars
-Sony table/cartridge(The one with a self contained phone pre amp), 200 dollars
-Vandersteen 2ce s,1000 dollars
-plain vanilla manufactuer supplied innerconnects
-16g heater cord from the hardware store to connect speakers.

Just subjective opinion.....

1) Go for an integrated amp. Something like a
Creek 5350SE, which is going for $925, used,
on Audiogon right now. Another possibility ---
Musical Fidelity A3.2, which has a new price
similar to Creek and would probably sell for
a similar amount, used. There's a Musical
Fidelity A300 going for $950, on A'G'.

So, integrated amplifier --- $900 -- $1,000

2) Speakers -- go for a pair of Sonus Faber Grand
Pianos (the older version, not the Homes). Or,
an older pair of Monitor Audio Studio 20's. [A few
years ago, it was common to find these in
reviewers' systems.] I've seen these go for
around $1,500.

Speakers -- $1,500

3) CD player. There are a number of lower priced
players worth considering. Check out the Ah! Njoe
Tjoeb 4000. Recently, an upgraded unit sold for
$375.

CD Player -- $400 -- $500

4) Cables and Wire -- in a $3,000 set up, I am not
spending more than $100 - $200 on cables and
wire. Go with 12 AWG OFC speaker cables which
you can get for less than 50 cents per foot. Get
your speaker cables and interconnects from
PartsExpress and/or AV cables.

Cables and Wire -- $200

If you expand your budget -- put any extra money into
speakers, not cables. For a little more money, you
can get a pair of the Sonus Faber Grand Piano Homes
[Which I like better than B & W Nautilus 804]. Or, Monitor Audio Gold Reference 60's.

AC Conditioning -- A decent bang for the buck on AC conditioning is a Blue Circle Noise Hound, which you can get for $110.

AC Conditioning -- $110.

Surge Protection -- for now, go with something cheap
but effective --- one of those strips.

Total Cost -- 2,800 -- 3,200

x

Rabbit:
I have recently done just what you describe. Over the course of the last year, I researched this site and others.
I set my sights on the basics first (call it phase one):speakers,amp,source. My budget was $3K, split evenly. Then I waited patiently for the items i wanted to appear here on the gon. Took me months, but now I am one happy camper! I did end up spending about $1k more than I budgeted,but it didn't hurt because i bought the pieces over time which allowed me to save between pieces.
One of the difficulties I encountered was the inability to audition the pieces i was interested in. In this regard the forum threads were invaluable. When researching the threads, note the musical tastes of the writers! I reccommend you look to balance the system in quality of components. I prefer monitors for speakers because I beleive you'll get superior imaging,etc. than comparably priced floorstanders. For amps, I'd look to SS integrateds.
My wish list included:
CD Players: Classe,Rega
Int. amps: MF,Plinius,Simaudio
Speakers: Dynaudio,JA,Tyler,B&W
Cables: start small and build
My system:
Jupiter2000
Simuadio I5
Joseph Audio RM7 signaturesw/target stands
Zu Cable Julian and Warmouth