Here's a challenge:a class A sound system for less

hey thanks to all, I'm here to learn and I welcome the advice and experience of other goners.
AND HEREEEEEEEEEEE 's my system!!!!! tada
Merlin vsm speakers.........$1500. used
Sim audio w-5 amplifier....$2500. used
Sim audio p-5 preamp......$1600. used
E.A.R. phono stage(silver)$ 900. used
Clearaudio satisfy arm.......$ 000.------ won at Home Entertainment
...............................value..$ 500. used------- show in n.y.c.
Grado satin? cartidge........$ 000. gift
value.................................$100 used
vpi TNTI with 5 Motor lead platter(mark I bearing I believe)
........................................$1300. used
For a total of $7900 used of course!!!! not so bad and all my interconnect wires made by me!
I am in heaven,,,, my advice to all -------GO VINYL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We seem to have drifted from the original question a bit but in a positive direction. I found the benefits of nearfield listening by accident when we moved into an apartment temporarily. I still have a dedicated listening room but man is it tiny. Speakers are 5.5 ft apart, ears are 6.5 feet from speakers. This sounds wonderful.
My only disagreement with previous posts is the need for monitor speakers. I tried Von Schweikert, Totem and Acoustic Energy. None of these gave me the sound I was hopong for so I got out the trusty Meadowlark Kestrel Hot Rods and am enjoying the sound. Of course if you lolumook at the Kestrels they are a two way monitor on a column.
We're moving into a new home in a few weeks and my wife is wondering why I'm choosing a small room for my system when others are available.

I agree with Jaybo all the way
I've heard a pretty good array of $$...$$$....$$$$ systems, ie "the $50K" kind you are talking about and was disappointed.
I mean I couldn't wait to exit my friends house/show room.
It was like gawddd aweful. Wouldn't pay half what they are asking.

Here's mine
New Jadis Orch Refer......... $2100
New Cayin 17 cdp ......... $1K(includes ship from china)
New Thor's kit......... $2K(includes ship)
Used Zen interconnects........$300(my $5 rat shaks sounded just as good, so was not necessary)
Thick speaker wire from home Depot ...$20 ($1.00/ft)

Total......duh............$5500/+/-

Savings of $45K
But I have my eye on a few expensive upgrades in the future...
Amp $3500
Speakers $2800
still under your bloated $50K "system".

Here is a thought onnear field experience. Why not just sit in your car with a nice stereo system?
Some are actually quite good sound.

There is one thing not measure by $50K or $10K or $1K is the fun factor. As long as you enjoy it, it doesn't matter how much it cost.

i.e. my TT setup cost more than my two systems combine excluding the TT itself. But that's the main piece of equipment most critical to me which it allows me to enjoy the best possible LP sound.

Think about your placement constraints. Speaker and listener placement have as much to do with what you hear as the speakers you buy and more to do with imaging and sound stage. Speakers not designed to be placed near a wall will have bloated bass. Placing them on the wall will give your singers chest colds. If you don't have 4 or 5' to the wall behind the speakers you might look at in/on-walls or horns. If you can't sit reasonable close (like 8') you might look at horns or planars that are more directive. You want the same distance behind you. If you can't do that you're going to loose the speakers to the room and might do better with headphones.

Given at least 16x12' where the speakers can be 4' off the front-wall and 2' off the side walls and your chair 5' off the back wall start with Siegfried Linkwitz's Orion package at $7800 - $8400 depending on finish, including the required 8 channels of amplification (with a spare four channels for multi-channel or sub-woofer use) and all cables. Power tools and a soldering iron can be used to knock $4000 off the price tag.

http://www.linkwitzlab.com/orion_us.htm

If the Orions aren't to your tastes, you might look at other small makers that don't have the large vendors markups. I read an interview with a prominant designer who lamented that a $8000 MSRP let you use an $80 midrange. Nice midranges that run double that can be had in speakers half that price when you don't have distributors and dealers inflating the selling price to 10X parts cost.

Add an economical remote controller preamp ($500 new from Rotel) and CD player with a user interface (changer or single disk) that suits your tastes. As long as the engineers have done their job (Sony's will have. Some boutique companies put marketting guys in charge of circuit design and fail) the equipment won't make a difference in the sound. What you hear can vary due to expectation biases and placebo effect.

If you have hardwood floors you should invest in a nice rug placed to cover the first floor reflection.

Spend the left over on CDs which suit your tastes.