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help me build a system for $1200

I am a medical student, and as such, already have tons of debt to begin with. That said, I've been wanting to upgrade my current system (cambridge audio CD player, squeezebox v3, a 10 year old NAD receiver, and a pair of minipod speakers that I received for free). I will probably keep the cambridge audio CD player for now.

So I've been perusing audiogon incessantly the last week or so...but can't seem to come up with a good integrated/speakers combo. I have thought about the following systems:

Onix sp-3 (for about 500-600 + onix ref 1/epos M5
musical fidelity ($700)+ quad 11L
jolida 502b + something in the 600-700 range

and this last crazy idea:

sonic impact super T amp ($150!) + an efficient speaker in the $1000 range (suggestion?)

I'd love to hear your comments.

John

p.s. This new system will be used almost exclusively for music. My current room is pretty small I'd say about 13x20 with 9 ft. ceiling. My musical taste is mostly indie rock...with the occasional jazz and "electronic" thrown in.
eungdamr
windzilla
16 posts
 
I listen where and when I can songs here and there, as a 15 minute recharge during study sessions, that kind of stuff.

Unfortunatelly serious extended listening sessions aren't easy to squeez in. Dinner is a nice time to decompress though, and i don't have a kitchen table so I sup in the living room.
jkalman
298 posts
 
Just buy new speakers, that is where you will notice the biggest difference. I would consider the B&W DM603 S3 which are MSRP $1k a pair. They have received awards for their price/performance ratio from Stereophile this last year.
rel
119 posts
 
My suggestion: go with Sufentanil--he'll ease your pain! :-)
regafan_1972
22 posts
 
I would go with a Rega Brio 3 int. amp. and build from there. I auditioned plenty of int. amps and the Brio 3 was the best for the money, and a lot of audiophile magazines are saying the same thing. I have built an excellent budget system around the Rega (some items for sale) with a Squeezebox, a Rotel tuner (up for sale now that I have the Squeezebox) and some amazing Mordaunt Short vintage speakers (also for sale) and it sounds pretty awesome for the most part.

I hope that helps.
cleaneduphippy
323 posts
 
My first choice would also to be to keep your NAD receiver and put the money into some better speakers.

Second choice, I would recommend a Jolida 502A or B (I have the 502A myself, and both amps are essentially the same) and perhaps match it with a pair of Quad 11L (or even 12L, as it'll give you a little more bass) or maybe even one of the smaller Spendors like the S3/5 or S3/5se. Btw, have heard both the Jolida/Quad and Jolida/Spendor combination, and they both combinations worked quite well together.

Truth is, the Quads and the Spendors should work quite well with your NAD receiver and Cambridge Audio CD player, with the added bonus of leaving a quite a few dollars in your pocket for stands, wire upgrades or even a few more CDs.

Best of luck in med school.
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