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Budget of $30K. Help me build a system

Hi all,

I just got around to unpacking my Merlin VSM-M's from a few international moves and have decided to rebuild since I sold off a lot of my gear in those moves. I have a budget of about $30k. Will be setup in a pretty small room of 14x8

What remained was an Aragon 8003 and a Lexicon MC1. Not really an ideal setup for these speakers.

I'posted in "Speakers" because I am under the impression that is the component you start with and should build around. So looking at upgrade paths I've almost decided on the following:

Master VSM-MXM (sell my VSM-M) $13,600- $2k = $11,600
Ars Sonum Filamonia SJ ESM $4,300
Bryston BDP1 $2500
Bryston BDA1 $2500
Cardas Clear ~$3000
GIK Acoustic treatments $2000
Equitech Son of Q balanced power conditioner $2500
Hi-Fi Racks Podium Reference $2000

Which brings me to $30,400k.

Am I missing anything? Any concerns with the synergy of selected components or do you think they marry well?

Problem I have is I live in a location where I am limited to what I can audition in person. So a lot of this I will be buying deaf...which is not ideal. It also limits me to what I can buy used since there isn't much of a market here and with shipping and power issues doesn't make it cost effective in most cases.

Thanks for your advice.
blueshirt
ejlif's avatar
ejlif
1,243 posts
 
Well if you are going to be buying all this unheard then buy it all used and you can cut a lot of those prices nearly in half.
gsm18439
738 posts
 
Several manufacturers have a program in which you have a month to audition the speakers at home and the option to return them is you are not satisfied.
newbee
4,093 posts
 
Are you familar with setting up a system in a 14x8 room? That is a serious challenge! Especially to justify the bucks you are about to spend.

You have to set up your system in a nearfield set up and many speakers are not heard to their advantage placed so close to the listener. I don't know about yours though. Personally I would be seeking out electronics (at least) that do not have a tonal emphasis on the upper-mids or highs which are normally rolled some by the difference in distance from speaker to ear in a set up other than nearfield.

Don't laugh but in a room that size I would get some very high quality monitors, supplement their bass with a sub woofer which can be set independently, location wise, to avoid bass problems and drive the system with high quality tube electronics appropriate to the speakers.

Probably unuseful advise but you asked.-)
jdoris
852 posts
 
I agree with Newbee that room size is a critical variable for you, esp. regards getting a speaker that will work well either nearfield or close to boundaries.

My first that was that many 13k speakers would be bigguns that would need lots of breathing room or overpower your space, but I see the Merlins in question are a modestly sized two way tower. Just my opinion, but wondering if 13k is a lot for such a speaker . . . .

John
blueshirt OP
31 posts
 
Ejlif - First, thanks all for the reply.

I live in Europe and have not been able to find a good marketplace for used high-end equipment. Buying used from Audigon doesn't seem like an option due to high shipping costs, people not willing to ship global and the gear I have targeted not in high supply.

Gsm18439 - Some do but the cost of $650 each way in shipping (was what I was quoted for a medium sized speaker) seems like I could waste my budget on shipping alone if I auditioned quite a few speakers.
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