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Intro system budget problem

Im new, and I mean the blissfully ignorant to anything Hifi new (dont take that the wrong way, I know its a fever :P). Well I just took my first step into the realm and purchased a pair of Ohm Acoustics Microwalsh Tall SE's. The problem? I need everything else. I have a $2500 budget now at $1000 dollars for everything else (will have future upgrade investments). In the 3-4 weeks it will take the Ohm's to ship out here, I would like to have something ready to use and (not)abuse them. I was informed by numerous friends that speakers should be the single largest investment so I threw a good amount of my budget at the Ohms.

Again I dont know much about audio, the setup, or specifications and I need everything, speaker wire, receiver(integrated?) and whatever else. What I know is my out of the box cheap walmart Sony receiver 5.1 HT setup in a small 12'x16' room. I stream music to the receiver via media server support from my computer. I have iPod but no connection to receiver.

I have done a lot of reading on this forum prior to me making my account today and I appear to have a very strict budget (for the hobby), and would just like to be at least pointed in the right direction before I blindly go about building my system all wrong in specifications.

Thank you for your insights!

Brian
daseiler
swampwalker's avatar
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swampwalker
5,132 posts
 
OK, so we have a 12 x 16 room w streaming digital as the only source, so you have a $1K budget for pre-amp/amp or integrated amp, is that correct? If you tell us a little about your musical tastes (rock, jazz, classical, folk, etc.) and what your sound character priorities (fast attack, wide soundstage, detail, lushness, bass extension, bass quantity, etc.), we can be more helpful.
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jazzerdave
163 posts
 
I think a Peachtree iDecco would be a great match for you. It should have plenty of power for the Microwalsh's and it has USB input as well as an iPod dock. You'd have an extra optical, coax, and analogue input for additional sources in the future. Peachtree completely revamped their product line, so the iDecco isn't being produced any more, but they're still available from Amazon for just a bit over $800. I'd eventually get a better power amp, but the iDecco is great as a preamp, headphone amp, and DAC. I've used mine with Decware omni-directional speakers, and it sounds great. I'm now using it as a preamp and source going into a tube power amp.

NAD has some integrated amps that would sound great for your budget, but certainly don't have the DAC inputs for you sources. Same for the Jolida integrated tube amps. There's the Outlaw Audio RR2150 receiver that does have a USB input; it's another good option.

There are plenty of great options out there, good luck.
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gz3827
232 posts
 
If you only have $1000 left for "everything else" I suggest looking at NAD solid state integrateds (used here on Audiogon), a lower end Marantz CD player (new), and Blue Jeans Cable (new) for all cables.
daseiler OP
5 posts
 
Swampwalker
Thanks for the response. I listen to mostly rock, some metal and dabble in electronic music from time to time. Im not sure how to relate a lot of these terms to experience, but I do like my bass, will be getting a sub-woofer to compliment the ohms sometime.

Jazzerdave
I had looked at the peachtree products and am very pleased you have good things to say about them! The option of just turning it into a source with later upgrades is extremely attractive.

Gz
Im on the Blue Jeans site right now, thanks for the reference!
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