Budget system recommendations

I like Sugarbie's B&W 602 suggestion. I used to own the 603s and thought they were great. If you were to buy B&W 300 or 600 series i would advise that you spend more on the integrated amp and just get a cheap cdp. They like a decent amount of clean power, but are a bit numb to the quality of the cdp. I would recommend used Classe CAP-80 ($600-700), a pair of B&Ws, old an old Rotel cdp with radio shack interconnect and thick generic speaker cable. Although NAD is good for the money (I still own mine with a pair of B&W 302s:), for a little more the Classe is far superior. In any case i would skip expensive cables for now. Experimenting with my B&W/NAD system, I have swapped my cardas speaker cable with my generic cable and my kimber interconnect with the pair that came with my cdp and found no difference in the sound. I did however notice a huge difference between thin generic cable and thick cable with the 603s. Good luck

TNT Audio

www.tnt-audio.com

Here's the system I just put together for my girlfriend: Marantz CD63se- used $150, Bryston B2 power amp 60W- used $250 ( 20 yrs old but hey it's a Bryston ) PSB "image" series 2B speakers- new but slight scratch on the cherry veneer $250, used DH Labs T-14 speaker cables & BL2 interconnects- $100, a TOTAL of $750, The CD player has a remote with volume, so no immediate need for a pre. Great sound, and wow, I can see/hear that I'm quite a ways up the ol' diminishing returns curve with MY pricey gear...

A friend recently paired a Jolida 202A ($450 - used) with Triangle Titus speakers ($400 - new). Although he has yet to settle in on a CD player, the amp-speaker combo seems to be really good with everything we've plugged into it (Sony XA20ES, Ah Njoe Tjoeb, NAD 540). Anyway, the $350 left over should be enough for a decent CD player and used cables (used cables tend to be heavily discounted).