stereo system under 6K

Go to www.avahifi.com. All their products are reasonably priced. They are factory direct so I figure, when I bought mine, that I'd be getting at least twice the product for the money. I probably got more than that; there engineering seems to be really good. I bought the complete FET/Valve system w/ speakers and it was under 5K.

Plinius 8150 integrated amp with either Totem Signature 1, or Merlin TSM-SE, or Dynaudio Contour 1.1's. CD Transport-Theta Pearl, D/A- used sonic frontiers d/a converter 1 or 2. Cables would include Oval 9, while IC would be tara labs or Magnan Vi. I would probably try to get a used Totem, Merlin or Dynaudio to fit your budget.

You have some very interesting choices to make for $6K. Since you did not mention a turntable/arm choice, I assume you are sticking with CD-only. That said, you can focus on preamps with only line source inputs. Here are some ideas: 1. Preamps: Adcom GFP 750; Bryston BP-20/25; used Audio Research units 2. Power amps: Adcom GF750; Bryston 4B-ST or 3B-ST (E-mail me for a source that offers discounts); Parasound; Rotel; used Aragon 8008. 3. Integrated amp (if you have minimal power needs): Bryston BP-60. 4. CD players: Rega Planet; Adcom GCD-750. 5. Speakers (this is where I'd put most of your money since you are going the CD route, and will have good electronics with the choices above): Vandersteen 3A or 3A Signatures (very musical speakers, and a great value, particularly used); Magneplanar 1.6; Paradigm Reference; Martin-Logan SL-3 (used). 5. Interconnects: I like AudioQuest cables, and don't think you can go wrong with them. The AQ Coral is the replacement for the very popular Ruby (another excellent used buy), and is a a very good interconnect. The other one I strongly recommend is the Kimber PBJ or Kimber Hero. 6. Speaker wire: Kimber 4TC or 8TC. (If you buy Vandersteen speakers, they must be bi-wired for best performance. Either the 4TC or 8TC work well in a bi-wire configuration.)