new system for beginner

Dekay, I will echo your Vandersteen 2C recommendation. Anyone looking to start a system should at least listen to these speakers. They are an incredibly good value for a full range speaker. They are a little warmer than neutral and not the most immediate or detailed, but they have no obvious irritating weaknesses, the bass response goes amazingly low for this price range, they are exceptionally easy to drive (and do very well with modest tube amps). Overall, these speakers are very listenable and will form a great foundation for a very musical and satisfying sound system.

Thanks for the second, Rushton. I did not realize that they were that efficient, which if Massey likes the sound brings the total system cost down quite a bit. I prefer monitors myself in our living room, which is just to say that we all have are personal preferences but after hearing Garfish and other's mention these speakers in the threads I got curious and set up a demo. I have also auditioned the Model 5's and a pair of older 3's (think that was it) since then. All were very impressive in their given (retail) price ranges and were great on Jazz cuts.

I don't recall how efficient the Vandersteens are, Dekay, but when I owned a pair years ago, I ran them with my vintage Marantz 9's set in their 35 watt triode mode and lived quite happily with that combination for a number of years. The 2C's have a very benign impedance load and Richard Vandersteen originally designed them with tube amplifiers in mind. I finally sold my Vandersteens to buy a pair of Celestion SL700's (going back to the mini-monitor route) for improved soundstaging and resolution of inner detail. But the full-range dynamic sound of the Vandersteen 2C's is hard to beat. Particularly at the price you can get tem used.

I would chime in on the Vandersteen/CAL combo which would leave you $1K for amplification. You could do a lot worse than a McCormack DNA 0.5 power amp for about $600-$700 and then an Adcom or NAD pre-amp. Of course, that would leave you without cables, so maybe you should stick to an integrated from Creek or NAD. The good thing about these "classics" is they will loose little or no value if they are not abused. I would NOT agree with the comment that they are efficent. They are easy to drive in the sense that they have a uniform impedence and sound good with a wide variety of electronics. They are very musical and definately can benefit from a more forward cable like the homegrown. BTW, I am running Vandy 2cis with a McCormack and have used them with a variety of less expensive electronics and they always make music (not super detailed which can be an advantage if you have a more modest source and electronics).

Since the Vandersteen 2C's were my first "real" full range speaker I can't recommend them highly enough especially at their new or used price. You can't lose, they will not irritate have excellent cohesive sound and real bass. The only caveat (if this is a problem) is they aren't as revealing as some, a blessing at times, but system matching is much easier. 7 ohms nominal 4 ohms minimum, efficiency is 86dB on the 2ce. Price used 500.00-800.00 pair. They work with tubes and ss. Definitely should be on a short list.