My first real hi-end audio system Please advise


Hi, this is my first post and I've just started to really get into the wonderful world of Hi-Fi audio. I'm a student at U of IL and live in a small apartment.

My father is upgrading his system and to my pleasant surprise decided to give me ALL of his audio equipments!!! I'm ridiculously excited since his equipments, although mostly 10 years old, are awesome. They include McIntosh (MC7300, C40, MCD7008, and MR7083) and a pair of 2 year old Revel M20 speakers.

The question I had was, would these gorgeous speakers sound as good in my apartment room? (about 10ft x 14ft)

I'm also thinking about selling all of the system but the speakers, and buying a Sunfire Ultimate Receiver, 3 more speakers and a subwoofer for a 5.1 system. Now, I don't have much $$$ as I'm a student, and I can't quite ask my parents for more audio equipments... I was wondering if 3 Aperion (aperionaudio.com) bookshelf speakers and a Sunfire True superjunior subwoofer would complement the Revel M20s well.

I know the sunfire receiver and the subwoofer aren't cheap for my standards, but I've done some research, and I think they'll last me a long long time and be a great entry system to the real hi-end audio world for me. As for the Aperion speakers, which I intend on using for center and surround speakers, they are only $180 each and have been receiving awesome reviews.

Has anyone tried these Aperion bookshelf speakers, sunfire ultimate receiver and the little subwoofer? Would you recommend any other system combinations for this price range? Oh, I almost forgot, can anyone also recommend a good DVD player for around $1000 or should I just connect my Apple G5 computer to the receiver? Would the computer's audio quality be a lot worse than a $1000 DVD/CD player?

Any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm just excited and giddy that I'll be able to treat my ears to some really good sound while I'm at school!

Thank you in advance
seongoh9f94
Jond, I have been listening to my father's McIntosh system for the past 10 years and I absolutely love it. However, I also love watching DVDs and enjoying its full audio capabilities. Yes, it'll be sad to part with these babies, but I think I can sell them and get enough money to buy me a whole new good 5.1 system. Yes, I was also skeptic about getting a receiver, I was a big believer in separate components myself, but the new Sunfire Ultimate Receiver is starting to change my mind. If anyone has any experience with this receiver, please tell me about it.

Thank you.

Oh by the way, I finally registered here and my screen name is spacekadet... :)
Forget the 5.1 system. Keep the Mac amps. Please for the love of God! Don't dump the Mac amps. 2.1 is fine for movies. Just get a monster sub. HERE US KNOW AND BELIEVE US LATER!!!
Hi,

Sounds like you wanted confirmation, not advice. 5.1 is not for music lovers. And there's no turning a 10x14 room into a theater.

Best of luck whatever.
I offer an opinion only because your requested the imput.

Think about the esthetic differences between small screen video and large screen video. The advantage the large screen format has over the small screen format is the ability to impart special effects. The chariot race from Ben Hur,the flume scene from Indiana Jones,the flying scenes from Superman,the space effects for Star Wars,and other special effects really do not work on a small screen. In my opinion,the large screen strengths are lost when transcribed to a small screen.

Keep the Macintosh stuff,live with the speakers,and when you want to watch a movie,go to a theatre and watch/listen to it on a large screen.
spacekadet-

It is really none of my business, but if you do not mind I am curious. Why did your Dad decide to upgrade, and then what did he upgrade to? It could not have been an easy decision to arrive at as those equiptments are excellent. I wonder if some of what he talked about can help you in your decision.