help with a music only setup

[ebh]

Thinking about picking up a turntable and putting together a music-only setup when the new sierra towers come out. But I need some help doing this economically with good quality.

I imagine having just two sources: turntable and my squeezebox 2.

For the turntable I've heard good things about the pro-ject debut iii, but would be up for other options in that similar price range or cheaper.

Then I guess I'll need a pre-amp and an amp (or integrated receiver). This is where I need recommendations. I have no price in mind, but would like to stay significantly under $1000 for these, if possible (under $500 would be even better).

Anything else I need? Wish I could do something fancy and get a DAC to feed the squeezebox through, but that's ok.

[Too_Blue]

Under $500:

http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/elect/2chreceivers/hk3490.html

Under $1000:

Preamp: http://emotiva.com/usp1.shtm $399

Amp: http://emotiva.com/upa2.shtm $349

And if you wanted to do something fancy and get a DAC too, and still come in only $47 over a grand:

DAC: http://emotiva.com/xda1.shtm $299

Shipping for all three would run $59. And I'd call and ask about b-stock.

There are a ton of used integrated amps on e-bay, but you don't know what you're getting until you get it and none come with a 5 or 7 year warranty.

As far as receivers go, I'd take the Harman Kardon 3490 over anything in that price range. I've heard three different examples and they all sounded great and had plenty of power.

I own Emotiva gear and love it. Best bang-for-the-buck I've found, as far as amps and preamps go. They had some sticky moments with firmware and such with their multichannel processor however, but you're not looking at multichannel stuff and as far as I know, they took care of the bugs and made sure everyone was satisfied with their purchase. Or took the gear back and refunded the purchase price. I didn't follow all that very closely, as I never had any problems with their previous generation pre/pro and still haven't.

I'll be moving to a 2 channel system myself in a few months, so the latest surround processor doesn't interest me. Their DAC and UPA-1 amps do. They're gonna look and sound great in my living room. :D

I'd look and see what kind of deals can be had on audiogon too.

A few examples:

NAD C375Bee (150w integrated) $699:

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?intatran&1292290463&/NAD-C375BEE

Musical Fidelity A3.5 Integrated (150w) $850:

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?intatran&1292113909&/Musical-Fidelity-A3.5

McIntosh Ma6100 Integrated (70w) $545:

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?intatran&1292033290&/Mcintosh-Ma6100-Integrated-pre--

Amps:

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstran&1292195670&/Outlaw-Model-2200

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstran&1292191160&/Rotel-RB-1080

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstran&1292254005&/Adcom-GFA-555

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstran&1292086123&/NAD-218-THX

Preamps:

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?preatran&1292248262&/Classe-DR-4L

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?preatran&1292175578&/McIntosh-C-26

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?preatran&1292009715&/NAD-C160

There are many, many more.

Hope this helps.

[ebh]

wow, thanks for all the links. a lot to consider. I also saw some talk of the Outlaw stereo receiver. http://www.outlawaudio.com/products/rr2150.html. a bit expensive, but seems nice.

I am going to look at Emotiva new and explore what's out there used--seems like used might be a good deal since I'm looking for pretty simple things.

[Too_Blue]

You bet.

Do both! I bought my Emotiva gear used off audiogon (Pre/Pro) and the classifieds on their forum (Amp) and still enjoy over a year of warranty on the pre/pro and two on the amp. It's transferable.

I'd grab one of these to drive the new towers (and may just look for a used RPA-1 or RPA-2 when I go to pull the trigger; supposedly their best 2-channel amp ever, class H. But I'll probably opt for the UPA-1's new, because I like the slimmer form factor and they'll have a five year warranty):

RPA-1 amp: http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstran&1290017928&/Emotiva-RPA-1-Reference-Power-

You notice that there's a sale pending? I'm shocked it didn't go sooner and really shocked at the price. These usually go for pretty much the same price they sold for new. The RPA-2 is the same amp without the silver face plates, which some love and some hate.

And ask about b-stock if you call them. Some folks decide to go bigger, more powerful and swap out under their return policy. A few just send stuff back, for whatever reason. Always worth asking about.