Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo how best to spend $1,200 for good 2 channel stereo

So my fiancee is letting me use $1,200 to get a good 2 channel stereo which will eventually be expanded to 5.1 in a few months. For now, I'm thinking m22ti's ($400), HSU STF-2 sub ($400), and Onkyo TXSR601 ($400) for my receiver. Any opinions? (Room is 12x15x9) Thanks!

Welcome, JT. For that budget, what you propose looks just right. The speakers and sub couldn't be bettered and while there're other receivers in that price class worth considering, the 601 should be as good as any.

Sounds identical to me and I've had it since March and it works great. Not quite identical technically, since my receiver is the SR600 and sub the VTF-2, but close enough that I know it will work well for you.

Thanks so much guys for the reassurance. So will this setup merely be pleasant to listen to or will it rock my world??

rock!

Well itmccoy, it depends on what kind of music you like. I'd recommend a nice 5 watt per channel integrated tube amp like the Antique Sound Labs MG S1 15DT which lists for $750 but you can get for $700 or less, a pair of M22s, and a Vance Dickason Titanic subwoofer kit from partsexpress.com. You'll be a hundred dollars over your budget, but you will be astounded by the music.

Or, if you feel the need to blow the windows out, you can get a nice used solid state amp like a ~400 watt per channel into 8 ohms Yamaha M80 and nice preamp from ebay for about $400, a pair of M22s and a HSU or SVS sub and come in right on budget.

I have two 2 channel systems - my living room system is an Antique Sound Labs MG S1 15DT tube amp, An! Njoe Tjoeb 4000 tube output CDP, Vance Dickason Titanic sub, a pair of M22 like Michaura M55s. I can listen to the sweet music from this system all day long. My garage system consists of a Yamaha M80 (paid $100) a pair of Dahlquist PQM 905 speakers, a Kenwood 10" subwoofer with an upgraded Titanic 10" woofer, and a $10 JVC xl-m405 6 disc CD player. I can tell you this system rocks - perfect for car washing and sounds terrific. (I'm waiting for a Yamaha C-80 preamp I just ordered from ebay so I can use an old Kenwood KT8005 tuner.)

The garage system cost me $160 not including the old Kenwood sub. For bang for the buck, it would be hard to beat a system bought second hand.

My first idea was to suggest a nice integrated amp and cd player, but then I realized he wants this to grow into a 5.1 system down the road. With that being the case, a pair of M22's or M60's and a decent surround receiver is probably the best bet.

You said 2 channel! Two channel really doesn't need a sub (although I do use my SVS in steroe mode). You don't say if you have any equipment, so I will take a stab at it. I would buy the M60s from the outlet store for $720 shipped. These will give you incredible sound and very solid bass. Next I would look for a good amplifier with input level controls. A stereo amp can be found for a few hundred dollars, or you can find an excellent Parasound HCA 855a 5 channel amp for about $300 on ebay or audiogon (for use with future channels). If using a good powered sub for HT, the 85X5 Parasound, which puts out an HONEST 85w/X5, as opposed to most "100X5" receivers will be plenty of power. Then look for a good CD or DVD player of your choice and you have a great "system" for $1,200. Later, you can add the center and surround speakers, a good pre/pro, a sub, and a Behringer Feedback Destroyer (a must for good sub sound).

I would go with the M60s because of deeper bass and the fact that I have never been a big fan of stand mounted speakers (not for sound or asthetic reasons, but because I have small children!)

just out of curiosity Bill, how much effect are you seeing from the feedback destroyer??? What model are you using?
How many other people are using one? Am I missing something and need to make last minute gift suggestion?

happy Christmas Eve day

There are many good subs out there. Even the best sub needs a parametric EQ to sound its best. Deep bass frequencies are affected by the room's dimensions. A parametric EQ tames room induced frequency peaks and are neccessary to minimize boominess. They can not correct a room induced null (valley or low spot in the response) but do wonders for boominess. The newest version of the BFD is the DSP-1124. they can be found for about $110 online at many places.

Besides taming the one note boominess, they also increase headroom and dynamics by flattening the response curve. This lessens the power draw at equal listening levels (a very good thing!)