Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo want some new gear for stereo

I’m eventually going to have to buy some more gear (within 6 months). If I ever get off my ass and finish the HT, my HK is going downstairs to drive the HT system. I’m still looking around for speakers for the HT, which will most likely be Axiom, but who knows?? I like change…lol.

But I’m not seeking input on speakers right now. I need some input on my stereo set up that will remain in the great room. I do not need a tuner, as I use satellite. In addition to the satellite, I just play CD’s. I’m not into multi-channel disks either. I leave that to movies and prefer the good ol’ stereo sound.

Assuming that I stick with the M80’s in this room, what would be the best option for driving them? Please educate me with the abundance of options out there for amps/receivers/pre-amps/integrated amps/etc/etc…

I would like tone control, inputs for the CD and satellite, plus an option to input my PC as well (another unfinished project in this friggin house that I pre-wired with cat 5 and coax). Oh yah, a remote would be nice!!

Another thought bouncing around in my head is running two pairs of towers in this room. Has anyone ever tried this? How will this affect the soundstage? Bad idea? How would I have to place the speakers to fill the room with stereo sound?

For budget, let's keep in under a grand for now.

After surfing around a bit, it would appear that I am limited to either an integrated amp, or a pre-amp and amp combination. I forgot to mention that I want no less than 150 wpc / 8 ohm…..and/or 250 wpc / 4 ohm. It would also appear that I will be spending in excess of $1000 to get that, provided I buy new gear.

On the top of my wish list so far is Parasound Halo A21 amp and P3 pre-amp. 250 wpc / 8 ohm, and about $2800
Second on the list is Parasound HCA 1500 amp and PHP 850 pre-amp. 205 wpc / 8 ohm, and about $1050
Third on the list is NAD C272 amp and C162 pre-amp. 150 wpc / 8 ohm, and about $1000
Fourth is Rotel 1080 amp and 1090 pre-amp. (have not found an online dealer, so no idea what they cost)
Fifth is the NAD C372 integrated amp. 150 wpc / 8 ohm, and about $900

Whatever I buy will have to be shipped second day air to Alaska. A 50 lb box will run about $100. So that gets tacked onto the above prices.

Are there any other combinations I should be looking at? I looked at Krell, but suspect the cost of their gear will be higher than Halos. So that’s an immediate disqualifier as I don’t think I could choke down $3000 for the Halos, and definitely not more than that. Another consideration is that I am no audiophile-atic that spends much time trying to distinguish finger squeaks on violin strings (so to speak, cause I really don’t know what audiophile-atics like to listen for). I doubt AC/DC or Toby Keith will sound much better with $3000 Halos over $1000 NAD gear. Or will it? Hell I don’t know…..

In reply to:

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I doubt AC/DC or Toby Keith will sound much better with $3000 Halos over $1000 NAD gear

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i dont think toby keith would sound good on anything!!!

bigjohn

This would likely be a killer setup for you. The Rotel RC-1070 paired with the RB-1080. A guy has them on audiogon right now. $1000 for the pair.

msrp on the pair is $1500

Thank you for the link. Yes, that set looks perfect for what I’m looking for. Have you (or anyone for that matter) bought used gear off this sight before? Should I be concerned with buying used? Can’t say I’ve ever bought used electronics before. Come to think of it, I rarely by anything used.

John….What kind of Texan doesn’t like Toby Keith?? You’re not really a Texan, are you? Well how about Alan Jackson, Gary Allen, George Jones?? - just kiddin…

I've bought several things through audiogon. Never had an issue at all. Audiogon is mostly high end hi-fi equipment, and as you likely know, people who buy this kind of stuff generally treat it better than their childrend. They also usually suffer from hardcore upgraditus, so great stuff pops up on there all the time. I've bought all my Rotel gear from that site.

Good luck. Let us know what you finally end up with.

My vote would be for the NAD gear. Either the integrated or the combo. Plus the NAD gear can also be found on Audiogon for less than $900.

I have owned neither, so I'm curious why you prefer NAD?

Get Rotel!!! I have RX-1052 stereo receiver and rcd-1072 cd player and they are just great!! both sonically and visually..

Mike, a cost-effective solution for driving stereo M80s or whatever would be the HK 3480 which you can get for around $300. A few tens of watts in rated power shouldn't be a concern at these levels and would make little or no difference.