What to buy for $5000 or so

[ChrisR]

What do you know about this amp.
Sunfire Cinema Grand Series II
I found it on sale for $1795

[topspeed]

I'm not a fan of Sunfire amps. I heard the CG pushing a couple of speakers including Dynaudio Evidence Tempations and it was just not musical at all. Blechh.

In addition to the brands mentioned, I'd consider Cary, Parasound, and Audio Refinement among others. The VSA's are one of the more forgiving speakers out there but their performance does scale upward with the equipment. One things for sure, you're going to have one helluva rig when your done!

[RGA]

Tell me you're not buying speakers you have not heard yet? Everything gets good reviews and has some great techno-babble - but 95% of it isn't great. Von Sweikert is pretty reputable but still - Listen foirst or make sure there is a return policy - lots of good stuff too that simply may not be to your taste.

[Geoffcin]

Tell me you're not buying speakers you have not heard yet? Everything gets good reviews and has some great techno-babble - but 95% of it isn't great. Von Sweikert is pretty reputable but still - Listen foirst or make sure there is a return policy - lots of good stuff too that simply may not be to your taste.

This guy is not talking about speakers that are based on "techno-babble" but on tech that has been designed by one of the formost speaker designers of our time. The VR4jr quality is not just pretty reputable. I was willing to buy them totally unheard, and even though I didn't, I woudn't loose a moments sleep if I did.

[ChrisR]

Well, I just finished buying the Von Schweikert speakers. I ended up going with The package that has the Jr's. Thank you to everyone for all your help in this process. Now I need to decide on the front end equipment.

[Geoffcin]

Well, I just finished buying the Von Schweikert speakers. I ended up going with The package that has the Jr's. Thank you to everyone for all your help in this process. Now I need to decide on the front end equipment.

Your in for an amazing audio experiance.

[drseid]

Well, I just finished buying the Von Schweikert speakers. I ended up going with The package that has the Jr's. Thank you to everyone for all your help in this process. Now I need to decide on the front end equipment.

Good choice. I am quite confident that you will be quite happy with the Jrs. They are very nice speakers indeed.

Enjoy your new toys! :-)

---Dave

[hermanv]

Maybe I missed it, I'm surprised no one mentioned it - but after spending (many)thousands on my system I now buy everything used. First class brand names are readily available at typically 50% of new. The elctronics tends to last many years past the almost inevitable upgrade bug that will bite you at some time.

Names like Mark levinson, Cary, Conrad Johson, Krell etc, etc, that are stratospherically priced become worth considering at half price. If you live in a big city the odds are good that something you want is within driving distance so you can inspect or even listen before you spend your money. If you don't like the item resell it. Typically your only loss is the shipping costs.

Several good audio gear clasified sites exist, they are easy to find.

[lattybuck]

Your own hearing will vary. So will the room acoustics and the electronic "matching" of the equipment. Some things just blend together better than others and there is no formula for that. So what do you do if you cannot get the stuff home to try out first? Look at the different types of quality speakers in the price range you want and try to listen to them on the same or at least similar type of equipment. By same type I mean don't use tube amps to audition speakers when you will use a SS amp at home. Also try to not fall into the "this amp has a little more power, say 100 WPC or so, and only costs a little more than yours, say 5k or so, but it is comparable" trap. Try to get them to use electronics that match the type, power and quality of what you have at home. At least try and get close. I had a friend who listened to some speakers on a 20k+ esoteric tube system that sounded great. Not so good on his yamaha reciever though.
That said I would say a small list is not a bad starting point. At 5k or so I would definately try the B&W N803, Magnapan 3.6/r, Audionote, Klipshorn and a few others. It seems that I am hearing some issues lately about build quality and the Logans. Too bad I really liked them. There are many others as well. remember that music/tv listenning is a long term thing. And if you cannot sit there a few hours comfortably and without any strain then you should to change something so that you can.
Take care and I hope you get what you want out of it. Music is a world unto itself.

[RGA]

This guy is not talking about speakers that are based on "techno-babble" but on tech that has been designed by one of the formost speaker designers of our time. The VR4jr quality is not just pretty reputable. I was willing to buy them totally unheard, and even though I didn't, I woudn't loose a moments sleep if I did.

Man I still disagree - there is no speaker I would buy based off of reviews or technical ramblings especially not for the kind of money that we're talking about. The fact that you or this poster ends up liking them - I have heard lots of great stuff over the years and impressive technological "advancements" that simply don't sound good.