Topic: budget system for 750 or less?

[marc0789]

for a friend with a small living space-14 feet by 20, with an 8 foot ceiling. Old school, just a receiver, bookshelves (not a high volume listener), and a multi disc changer. she's leaning toward a crappy best buy system to go with her TV, or a bose wave-thought maybe that for such a small space, she'd do better with components.

thanks all!

[jlykos]

Paradigm bookshelf speakers: ~$300

Cambridge Audio 340A integrated amplifier: ~$350 (no tuner)

Sony CD changer (get this at Best Buy): ~$100

Add another $50 - $100 for speaker stands and cables and you are set.

[Gordon]

Paradigm bookshelf speakers: ~$300

these??

Titan V.6 Monitor Series?

I'm thinking about something better for my fronts and more for music in general.  if I can get the ok from the wife

[Todd R]

If she can live with a single CD player and wants something small and compact, she might think about this NAD all-in-one for $400:

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=NAC715

Nice thing is you can playback from mp3 players and particularly USB drives. 

[anodyne33]

If she can live with a single CD player and wants something small and compact, she might think about this NAD all-in-one for $400:

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=NAC715

Nice thing is you can playback from mp3 players and particularly USB drives.

That looks pretty slick. I think I want one.

[Todd R]

Oh, and as long as we've got her shopping at audioadvisor, and to finish out the system:

Athena WS-100 mini-towers for $250:

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=1ATWS100

One stop shopping, complete system for $650, good quality, small footprint.

[Gordon]

I have athena micro 5.1 and love it for that.  as I said I'm looking at something for the fronts and those might be a good choice.

how do y'all feel about mismatching?  ie using something other than athena for my fronts?  I'd like to avoid this but they seem to be getting harder to find.

[marc0789]

thanks guys, really appreciate the comments-but I fucked up and forgot something. the local public radio is good, and she wants a receiver.  Definitely appreciate any recommendations, in lieu of amp. thanks, Marc. she's old school, so setting up radio from her pc probably ain't going to happen. 

[Todd R]

Still standing by my rec -- it includes a tuner too. 

[jlykos]

Still standing by my rec -- it includes a tuner too. 

Piggybacking on Todd's recommendation, the NAD system that he recommended only outputs 25 watts per channel.  These Athena B1 bookshelf speakers may do the job for $279:

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PBALB1

Power handling from 15 to 80 watts so it could definitely be driven by that NAD all-in-one system.

[marc0789]

guys, thanks for all the advice, really helpful. I have a small room to fill too, might go with the NAD and the Athena myself. thanks again!

[bgalizio]

Just wanted to chime in that I have a pair of Athena S3/P3 speaker/sub combos and really like them. Their speakers fly under the radar, but sound really nice.