YOUR DREAM SYSTEM

[Killingbeans]

What would you buy (new) to build your dream (but practical) 2.x music system?

No vintage, all readily available new today, with a total cost within say the cost of a good used car (U$ 20,000)

I'm gonna pretend I didn't see anything about practicality or budget. It isn't really dreaming if you have those kind of restrictions

What musical genres do you mostly play? (It matters when selecting components.)

I don't believe that, so I'll skip that part.

Speakers: Genelec 8351B + W371A
Turntable: Nope
Cartridge: Nope
Streamer/DAC: Whatever gives the most trouble-free user experience.
Preamp/control: See above.
Amplifier: Nope
DAC (if any):: Not if I can avoid it.
Headphones: Dan Clark Expanse
Subwoofer(s): 4x Powersoft CINESUB (just for the overkill)
CD/SACD Player (if any): ...Nahh
Anything else in your wet dream: A dedicated building for the setup (+ the extra stuff needed for a home theater) designed to have fantastic acoustics.

 

[Waxx]

If i would be forced to buy commercial gear (i'm a diy'er largely) and had the right room for it (quiet big) but i'll probally go for this then (overr budget):

Neumann KH420 active speakers with KH870 subs
MiniDSP Flex with DIRAC and Umik 2 as preamp/dac/dsp
Technics SL1500C turntable with AT-VM540ML cell
Silent PC to run JRiver on as mediaplayer with the local database on NAS server in an dedicated it room over lan connected.
Some DAB radio (yes, i listen to dab as background nosie while working) that i can connect to the MiniDSP

and a lot of acoustic treatment so the DIRAC does not has to work to hard, that would probally be more costly than my system itself. It's also way more important for the end result i think. Because even the best system will sound like crap in a bad room without acoustic treatment or dirac like room correction. And that room correction can only fix some things, not all.

 

[JiiPee]

Predominant musical genres (please do not say 'all'): Classical, Jazz, Classic Rock
Speakers: Dynaudio Focus 30. They can handle 80% of my listening needs as such, but I also want to listen vinyl and via headphones, so I also want:
Turntable: Thorens TD 1600
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M Black
Streamer/DAC: Audiophonics Raspdac Mini DIY kit + a spray can of chrome paint
Preamp/control: EAR Yoshino HP4 headphone amp with preamp out + EAR Yoshino phono preamp
Amplifier: None (already taken care of by HP4 + active speakers)
DAC (if any): None (already taken care of by speakers and by Raspdac for headphones listening)
Headphones: Meze Audio 109 Pro
Subwoofer(s): None needed
CD/SACD Player (if any): None needed
Anything else in your wet dream: This set should leave me with around USD 2.5K remaining in the budget. I would spend it on some subjective audio experience enhancers like Lagavulin 16 year, Poliziano Montepulciano, Il Falcone Riserva and Louis Belle Crozes-Hermitage.

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

Re-visiting this , more than interesting thread. $20K is a lot of dough. It represents for many the price of a decent new car, in the USA or Europe..
It may provide more enjoyment than a car, for most audiophiles, even those that are also car enthusiasts... going on a limb here.
I recently acquired the Audyssey MutEQ-X App and have been exploring it, learning form it and getting some good , somewhat unexpected (great) results. my system is based on very inexpensive components. It was a way to get my feet wet in the new world of Science-based music reproduction/systems. This has been and continue to be a rewarding, joyful experience. It has actually permeated other facets of my life. Grat things do not need to be expensive.
This said. My education/search/ Enjoyment continue with this system. I will definitely move to better speakers for sure.., but not before understating a lot more and extracting the maximum from my speakers, the cheap JBL LSR 308 @ about $600.oo to most doorsteps in the USA... next day!!
The revelation is that, setup is underrated. IT takes time and provide great results even with modest components. We have been brainwashed into thinning "Moh' money= Moh' better". The differences are very slim when the compoents are intrinsically good (decent?) and properly setup. I leave it to the readers to decide what is/are decent... hint ASR has charts and reviews that purport to catalog decency/competency )) in AV components

Now what I'd buy for 2-channel and $20 K max:

Denon AVR-X3800 ...... $1500
Audyssey MultEQ-X App ..$150 (Yep! You need to buy one license for every compatible receiver you acquire/possess.. Not pleased with this policy)
miniDSp 2x4 HD .... (own it already)
Umik-1 (own it already)
Neuman KH 420 or Genelec 8361 $10~10.5 K for the pair.
3 x SVS, HSU, Rythmik or Monoprice subwoofers $3000 for all 3
Stream from a Raspberry Pi with Volumio on it (own it already)
Stream from Apple TV 4K (own it already)
Stream from a PC (own it already)
No TT!... don't care.
Elbow grease +Brain grease + Regular ASR queries: Priceless...
No TT.

I'd (will?) be a happy camper for years of music enjoyment and no FOMO.

Happy holidays!
Peace.

 

[Sal1950]

I'd rather first design my "dream room".
Besides posting my dream system here could be embarrassing because many here already own it (or better).

 

[Vacceo]

I'd go for a pair of Perlisten R5T and a subwoofer from the same manufacturer. I already have the electronics and sources.

For more money, I'd go for KEF blades.