OT: Please spend my money ;-) Update

[FastCanon]

Audioengine A5+. I have several pairs. Ever since I remodeled my house, my 9 Kappas and McIntoshes are at my parent's house

[glepore]

Originally Posted by RWL2222

I could use some schooling here, but the sound is only going to be as good as what's in the source. What's the state of play for streaming?--in terms of sampling rates/compression, THD, frequency range, etc. Streaming for the most part makes my ears tired after 20-30 minutes. I recall Neil Young was trying to get more true fidelity into music. [edit: https://www.sonarworks.com/blog/lear...the-difference]

For the OP, I would think there's lots of high end second hand equipment to fit your spend range (kind of like rim brake bikes?)

Amazon Music has everything in hi res ( flac, 48/96khz where source available) for 10 bucks a month or so. Tidal etc are competitors.

[VeloceNiente]

Not sure how large of a room or how loud you want to go, but if a small speaker is ‘enough’, take a look at Elac. They also offer a small powered speaker. No amp needed, and you would know that the in-built amp and speaker were mated well.

Another option is unpowered speakers and good quality budget amp like Schiit audio’s GJALLARHORN amp. It’s at 15w RMS, but depending on the listening situation and load attached, that will be plenty.

And add a second-hand sub to that if you’re hosting dance parties.

[Peter P.]

Originally Posted by jh_on_the_cape

I am no audiophile but I found a set of Bose speakers and subwoofer super cheap on FB marketplace ...

Agreed. You live in a goldmine of a market for used equipment at excellent prices. I suggest craigslist. I also like the idea of sdcav.com mentioned above.

For my place of work, I got tired of our installers streaming from their phones to a crappy boom box. I barely if ever work in our install bay but when I do I want good sound. I also didn't want to be beholden to whoever owned the boombox so I bought the setup to be shared. So I searched craigslist and bought a Yamaha receiver, two vintage Avid 100 8" woofer bookshelf speakers, and a bluetooth adapter, all from the same person for well under $300.

If you want to take a trip to Connecticut to buy from the same person I did,
go here:

Receivers: https://newhaven.craigslist.org/ele/...703602606.html

Speakers https://newhaven.craigslist.org/ele/...702307086.html

Subwoofers https://newhaven.craigslist.org/ele/...703601275.html

Very pleasant and fair person to deal with. Heck; bring your bike and we'll go on a ride afterwards!

Definitely check out the used market. You won't need a lot of power if you purchase an A/V receiver that steers the low frequencies to a subwoofer while limiting your main speakers to higher frequencies. The point is; even though you might not use the system for movies, an A/V receiver is an option vs. a stereo receiver or an integrated amp. You might not need floor standing speakers if you have a subwoofer as the subwoofer will do the heavy lifting. That can save you some money.

[jkbrwn]

Originally Posted by Peter P.

Agreed. You live in a goldmine of a market for used equipment at excellent prices....That can save you some money.

Do this OP! Deals galore in there.

[cash05458]

stay away from cool tube setups and plastic records etc stuff...it will be endless...

[vav]

Thanks all, living room is aprox 18 ft x 12 ft. I listen mostly to latin jazz and latin music in general. That New Haven CL store looks impressive. I am definitely ok with used stuff out of FB, CL and other places. Things are shaping up, keep the ideas coming

[thwart]

If you can stretch a bit… and upgrade a cheap amp/receiver later.

Sort of a Pegoretti for the price of a Surly… and pretty too.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/375245571851

Still available likely since the seller won’t ship. Darien CT area.

Even a little cheaper here: https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/...tem-storm-sub/

[ssb94]

Originally Posted by Zackus

Other people who reply will know a lot more about all things audiophile than me, but if it were me I'd a combo of two things like this:

Receiver/Amp: Onkyo A-9050
https://reverb.com/item/77947116-onk..._source=google

Speakers: Some sort of 15 yo B&W floor standing speakers
https://www.ebay.com/itm/38684287250...Bk9SR9rYsO7FYw

In theory, the Onkyo is great. I had one... it was great for a while, but quickly turned into a bit of a nightmare. There was a hardware issue that caused sudden volume spikes. Like from low levels to eat splitting in a split second. No matter how much I pleaded (or how many videos I showed them) every audio repair shop I took it to claimed they couldn't find anything wrong or recreate the problem. Ended up selling it for parts on eBay for $40. And it blew out one of my speakers. Not to mentioned Onkyo barely exists as a brand anymore and doesn't have any US customer service. There are much better used options from Denon, Marantz, NAD, etc that should be within budget.

[ssb94]

Originally Posted by glepore

Amazon Music has everything in hi res ( flac, 48/96khz where source available) for 10 bucks a month or so. Tidal etc are competitors.

Keep in mind that you won't get much benefit out of higher res audio if you're using a cheap Bluetooth dongle. To see any benefit, you'll need a network player or streamer with a nice DAC on board or with digital outputs to feed into the receiver's DAC.

[ssb94]

Originally Posted by vav

Thanks all, living room is aprox 18 ft x 12 ft. I listen mostly to latin jazz and latin music in general. That New Haven CL store looks impressive. I am definitely ok with used stuff out of FB, CL and other places. Things are shaping up, keep the ideas coming

Are you going to be listening primarily to streamed sources? Or do you have a physical collection too? If you have records and CDs, I'd definitely go with a used integrated amp/receiver and bookshelf speakers (more than enough for a room that size, just put them on stands). Ideally you can find something with line level, digital (coax and/or toslink), and phono inputs. I think a lot of the speaker brands recommended make sense. Klipsch and KEF are others to look out for (Klipsch is divisive - they have a unique and bright sound that I love, but some people hate).

If you're going to be listening exclusively to streamed stuff, then I agree with the advice above. Ditch the amp, get a network streamer and some powered speakers. Cheap DACs have come a long way in the last few years and you don't have to worry about old, used gear breaking down. Just like nice old bikes, even if they're cheaper to acquire, they're not always cheap to maintain.

[Peter P.]

Update: There's somebody in Danvers MA, close to the OP, who has a host of stereo equipment for sale at the OP's prices.

Links

Receivers

Speakers

Subwoofers

[FierteTi52]

Why don’t you start by adding a sub to your existing system and see how it goes? I have a Yamaha mini system and use a B&W sub and the results are great.
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_749ASW...ck.html?tp=187

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by jkbrwn

Do this OP! Deals galore in there.

No kidding.

Darn, the KEF 107s aren't priced.

If I were the OP, I would head over there and do a bundle deal. Plenty to choose from, whatever your musical and esthetic preferences!

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by ssb94

Keep in mind that you won't get much benefit out of higher res audio if you're using a cheap Bluetooth dongle. To see any benefit, you'll need a network player or streamer with a nice DAC on board or with digital outputs to feed into the receiver's DAC.

That's why I recommended a Denon (or similar) networkable receiver. You could add an Amazon box or Apple TV for streaming too...