Can I put together a decent used system for a grand

[JANDL100]

OK, here's mine in a 2nd system, and it could well meet your requirements. I took the pic a couple of minutes ago.... 

B&O CX100 speakers - £200 fully refurbished from an eBay business seller. Absolutely superb! 

Phonic Max500 Pro power amp - £80 used eBay. Pretty much any pro amp would be fine, they usually go for silly-low money as hifi folks sneer at them. Their loss imo. 

Lexicon MC1 preamp - £130 used eBay. But something like a Nobsound NS-08P would be fine and cost even less. 

Bluetooth aptX HD receiver - £45 new eBay. 

Yeah, OK, I cheat a bit with a Jamo SUB200 subwoofer (£50 collected, eBay bargain) 

Use your mobile as source with Bluetooth, playing Spotify or Qobuz or whatever. 

£455 plus cheapo interconnect cables. £505 with the sub. 

Imho it sounds amazing. 

The photo also shows a cdp and minidisc player, but you don't need those. 

I'm just showing the general idea, but I'd certainly recommend those specific speakers as an utter bargain. 

 

[StingRay]

OK, I've just dropped my budget to £500 

Small room, low listening levels (like TV volumes), speakers not too big but they could go almost anywhere. Close to wall placement would be helpful. I listen to a lot of jazz from bebop to modern including fusion so some has quite a bit of bass but I prefer it tight, tuneful and well timed over absolute extension - hence I prefer sealed box speakers.

Whereabouts do you live?

 

[bigfish786]

You can still get a decent setup for 500. Probably cd based, but easy to get good sq for that money. 
Arcam is probably a good place to start for cd and amp.

Q,Acoustics for speakers.

QED cables, just for an easy start. 
and you are sorted. 

 

[Blzebub]

OK, I've just dropped my budget to £500 

Small room, low listening levels (like TV volumes), speakers not too big but they could go almost anywhere. Close to wall placement would be helpful. I listen to a lot of jazz from bebop to modern including fusion so some has quite a bit of bass but I prefer it tight, tuneful and well timed over absolute extension - hence I prefer sealed box speakers.

Define "decent".

 

[audio_PHIL_e]

Arcam is probably a good place to start for cd and amp.

^ This ^

 

[Jules_S]

Quick plug for a Pioneer A-400 amp if you want no-frills. Maybe not the giant-slayer it was made out to be back in the day, but extremely capable nonetheless and will work happily with more esoteric equipment than you would imagine. Available for about £150-175 on the 'bay.

Pair of Castle Severn 2 or Harlech 2 for around £250-ish. Both are vented rather than sealed, the Harlech being a quarter-wave transmission-line design. Both exit through a gap between the bottom of the main enclosure and the plinth, and you can "tune" it a little by adding or removing spacers. I had the S1 Harlechs and the bass was decently controlled. Bit forward in the mids though, the later model with revised drivers is smoother but "darker". Should work well with the A-400. And marvellous cabinetry too with decent veneering.

Plenty of budget left for the front end. Vinyl-wise, our very own @radiant red is selling an absolutely gorgeous JVC DD deck https://www.hifiwigwam.com/forum/topic/156948-jvc-ql-70-direct-drive-turntable/ which I'd love myself if I had any money! Unfortunately it would probably blow the budget by the time you add arm and cart. Another alternative would be an idler drive deck - this one on the bay is cheap and complete as a starter. The GL75 is very popular, a great performer and can be modded to hell in future if you want an upgrade path. There's lots of "lesser" (i.e. not SL1200/1210) Technics models available too but I'm afraid I wouldn't know which ones were worth looking at and which are dross - a wiser Wammer may be able to offer advice here.

You might want to consider a basic external phono stage too, depending on what amp you get. Some don't have one at all, some have a basic stage. Some of the more vintage Japanese amps actually have quite decent phono stages so you could get away without one, but something like a used ProJect Phono Box S would do the job, or if you fancy splashing a little more cash there's a Tube Box S on t'bay for £160, which gets you lots of kudos on here because it's got valves in it!  Nice little stage for the money.

CD-wise I'd probably default to one of the Marantz players like a CD6006, or for something a bit more classic try this Philips CD620 from @Countryman on here.

A few quid for non-fancy speaker cables and interconnects, and you're good to go

 

[antonio66]

Cocktail NovaFidelity X12 HD HiFi ,2TB 60W Amp Hi End DAC Network Streamer 8809183301728 | eBay

Still leaving enough budget for speakers and a cd player or turntable

or you could go with active speakers  Focal Solo 6 BE Active Nearfield Studio Monitor - 3544053801209BL001 3544057801205 | eBay or

Focal Shape 40 Active Studio Monitor 3544058801525 | eBay  you would need two of these.

 

[Fatmarley]

I'd take the free JPW AP3 or the AP2 in the classified section. 

 

[DomT]

Secondhand Naim Muso would be an interesting choice but probably not what you are looking for. 

 

[wackjob]

Hey, I'm bowled over by the response here thanks.

I've got a lot to think about.

 

[wackjob]

Define "decent".

 
 
 
Here ya go 





decent


/ˈdiːs(ə)nt/


 





adjective

1. 
   
   
   1.
   
   
   conforming with generally accepted standards of respectable or moral behaviour.
   
   "a decent clean-living individual"
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. 
   
   
   2.
   
   
   of an acceptable standard; satisfactory.
   
   "people need decent homes
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

 

[wackjob]

Whereabouts do you live?

The West part of Yorkshire

 

[Blzebub]

 
 
 
Here ya go 





decent


/ˈdiːs(ə)nt/


 





adjective

1. 
   
   
   1.
   
   
   conforming with generally accepted standards of respectable or moral behaviour.
   
   "a decent clean-living individual"
   
   
   
   
   
   
    
   
   
   
   
2. 
   
   
   2.
   
   
   of an acceptable standard; satisfactory.
   
   "people need decent homes
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Thanks.

 

[Psilonaught]

I have a beat up on Cambridge audio Azure 540 receiver mated to white q acoustic speakers in the corners of my kitchen ceiling. I use a Bluetooth to coaxial input into the azure's built in dac.

I get a lot of comments at parties etc about how good it all sounds, and it really does!

I think I paid £50 for the amp and around £200 for the speakers. The Bluetooth thing was something like £15 from Amazon.

Great combo if you ask me! 

The amp sits in a cupboard.

 

[MartinC]

Streaming was mentioned right at the start of the thread but doesn't seem to have been touched on much since... How much of a CD or record collection do you currently have @wackjob? New records generally aren't cheap and used CD players have a significant risk of the mechanism failing and either being impossible or uneconomical to repair. Used CDs are increasingly cheap but new releases are getting more expensive or flat out don't exist. You may very well still be drawn to collecting physical musical recordings but just throwing a few thoughts into the mix to consder.

I exclusively use Qobuz via a streamer as my music source now. I do still have a CD player and lots of CDs but the latter only really get played in my car now.

 

[MartinC]

You'll probably say you've used it like this for ages but do be mindful of blocking the ventilation holes on top of the amp there.

 

[Psilonaught]

You'll probably say you've used it like this for ages but do be mindful of blocking the ventilation holes on top of the amp there.

Yep I make sure I clear the top when on, it does get hot. I also put the amp on a timer, so it turns off at about 5am, after all party guest have stumbled home and so I don't wake up in a fire! 

 

[AnilS]

Whereabouts are you. I have quite a bit to release 

 

[rabski]

Q Acoustics are ridiculously good for the prices, but there are plenty of speakers from the 1980s and 1990s for around £200 a pair that are nicely up into 'audiophile' territory, just not at the summit of it.

Japanese amps are bullet-proof within reason, but I also agree with Bob's suggestion earlier about 'pro' stuff. £50-£100 will buy something more than capable. Plenty of CD players for £20 or even less. Try your local charity shops. The difference between a £20 CD player and a £2000 CD players isn't as big as the price suggests. Streaming? Chromecast. Turntable? Plenty of budget belt-drive models for £100ish that will do the job fine. Go mad and spend £45 on a brand new AT95 cartridge.

There you go. Under £500 and three CD, turntable and streaming if you choose carefully. Spend ten times that and I guarantee it won't sound ten times better to the vast majority of people.

 

[Jules_S]

Q Acoustics are ridiculously good for the prices, but there are plenty of speakers from the 1980s and 1990s for around £200 a pair that are nicely up into 'audiophile' territory, just not at the summit of it.

Totally agree, Rabski - I'm a Q Acoustics fanboy after all with (currently) three different Concept models in my lounge. What prevented me from recommending them was the OP's preference for sealed, not ported enclosures, although I ended up recommending one ported and one transmission-line speaker anyway, doh! Another possibility if they are to be used close to the wall is to go for a front-ported design.

Charity shops are a good shout too, often a source of almost embarrassingly cheap equipment. Our very own @Lurchis probably the king of the charity find, I'm sure he can share some tips with you