Hey there, I’m looking for bookshelf speakers, a subwoofer and components for under $2000 altogether.
Some peculiarities:
I don’t know if I need a dac or pre-amp, so any advice would be appreciated.
The KEF Q100’s look interesting, but I wonder if there are better options for more money.
Healthy budget. I’d go with separates, do you care about form factor ? How big is the room ?
Do you already have the turntable? Any digital inputs required? $2k will get a bangin bookshelf system.
Also; how big are the shelves? Some stand mount speakers would work great here but they get kinda tall.
Also:
sorry for all the questions, every bit helps!
Photo of the shelf would be good. Also, hows the rooms acoustics ?
Bookshelf preferably. Room is 13*14 with a large sliding glass door (with shades) and a small hallway in a corner.
Yep, have the turntable. I’ve also got a Schiit Mani; I’d like to have the option to play from my computer/phone, but I don’t know if the Mani is enough (or even what it does tbh). I’ll put them on my desk or get stands, but if I use them in my living room they’ll go on shelves (two columns with a fireplace between, each 2’ 6" wide by 1’ 8" deep).
Vocals definitely; I always want to understand the lyrics. That said, I still want an overall balanced sound that’ll play “anything”. As far as classical, I’m just getting into it so I’m not sure what I like yet. I’ve got an album of a violin concerto with an orchestra.
Get a sub with high pass filter. Emotiva for example. Buy your dac, amp and some neumi BS5s. Than listen to your music and decide how much more you are willing to spend on speakers. Consider a matching sub.
I would start with an Outlaw audio RR2160 mkii. It has really decent internal dac"s, FM, internet radio and a music streamer (with it’s own app) built in that you’ll come to love once you try it. It also has bass management which works far better than the cutoff filter on most subwoofers. Except for hdmi it has all the digital and analog in’s and outs that you’ll ever need. It also sports a 110W of high current power at 8 ohms and 150W’s at 4 ohm’s. The power is clean and the sound is neutral, articulant and has enough power to run most any speaker. It will grow with you if you ever decide to upgrade. At $999 this thing is an incredible value.
For the subwoofer I would go with an OSD Trevoce 10". I might even do two of them. These things are musical and punch way above their price point. Right now they are on sale for $229!
For the speakers. There are just so many great choices for the $770 budget you have left. If I could up the budget by $630 (cry once and get on with life 
) then a set of Kef LS50 Meta’s would be a no brainer, but if the budget is firm maybe a set of Warfedale EVO 4.1’s would fit the bill.
That’s how I would spend YOUR money 
.
You could go yamaha AVR like V6A. Got all-in-one and if you want to upgrade dac amplifier theres imput and preout while being able to DSP up to 192/24. $650
Leaves Over a grand for speakers and sub.
Perfect! So with that in mind I would suggest something like the Focal Chora 806 or the Monitor Audio silver 50 7Gs. These have great vocal presentation without skimping on other areas. The Monitors are rear ported, but they’re specifically designed with close wall or bookshelf placement in mind so that shouldn’t be an issue.
They could be driven reasonably easily by something like the NAD 3045, the Yamaha S701, or the Cambridge AXR 100.
I usually see these speakers between $1k and $1.2 and these amps around 800 so we should be right about budget and if you already have the phono stage and turntable you’ll be good to go.
The 801 was going for $650 might still be on prime. Saw the sale on friday.
Topping E30 yamaha 801 choice of speakers and 10in sub. Budget audiophile.