Hello,
I used to be into hi-fi headphone audio, but now that I have my own place I'm looking to get into the speaker world. I'm looking to get a 2.0 or 2.1 setup (depending on the bass quality of the speakers, though of course 2.0 would be preferable to get the best bang for my buck -- bass "quantity" is not all that important to me). Almost all of my music is digital (and paid for, thank you) and encoded in FLAC. I'm looking to spend up to $3000 (this is a pretty hard cap) on a speaker/integrated amp or powered speaker/amp combo (I would assume the former would give me far more options as integrated amps are more common than powered speakers, at least as far as I understand). Trying to read the reviews on this site is rather unwieldy as I can't arrange them by price (not to mention that most speakers reviewed on this site are ridiculously, laughably above my price range).
Any suggestions? How should I split the bill? I'm guessing that I'll spend around $2000-$2500 on the speakers and $500-$1000 on the amp. Is this about right? Any brands that you recommend? I would like balanced, neutral, well-rounded speakers (trending toward warm and punchy if anything) as I listen to a wide variety of music. I prefer my bass to be accurate and tight rather than big and bloated. If I have a bias, I like a sound that has a touch of warmth and a good dose of "slam" (not necessarily bassy, just that it has that fun, foot-tapping quality to it, you know?).
I have a rather spacious listening area (for a college student at least): about 17' x 15.5'. The speakers pretty much have to be situated along (not right up against, of course) the 15.5' wall as the 17' sides are a fireplace on one side and an opening to the dining room and entryhall on the other.
Let me know what else you'd like to know, as I'm sure I left something out. If I knew everything to consider, I wouldn't be posting here. 
Thanks in advance for your suggestions!
P.S. There is a local shop that appears to be a hi-fi shop. I am stuck in the middle of nowhere in central California for the next few years, and it's the only one within about 70-80 miles -- no joke. Anyway, it's very difficult for me to get there, so I'd like to have a very solid idea as to what type of setup I should be looking for so that I don't have to make more than 1 or 2 auditioning trips. Thanks again!
P.P.S. Oh yes, I work 70-80 hours a week as a PhD slave, err, student so I must regrettably draw a hard line and go solid state. I love the warmth of tube amps but it simply does not seem worth my while to worry about trying to find replacement tubes all the time. Maybe I can tube-roll once I have a real job.
Hello,
I used to be into hi-fi headphone audio, but now that I have my own place I'm looking to get into the speaker world. I'm looking to get a 2.0 or 2.1 setup (depending on the bass quality of the speakers, though of course 2.0 would be preferable to get the best bang for my buck -- bass "quantity" is not all that important to me). Almost all of my music is digital (and paid for, thank you) and encoded in FLAC. I'm looking to spend up to $3000 (this is a pretty hard cap) on a speaker/integrated amp or powered speaker/amp combo (I would assume the former would give me far more options as integrated amps are more common than powered speakers, at least as far as I understand). Trying to read the reviews on this site is rather unwieldy as I can't arrange them by price (not to mention that most speakers reviewed on this site are ridiculously, laughably above my price range).
Any suggestions? How should I split the bill? I'm guessing that I'll spend around $2000-$2500 on the speakers and $500-$1000 on the amp. Is this about right? Any brands that you recommend? I would like balanced, neutral, well-rounded speakers (trending toward warm and punchy if anything) as I listen to a wide variety of music. I prefer my bass to be accurate and tight rather than big and bloated. If I have a bias, I like a sound that has a touch of warmth and a good dose of "slam" (not necessarily bassy, just that it has that fun, foot-tapping quality to it, you know?).
I have a rather spacious listening area (for a college student at least): about 17' x 15.5'. The speakers pretty much have to be situated along (not right up against, of course) the 15.5' wall as the 17' sides are a fireplace on one side and an opening to the dining room and entryhall on the other.
Let me know what else you'd like to know, as I'm sure I left something out. If I knew everything to consider, I wouldn't be posting here.
Thanks in advance for your suggestions! 
P.S. There is a local shop that appears to be a hi-fi shop. I am stuck in the middle of nowhere in central California for the next few years, and it's the only one within about 70-80 miles -- no joke. Anyway, it's very difficult for me to get there, so I'd like to have a very solid idea as to what type of setup I should be looking for so that I don't have to make more than 1 or 2 auditioning trips. Thanks again!
P.P.S. Oh yes, I work 70-80 hours a week as a PhD slave, err, student so I must regrettably draw a hard line and go solid state. I love the warmth of tube amps but it simply does not seem worth my while to worry about trying to find replacement tubes all the time. Maybe I can tube-roll once I have a real job.