Beaming with pride

[jayman_1975]

Hey everyone....I am a proud papa today. My 12 year old boy told me today that he wants to invest in a stereo system. Immediately i started to think about a small decent integrated and a moderate CDP with some older monitor speakers.....then he said "so can we go to wallmart and look for one today"?:eek: I threw up in my mouth a little bit just then but managed to convince him that i could set him up with 10 times the system for a fraction of the price compared to anything walmart would have. He agreed to let old dad help him out so here i am. About $300 would be budget. Integrated, CDP and bookshelves. any suggestions?

Only thing is..he wants the cdp to play mp3's as well just in case.

[engtaz]

My 13 year old son has my old HT receiver and RTA12B's and Sony carousel CD player.

engtaz

[fossy]

:mad: damn walmart :mad:

get him a good un -- he will appreciate having a good system -- especially in the coming years

[BaggedLancer]

Try craigslist, should be able to build a nice budget system for under $200.

Not sure where you are from but if it's a bigger city this should be no issue.

[Zero]

You know, I forgot what the name of this system was... but a few months back, there was an entire system which was discounted at AAFES that was damned good for the coin. It consisted of a nice tube integrated amp, a tube ipod doc, and a set of speakers.. all for at/under your budget.

Hopefully someone here will chime in and give you the name of the system - maybe even a good lead or two. Congrats on the lil 1 taking an interest !

[jayman_1975]

I'm from a small city with no chance of demoing anything whatsoever. Every piece of my gear was purchased on Audiogon or Canuck Audio mart except my speakers. I was hoping someone might pipe up with an older integrated or 2 channel reciever collecting dust in their closet that they would part with. The search is part of the fun right?

[TroyD]

Where are you located...I might be able to help you out.

BDT

[carversound]

Ive got a mint cond. audiosource pre amp/ pre one-a
I listed it here for $75 but for a new audio buff, I'll let it go for $60 including shipping. It cost $175 new.
Its mint cond. Very clean sound. I'll send pics apond request.
It has simaliar sound to my carver c-2.
joethefinger@royell.org

[capecodder]

$300, hell my main system barely met that cost level. Took me 4 years 367 yard sales to put it together though.:p

[bluzrip]

Being this is the POLK forum, looking for some classic used Polks would be a good start. The usual suggestions regarding amps including NAD, ADCOM, and Audiosource, all often available used. Don't rule out a good Pro Logic receiver; they sell cheap and work fine for 2 channel use. A leftover DVD player may make a suitable source. They can sound decent and usually play MP3 discs as well. Cheap too.

[jayman_1975]

I'm up here north of the border in Saskatchewan Canada. I have done the odd garage sale in the past but haven't seen much to keep my interest. Most people here haven't even heard of the brands that are discussed on this forum let alone have an old vintage unit kickin around. I would definitely be interested in some classic polks as i have never heard any of the old stuff. Thanx for all the replies...the boy and are are already excited about this adventure. He really likes the looks of some of the vintage Marantz, yamaha, rotel recievers. This could get interesting.

[jayman_1975]

Ive got a mint cond. audiosource pre amp/ pre one-a
I listed it here for $75 but for a new audio buff, I'll let it go for $60 including shipping. It cost $175 new.
Its mint cond. Very clean sound. I'll send pics apond request.
It has simaliar sound to my carver c-2.
joethefinger@royell.org

Thanx for the offer. I would like to keep it fairly simle like an integrated or a reciever. It will be set up in his bedroom so the less space we have to take up the better. Thanx again though...keep the ideas coming.

[tom t]

with a budget of $300,you are limited to what you can do. a mid-sized receiver,small pair of speakers and a cd player is about it. i just picked up this sony receiver for $50 and the mint cond criteron 90 speakers for $100. the sound is superp for the cost. start shoping e-bay for vintage receivers and pick one up in working condition and go from there

[cfrizz]

Jay, Doro's got a sale & a half going on right now. He could probably set you up really nice with all the stuff he likes to hoard!

[Jonesy]

My 14 year-old daughter has a Rotel RX-402 with Monitor 5jr+ on custom stands and is more than happy. Total cost was <$100. Still looking for a decent source. All she has for now is an Xbox. The result is fantastic.