I used to have S2's they were great. Ran me $2200 for Rosewood, but they've probably dropped a bit. Check out audiogon.com. I paired them with an Velodyne sub and Denon 3805 and they sounded great for the price.

 

thanks a lot ashokn225, i appreciate it. i'm gonna check these out right now.

 

Alright a few years ago my parents redid my room and combined 2 rooms to one so the dimensions are a bit strange. the room is 24' long by 12' wide, however the area that i plan to set up the system is about 14' long by 12' wide. as for materials, the room has stone floor (i think, im not sure whats its called really but its some type or tile lol), the wall facing the TV is a bearing wall and the wall which the TV will be in front of is drywall i believe. My dad is giving me his pioneer elite and i plan to put it on a TV stand or some sort of modern looking wall unit and a couch. im not sure what other information i could give but please let me know if you need more!

thanks for the advice haha, but this is something i really want to get into. i want to start small now and when im older get into serious stuff. but is it really that bad? i already have a problem with photography ...

 

What separates the section of room that you'll be using from the rest of it? I presume nothing (no walls, etc.)?

Anyhow, with the stone floor and length of the room, it sounds (pun intended) like you're going to have a fairly 'live' room in comparison to most (keep in mind that this is still nothing more than a presumption on my part). Take this into consideration whenever you're in listening rooms demoing equipment—a lot of gear sounds great in properly designed/treated rooms at the local audio shop, but when you get home, it's entirely possible that you'll hear a completely different sound.

Oh damn. Automobiles, photography, and audiophilia. You're going to have to bust your rear end in life because you've managed to attach yourself to what can be three very expensive hobbies relatively early on. Don't worry though; I'm in the same predicament.

 

Welcome aboard..
Cars, Photography, Flying, Boating, Watches..
lol

 

yeah nothing separates the room, just one long room lol. Thanks for the tips about listening to the demos, for some reason i never thought of that haha, ill definitely keep that in mind. as for busting my rear end, i already started . i began premed this year, so i need these things to prevent my from killing myself haha.

the list doesnt end there! you forgot bills, bills, and bills .

ill let you guys know what i end up getting in the near future! thanks for all your help, i appreciated it!

 

My second post here- I'm an audiophile who's ears are no longer the equal of the equipment I own.

At any rate you're getting some very good advice here. Audiogon is a great source for used equipment and to really get your $ worth out of $3k you're better off buying at least some used equipment if you know what you're looking for.

Before you spend do your homework- there are dozens of sites out there. For example; if you want to buy new here are three good sites with samples of amps in your price range:

Acoustic Sounds is one of my favorites for shopping and offers a Trio 50WPC integrated amp, CD player and AM/FM Tuner from Music Hall- class B rated- for $1199-you can't get much better value than that.

There is Mapleshade Audio that offers renewed Scott and other equipment at a very good price-$1175 for a 50WPC integrated tube amp.

Audio Advisor is another good source ($1095 for a 100WPC Cambridge integrated)- but I don't think I'd buy speakers there.

Whatever speakers you buy ensure you listen to them first- preferably in an environment that resembles your own and powered by something similar to what you'll have using material you're familiar with.

I've also always advised that people listen to high end speakers they can't afford- you'll realize what money buys as you move up the chain and learn what you like and don't. You may think the $20K Avalons (rich, full) sound better than the $40K Dynaudios (airy, precise)- and you can then recognize and find the characteristics you like in speakers that are within your budget. Once you've heard what you like you can buy a used set through Audiogon for thousands less.

And finally; don't buy Polk, stay away from Best Buy, Circuit City and the other chains and for God's sake don't buy anything that says Bose on it.

 

Here's mine :

Speakers - Aerial Acoustics 20T
Subs - Aerial SW12's (2 of them)
Front End - Panasonic BluRayTransport
D/A Preamp - Theta Gen.VIII
Amps - Theta Citadel 400watt mono amps
Power Purifier - Hydra 8
Cables - AudioQuest Everest speaker cables, Virtual Dynamics interconnects, Purist Audio Dominus and Virtual Dynamics power cables.
Pioneer Elite 50" plasma

 

gfro man, nice set up!

Have you considered some sound panels on the wall of the tv between the speakers..makes a big difference in my system...I move them in to position when i use it.

I'll post some pics later..

 

may I ask-- ballpark - what $ something like that runs for? nice setup BTW