congrats on your new purchase

you are not getting enough bass?

welll....mind sharing your entire setup and how you place the speakers?
pix would be good

from the looks of it (if you don't mind me being honest), the speakers are a bit too near the rear wall

and putting the speakers on the table as oppose to a proper stand.....the impact is quite great
a sub would help in your scenario...but you need to be wary of the sub pace, low pass frequency and high pass frequency roll offs....it might bring your music to a slow down pace....

perhaps an 8" sub might be sufficient

its not necessary to get to Mcintosh or any super high end per se....

they do have high power amps.....but their mainstream is still within normal power range

in hifi....its not only the amps and speakers are important

basic fundamentals are important; ie

1. power source
2. your source component outputs
3. interconnects
4. equipment vibration grounding
5. synergy grounding
6. 1st order reflections
7. any frequency cancellations

and there are many more to a proper setup

room is also a big factor

expensive doesn't mean its forgiving to setup
the higher end the equipment, the less tolerance to acoustic errors.....

its a journey to get there.....

well for starters....let me think....

2k......if u can up a little bit of budget

speakers:
XLS Encore - smooth, mid bass is quite tasteful, easily driven by most amps
price: 1290 from curve acoustics

amps:
used Audiolab 8000A going for d price of 1k
i have the 8000A MK2, paired with a Marantz CD6000 KI Edition and Usher S502 bookshelve.....man....it can really rock.....now i missed this system coz its with my father in law.....

it not....NAD 3020i, used market about 600.....this little amp packs a punch
old but gold

cables you can order from forummer Black Octagon......he sells quite good affordable cables

there's a used Accuphase made in Japan on sale in the hifi4sale used section
good stuffs....price stated is 2.9k

good amp and a match to Luxman

musical, dynamics and quite refined

100watts x 2 @8 ohms......

hey bro.....early early wake up d

soundproofing is on going....

his budget 2k, not necessary to spend all 2k mer...its about best options
and without amp buy speaker no point right

well......its FOC to try to separate the cables

first.....try to make sure the power cable and signal cables (interconnects and speakers) are not overlapping each other.....
if they have to....try to use some wood material to separate them apart

second.....some speaker cables are abit long.....don't coil them up

arrange it into snake pattern

some say elevating the speaker cables removes floor noise....i tried that on my transparents and it sounded horrible

but for my XLO Signature last time, they were better being elevated

again...there's no right or wrong....just make sure you don't listen too long as ear fatigue can affect your judgement

i get ear fatigue in hard listening within 1 hour

easy listening and music enjoyment...couple of hours

you probably need to give it a good 200 hours run in before you can really determine....

i remembered when i first got my SF Cremonas......it took me nearly 400 hours before i find it smooth...
especially the ring radiator tweeters

then came my audio research amp.....solid state class D......not that i'm a fan of class D as they usually sound rough
but when i listened to the demo in Bangkok...it blew me away with its dynamics, detailed and yet maintained its transient

so i bought a unit as the demo in Bangkok was pushing the Cremonas to sing.....

out from the box...the first 50 hours were just terrible......after a year with it......i'm really happy with it.....

so my advice......save up for a better amp rather than buying in hurry only to regret and upgrade again

just like CDP.....i have a Marantz CD6000 KI for many many years....and tempted to upgrade many many times
i knew at that point that a slightly better cd player won't get me far....
so i saved up for AR CD5......my first so called high end entry level (obviously there are way higher end cd players)
and the music reproduction straight away went up few folds

eventually when CD6 model came out to replace CD5....it was a true dilemma for me....

although it was a replacement for CD5, i thought it was a minor upgrade until i had a listened at it....
i listened at few places....2 while i was travelling....Bangkok and Singapore.....in the end.....upgraded to CD6 also...

a bad cd is a bad cd....no matter how good the cd player is, a bad cd remains the same

and with higher end equipment with less forgiving tolerance....it will sound worse i think

AR = Audio Research....

the parent company now owns Sonus Faber, Mcintosh, Wadia and Audio Research....

brand new speakers needs time to settle and run in.......harshness is subjective....most of the time it goes away after running for 50 hours or more

you can check out the Sonus Faber thread.....
my hifi pix should be there.....even my previous Grand Piano paired with AR SP17 & VS110

@topet you won't nose bleed one....kena poison that one no gurantee lar

Maxx sold the unit that is first gen....wished i had the spare cash for it

the 1st gen came with full customized scanspeaks....ring radiator and revelators.....

GI Jie.....Passlabs certainly the way to go
you have my vote on that...

while you are looking into that....seriously...your cdp may not match up to the passlabs..something you might want to consider in balancing the system sound....

well Metronome is oso good...hehehehe

go LP man....i'm also starting to look into LP systems....
sadly the setup i like is sort of expensive

i'd be honest with you.....mixing HT and audio in the same system is something you might consider separating

but if you insist.....you can get a 5.1 set from JBL or Q Acoustics paired with a Pioneer or Denon AV amp...quite within your budget....

in all honesty, i do find the Logitech Z906 not a bad choice for a small room.....audio is acceptable..minimalist design too

speaker cables you can find bro black octagon as he brings in good van damme speaker cables that beats the crap out of monster cable

for sub woofer cable....brand is not everything....you need a solid copper core...again...black octagon has some good diy cables....which i did a review on it

to fully enjoy 5.1, make sure your source of movie comes with the right audio and that you also have the right codec

having an additional soundcard like Asus STX 7.1 would be great....depending on your budget...

happy hunting

bro...now analog is way different from last time.....

hehehehehehe

now analog game is even more expensive...take for example....Clear Audio, Kronos, Project Audio....

top end can go to 100k per machine....hehehehehehe

I haven't decided what to play....but might go for custom made

here's my suggestion

for amplifier, if you don't mind china made brands (nowadays they do really produce impressive products), you might want to check out Audio GD Precision 1.
Based on the technical diagram and circuits, the amps are built with quality parts and properly designed.
at 90watts x 2 @ 8ohms, its quite a good bargain. Price is 2480 from liquidgal at the audio/music garage sale.
They have a showroom in Kota Damansara where you can listen to it
The other amp that you can consider is the Topping T60 amp.....which is affordable and not bad sounding..RM600 per unit

speakers, i'll recommend the XLS-Encore by Curve Acoustics.....great local made speakers......it's quick natural sounding with a smooth roll off......price is 1300...look for forummer FX20

since you already have a laptop, i suppose your laptop comes with cd/dvd unit......why not consider a USB DAC??

honestly Marantz entry is not worth playing unless you are really into Marantz

if you don't mind used units....look for Marantz CD63 KI Edition or CD6000 KI Edition...they should be in the range of 1000 to 1200 depending on condition....these are one of the best made Marantz cdp.....

if you love oldies....this cd player will put life into the Elvis, Nat King Cole, Shirley Basey and many more....

happy hunting

are you all in a rush to buy??
i will be looking into actual buying probably in May when my house is ready

here's my plan for my study room/gaming/working/chillin online place.....hehehehe

looking into setting up a PC audio with music on lossless format
sound card....Asus Essence STX 2
headphones.....current HD650
amp: either Audio GD Precision 1 or Musical Paradise with KT150 tubes integrated amp.....unless someone sells their Audio Research VSi55 or VSi66 at very good price.
speakers: XLS-Encore
cables: will probably try out Van Damme UP-LCOFC Hi-Fi Interconnect & speaker series