[seannx]

I recommend checking your local Craigslist offerings. In my bedroom, I have a pair of Marantz 7000 vintage speakers (3 way w/12" woofers), and a Marantz Audio/Video receiver, that cost $350.00 total. My son bought me a Marantz 5 CD player at Goodwill for $39.00, and the system sounds fantastic. There is no need to use the loudness control, and one of the great things about the powerful amp and big speakers, is that the bass really comes alive. I often find myself listening to the bass guitar as much as the lead and vocals, because it comes through with such a full sound and richness.

The living room system is a pair of vintage JBL 4311B Control Monitor speakers (free), a vintage Sansui amp ($200), Technics CD Player ($75), and my linear tracking vinyl turntable that I got new back in the 1980's. The combo sounds fantastic, you can crank it way up, and it also needs no loudness setting compensation.

When you find options on Craigslist that look promising, I google the name and model number plus "reviews." That usually gets you links to the Audio Karma forum, and good advice about what you can expect. Just because something is vintage, or the specs sound good, doesn't mean that it will okay. Sometimes there are known problems with the components, or maybe the speakers need to be re-foamed.

Bring a CD along to give a listening test before you buy. If you were here in the SF Bay Area, $1,000 would get you a nice system, and $2,000 even more.