Thanks, all of you. Lots of responses from all when I was sleeping here in India. 
I too would be budgeting for a much larger percentage of the funds to go into upstream components if we were looking at electromechanical sources like cassette decks and turntables. I'm a member of that tiny minority of forum members who has actually owned a Nakamichi ZX-9 -- I am fully aware of the magical power of an extremely good source component.
However, electronics has not remained where electromechanical stuff has. It is still very hard to build a good turntable in 2016. But price performance ratio for electronics has been moving ahead in leaps and bounds. The DAC on a good mobile phone these days may beat that built into a Sony ES series CD player of 1980s. (I'm not certain, but I'm willing to compare if I could.) And this rig which I am suggesting for my friend will only have a digital source and straightforward solid-state amp -- nothing electromechanical here.
I know that some feel this way. I believe this line of argument was propounded by Linn, whose creator went around the country demonstrating how an excellent source can change the sound, keeping all other components the same. We must keep this in mind -- it was a turntable maker who said this.
I too would be budgeting for a much larger percentage of the funds to go into upstream components if we were looking at electromechanical sources like cassette decks and turntables. I'm a member of that tiny minority of forum members who has actually owned a Nakamichi ZX-9 -- I am fully aware of the magical power of an extremely good source component.
However, electronics has not remained where electromechanical stuff has. It is still very hard to build a good turntable in 2016. But price performance ratio for electronics has been moving ahead in leaps and bounds. The DAC on a good mobile phone these days may beat that built into a Sony ES series CD player of 1980s. (I'm not certain, but I'm willing to compare if I could.) And this rig which I am suggesting for my friend will only have a digital source and straightforward solid-state amp -- nothing electromechanical here.
You lost me here, sir. I am sure you have a fantastic system and can hear things I can't, but I won't advise my friend along the lines you've described here -- I will never be able to justify $1000 for cables. Just call it my ignorance or stupidity.
Sorry if my original post confused some of you, but this is exactly what I am asking her to do. I want all of you to suggest good dealers selling reputed brands in Portland, and I'll then ask my friend to go around to them with a sampler CD. I don't intend to prescribe a final set of products for her -- I just intend to give her a shortlist of dealers and brands. She can decide the models after listening. But yes, I want her to start with speakers, not source.
Couldn't agree with you more.
I'd consider ATC SCM25A Pro.
Cost a bit more than the B&W 805 D3 the OP considered but he wouldn't need an amp and any balanced cable with Neutriks on either end will be as good as it gets. Cost about $30 for 10m/30ft.
As 'media player' I'd use an old computer and a decent DAC with balanced outs and volume control.
PS: With regards to budget distribution speakers have always been the most expensive part. Back in the old analogue days a good rule of thumb was 50% on speakers 50% on everything else (TT, cartridge, amp) but digital has twisted that even more towards speakers. The differences between a $150 DAC and a $5000 DAC are many orders of magnitude smaller (and barely audible if at all) than the differences between $500 speakers and $5000 ones which are huge.
The situation with amps is similar but not quite that extreme IMO.
Cost a bit more than the B&W 805 D3 the OP considered but he wouldn't need an amp and any balanced cable with Neutriks on either end will be as good as it gets. Cost about $30 for 10m/30ft.
As 'media player' I'd use an old computer and a decent DAC with balanced outs and volume control.
PS: With regards to budget distribution speakers have always been the most expensive part. Back in the old analogue days a good rule of thumb was 50% on speakers 50% on everything else (TT, cartridge, amp) but digital has twisted that even more towards speakers. The differences between a $150 DAC and a $5000 DAC are many orders of magnitude smaller (and barely audible if at all) than the differences between $500 speakers and $5000 ones which are huge.
The situation with amps is similar but not quite that extreme IMO.
Don't twist the knife in the wound, please.
You think I didn't think of it? Please can you tell me one party who will
- let my friend listen to the LX521 in Portland
- make and deliver a finished LX521 to my friend's place
- set it up, align the OB panels, configure and set up everything
- provide some basic level support in case there are some problems in at least the first year or two
Do you really think it's possible for my friend in Portland to get an OB system designed by Linkwitz? This is not a rhetorical question. She has the budget.
Wow, you can say that again. I'll bet the HK430 would do a decent job, mine cost just a few dollars each.
To the original OP (only):
Ignore all the advice you have received thus far and ask your friend to visit Echo Audio in Portland.
Yes, that's a real store with real people.
Now, I don't live in Portland, but I have actually ordered a few things from Echo Audio--they sell a lot of used gear. I think that used gear has the best bang for the buck by far. I was very happy with it (Adcom amps, if I remember correctly).
Perhaps the OP can call them up, speak with them, and thus steer his friend to something affordable and local.
Local is good. Especially in Portland.
Echo Audio - Your source for the finest Home Audio and Hi-Fi Audio Equipment
Disclaimer: I have no association with Echo. Any local hi-fi store would do, as well, perhaps.
Ignore all the advice you have received thus far and ask your friend to visit Echo Audio in Portland.
Yes, that's a real store with real people.
Now, I don't live in Portland, but I have actually ordered a few things from Echo Audio--they sell a lot of used gear. I think that used gear has the best bang for the buck by far. I was very happy with it (Adcom amps, if I remember correctly).
Perhaps the OP can call them up, speak with them, and thus steer his friend to something affordable and local.
Local is good. Especially in Portland.
Echo Audio - Your source for the finest Home Audio and Hi-Fi Audio Equipment
Disclaimer: I have no association with Echo. Any local hi-fi store would do, as well, perhaps.
There are a number of dealers here in the Portland area. I have worked for several over the last 16 years that we have lived here as an audio/video installer. I quit working full time a couple of years ago due to arthritis, but still work part time for a couple of local dealers.
I have also been a stereo enthusiast for close to 40 years. If you would like, as a favor, I can talk with her and give her MY OPINION about where to shop.
If she would like to hire me to install her gear;fine. If she would like to hire somebody else to install the gear; marvelous. I have zero agenda here other than helping out somebody from India and an audio enthusiast. I am also happily married and am too old for such nonsense, so no danger there. I make no money by selling gear to customers.
If you think this might interest her, send me a PM and I will forward my cell number that you can give her.
I have also been a stereo enthusiast for close to 40 years. If you would like, as a favor, I can talk with her and give her MY OPINION about where to shop.
If she would like to hire me to install her gear;fine. If she would like to hire somebody else to install the gear; marvelous. I have zero agenda here other than helping out somebody from India and an audio enthusiast. I am also happily married and am too old for such nonsense, so no danger there. I make no money by selling gear to customers.
If you think this might interest her, send me a PM and I will forward my cell number that you can give her.
They have one of these, probably good with the KEFs.
Peachtree Audio Decco
40 watt integrated amp w/tube preamp + class A headphone amp.
Hi tcpip .. i think you misread that i wasn't suggesting $1000 for cables god forbid !! but $500 of the budget on cables stands and a rack of some sort. Anyhow lots of help and advice being offered now so hopefully your friend will soon be well on the way to getting the right system for her needs and budget .
but $500 of the budget on cables stands and a rack of some sort. Anyhow lots of help and advice being offered now so hopefully your friend will soon be well on the way to getting the right system for her needs and budget .
Thanks a lot for your response. Very helpful.
My budget allocations were not hard and fast. For amps, I was thinking of any of the following, purely based on reviews:
- Cambridge Audio CXA80 ($1,000, DAC built-in)
- Marantz PM7005 ($1,000, DAC built-in) or PM8005 ($1,200, no DAC)
- Musical Fidelity M3si ($1,500, no DAC)
- Roksan amplifiers: are models like the K3 available in the US?
I was half-hoping that we may be able to find a reasonable amp with a DAC built-in, that's why I was talking about just a $500 source. A lot of amps seem to have DACs built in these days. If this doesn't work out, then we can use any cheap media player which emits digital audio, with a really good DAC, or increase the budget for the media player (something like the Elac Discovery?) and hope that one gets good analog output from it.
Yes, I agree. If the media player's DAC is to be used, we need a larger budget.
She will be nervous about buying used -- she'll want a dealer and warranty. This comes simply from unfamiliarity with audio products?
Are there good PSB dealers in Portland? I'll hope for pointers.
Yes, it would be great if she could get a dealer in Portland to actually listen to the LS50 and R300 models. Thanks -- I'll add KEF to my list.
The Echo Audio place in Portland is a KEF dealer. Maybe they'll shoot me a commission.
http://echohifi.com/details/5516/KEF_LS50
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Hi Dave, good to hear from you.
The DIY approach doesn't work with my friend -- let her get hooked to listening to good music on a good system first. Then, someday, she may want to go up the upgrade path.
We on this forum sometimes almost forget that there are educated, intelligent people who've heard good music in concert halls but have never heard good music in any home, coming from a good music system. My friend is in that league. About speakers and solid state amps -- do you feel there are big issues of matching and synergy, if the amp has more than enough power for the speaker at hand, has double-zero distortion, and the typical ultra-low Zout of solid-state hardware? I was inclined to underplay that aspect.
I'm glad for your inputs, and I do tend to agree about the $500 - to - $5000 pairing.either way i don't agree with a " several thousand dollar " set of speakers being well matched to a $500 media player .
I do however agree with rayma's post as a possibility
I owe you an explanation -- I should have explained this assumption in my first post.I was hoping that my friend may get an amp with a built-in DAC of reasonable quality. In that case, I was hoping that the media player would simply output digital bits, and then the "sound quality" issue of the media player would become minor. (I know there's jitter, but I personally feel that jitter causes only minor problems at the price ranges we're talking about.)
But as I see your feedback and those of others, I feel that it may be hard to drive $5000 speakers with a $700 amp. If I push up the amp budget, then $4000 goes to speakers, and $2000 goes to amps. In that case, the amp does not have a DAC. (15 years ago, only cheap CD players used to play MP3 discs -- it's the same with amp and DAC these days, I guess.)
So, maybe I'll need to look for a $1,000 source, a $1,500-2,000 amp, and $4,000 for speakers. I may cut the budget for the audio rack.
Please don't hold yourself back.
Which models are you referring to? All your feedback is making me re-think the break-up of funds already... I too was wondering about what active speakers are available. If there's any option to audition these in Portland, I'll definitely ask her to check them out.
I'm tempted to even look at so-called "computer speakers". How good are the Audioengine active speakers, any idea? Are they really worth listening to music on?
Costs a lot actually. I saw Sweetwater quoting $7,995 for a pair.
Any idea about the 2-way models, the SCM20 active model? The price seems to be $5,000 or so/pair.
Thanks, pal. This is exactly what my feeling was too.
Oh crapHi tcpip .. i think you misread that i wasn't suggesting $1000 for cables god forbid !!
I misunderstood you. Yes, $500 for cables, stand and audio rack, all put together, seems totally reasonable. 
~$400 plan of action to buy both of you some time: $100 used pair of AKG K550 as reference headphones, and from local craigslist or local used dealers(?): used $200 AV Receiver with nice DAC and preamp outputs (for later) and used $100-150 pair of 'domestic' two-way towers (top of line Polk or Boston, any Paradigm, any PSB, etc).
In a year or so perhaps she will have more listening experience in her own room and be more involved in choosing with you whichever OB might come next, plus by then you'll have made important local connections to help out! Baby steps.
In a year or so perhaps she will have more listening experience in her own room and be more involved in choosing with you whichever OB might come next, plus by then you'll have made important local connections to help out! Baby steps.
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