Please recommend me a good new system.

I imagine that's right. I had an A21 driven by both an Oppa HA-1 or a Benchmark DAC2-HGC and it was very nice.

 

A nice integrated tube to start things off.Nighthawk MK3 Integrated Amplifier - Raven Audio

 

I sell both of these items, so I completely understand the differences. And the new Sprout100 is actually quite good. The OP is looking for options....and there are plenty out there in addition to the HINT and Peachtree. The Sprout would be simple, and very price effective.

 

So I bought that Parasound HINT. And it's awesome! Even with my old Sony speakers and RCA cable, I can hear a big improvement over my old POS.

Which USB cord would be best to purchase for a laptop connection?

As for speakers, I'm seriously considering getting Monitor Silver 300. Any objections or better ideas? The budget is $2k.

 

Glad that you like your Hint! I had a feeling that you would.

Recommend using Blue Jeans cable for any cable that you purchase for your system. They use high quality Belden wire and use ultrasonic welding to attach the connectors. USB or HDMI cables run about $20/ea.

No experience personally with Monitor Audio products. If you are not in a hurry and can wait for another month, Sometimes after Thanksgiving, through the end of November, they put their half price sale on. I bought their flagship LSiM707's, which retail for $4k, for $2k for the pair a few years ago.

The LSiM's might be a better speaker than the MA speakers. You can always keep that option open.

You now have an integrated that you can keep forever! Congratulations!

Now your REAL journey begins...

 

The Silver 300s were Absolute Sound product of the year, and Stereophile Class B -full range. Love mine!

 

I have a qustion about connecting my Audio Technica ATPL120 turntable to the HINT. I have a Nagaoka cartridge, which is MM type. But when connected to the phono input there's hum and distortion on any of the three load settings (MM, MC 100, or MC 47).
Connected to an RCA input, it sunds fine.
Am I doing something wrong, or is it conflicting with the turntable's built-in preamp?

 

Ordered a Blue Jeans cable, thanks.

I'll ask local dealers about speakers. If Polk is doing a half-off sale this year, I'll wait for it. If not I'll get the MAS300.

 

You never know until shortly before the sale, If you can hold off, I would encourage you to do so until Thanksgiving.

You will need to go to the Polk Audio web site and register to receive to receive email notifications of any special announcements.

The LSiM 707' or 705's if you have a slightly smaller room, are excellent sounding with SS amps. I am very fond of tube amps and I would not use tube amplification on them.The LSim's with your Hint, would be a perfect match.

 

Lots of nice suggestions here! I'm getting into audio myself and am enjoying this thread.

I read our forum host's positive review of the Axis Voicebox, auditioned them, and absolutely fell in love.
They should be around your price point. You can check out our forum host's review of those speakers here:

Axis VoiceBox S mini-monitors, they are really great! See post #57!

 

I have the Hint and I think my KEF R500's are a great match. They're recently discontinued and there are quite a few on Ebay right now. I paid $1900 for mine new, but I see some for less than $1500 used, including shipping.

KEF R500 Floorstanding Loudspeakers - Pair - Walnut - Decent Condition - 3-Way 637203208409 | eBay

They look a little beat up. If you're not cool with that, accessoriesforless has refurbished units in white for $800 each, in white.

KEF R500 5.25" 3-Way Floorstanding Speaker Gloss White Each

 

Congratulations on the Hint.. Parasound gets a lot of positive comments from owners, who purchase other products from the manufacturer, which is always a good sign.
I second the recommendation of buying your cables from Blue Jeans Cable; quality products, fair price, no gimmicky marketing.

 

Check out Ascend Acoustics. I have their Sierra-2 speakers and absolutely love them. That RAAL tweeter is special... They’re also only $1,500, so you’d have money leftover for stands should you need them. Don’t let the lower price deter you - buying from an internet direct company can get you a serious bang for your buck. Dave and Dina are great to deal with too. Their RAAL towers also look incredible, but they are closer to $3k a pair.

Sierra-2 RAAL Ribbon Tweeter Bamboo Cabinet Loudspeaker

Philharmonic BMRs look appealing too, though I haven’t heard them. They also use a RAAL tweeter.

The BMR Philharmonitor

The ATC SMC11 v2 and ProAc Tablette 10 are both right around your budget. I’ve heard great things about both.

Also, another recommendation for Blue Jeans Cable. Great stuff at reasonable prices. No BS.

 

Excellent choice, in those Silver 300! I will say, Dali introduced a new speaker line at RMAF that was wowing everyone, which is their Oberon line. They were demonstrating the Oberon 7, which flabbergasted everyone as to how they came up with a $1,400 speaker that performed like that. And the bass was astounding for its size.

DSC_0036 by MDTshots, on Flickr

 

Now, those are impressive. If I were the OP, I would take these into consideration.

 

I've posted elsewhere about spending several hours at Upscale Audio (LaVerne, not far from the L.A. County Fairplex). They sounded really good and neutral with everything. Jazz. Classical. Steely Dan, Doobie Brothers. Iron Maiden's entire Piece Of Mind album. And the crowning glory, they blasted out Motorhead's No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith without breaking into a distorted, harsh mess. THAT is impressive. The only problem with the Silver 300s was the Focal 936s my friend bought, which sounded even better! Other contenders could be the Revels we heard demo'd by the very very nice folks at Brooks Berdan in Monrovia (I recommend the Croatian restaurant Cafe LuMar | 626.357.2184 | Welcome to Cafe LuMar ). We found the Revels stronger in the bass, which was not what my friend wanted in his situation.

We also listened to Wharfedale Reva 4's at Audio Element in Pasadena, very nice and looked cool but not quite as integrated driver-to-driver. Various Dali, KEF, and Dynaudio offerings we listened to were nice but not to the level of the Monitors in my opinion. I really want to listen to Quads with the ribbon tweeter, due to expected sound AND cool looks (looks matter!!!), but the U.S. distributor never answers repeated emails from several of us as to who might actually have them in stock.*

Polks on sale could be a very good value. However, check the size carefully, some of them get quite large which may not be what you want.

*as a note to myself and in case you are interested, they show
Excel Audio, (949) 933-1599 [email protected] Excel Audio | SoCal's Largest Selection of Turntables and Audiophile Grade Vinyl (looks like Costa Mesa)
The Source A/V Design Group (310) 534-9900 [email protected] Home - The Source AV (Torrance)

 

Thanks for the advice & info, everyone!

Are those really really worth it? They're currently on sale at Music Direct, in stock and ready to ship.
It's a bit over budget but I like the look of them, and if it's a good deal I can do it. Should I go for it?

 

You can get the Sierra Towers with the RAAL tweeter upgrade for that price. If I had the space and the budget for them they would 100% be the speakers I would buy. I’ve read nothing but glowing reviews about them, and my own experience with the Sierra-2 bookshelves and dealing with Dave, the owner and speaker designer, has been incredible.

They are designed and built in the US with custom-made drivers, and Dave actually tests each pair before they ship and includes a printout of the measurements with the speakers. He’s very responsive to emails. It’s a little harder to catch him on the phone.

They offer a 30 day in-home trial that would only cost you the price of shipping if you decide to return them. They also have a 7 year warranty.

If you can float the cost both speakers, I would say order both and return the one you love less.

 

I believe that the driver's are manufactured for them by Seas of Norway.

Also, if memory serves me, which it does on occasion, I believe the member @mike catucci has experience with both their bookshelf and their tower models, if you want to direct some inquiries his way,

 

Yup. All of their drivers are manufactured by Seas with the exception of the RAAL tweeters.

And yes, Mike was actually one of the people here that helped with my decision to buy the Sierra-2 speakers.

 

I love those things. You could also see if Upscale would match the price. Compared to the Silver 300s, my feeling is they are a touch more...integrated or some such word. Hard to be totally certain about that since we didn't A/B them, and the 300s were driven by a PrimaLuna integrated whilst the 936 by PrimaLuna separates in different rooms. They sound great at my one friend's place (he bought them that same day). Definitely due to larger size and additional woofer they have more authority, though as I said the Silver 300s could crank out heavy metal quite well.

 

I'll probably be in the minority here, but I did not enjoy my time auditioning Focal Arias which the dealer had paired with a Naim integrated. It felt very in your face with little subtlety, like the speakers were trying to punch me in the chest and forcibly shove a rough metal rod through my ear drum.

I shared my view with more experienced friends and a range of reasons were given. Some thought that it was the Naim amp that did the speakers no justice. Others mentioned that the dealer's listening room isn't exactly ideal and probably resulted in the boominess. Most still had good things to say about the brand itself.

Anyway, that's just my 2 cents on what I experienced with that brand. Your experience could be very different from mine!

 

NAD C 368 with BluOS module plus a pair of PSB Imagine speakers. Will handle your vinyl, play any music on your network, and give you internet radio and music services.

Should leave change from your $4k that you might put towards a better turntable such as a Rega.

 

I just realized you’re in the LA area. Ascend Acoustics is in San Clemente. You could go there and demo their speakers - they do require an appointment to do this, but they’re not too far from you.

 

Yeah, I had much the same impression listening to a set of Aria 948 at a dealer in Dallas. Now, the room was untreated and the 948s seemed to be setting off all sorts of reflections. But the other speakers in the room were a set of Paradigm Prestige 85F, to which I would have to give the nod, based only on that audition. The 85Fs sounded natural and tight, and did not seem to make the room echo like the 948. It could be the case that you either need a really big room, or a well treated room, for the 948s. I'd like to hear the Aria 936. Perhaps, being a bit smaller, they would be easier to make work in smaller or poorer treated rooms.