So basically I have been putting this together for a couple of years now. I just upgraded the speakers from nautilus 805's to the mini utopias. Also I purchased a used 333 to get my foot in the door of SACD, although my Meridian still does the Red Book. If you have any suggestion, please feel free to comment, thanks
I owned the M3 for four months and loved it. I sold it to my room mate so i still listen to it a lot, it is truly a special piece. If you can find one for less than 3500.00 its worth it. I think i would prefer it over the W-5 P-5 combo, at least if my friends oppinion of those amps are right. It was much better than my dad's Plinius Sa-250 Mk IV and Levinson 380 combo... as a reference.
The Emc 1 Mk II is far better than the Meridian and is comparable to the Linn CD 12. Anyways i would look into the Rowland Cocnetra mk I and mk II and the Muscial Fidelity Nu Vista M3. Other ones are the new bel canto integrated.... which is stunning... the levninson 383, the chord 3300, gryphon tabu and the new YBA Passion integrated. The BAT integrated that just came out and possibly the Ayre are really good as well. The Mini Utopias dont need much power so you may not need a super powerful amp. I looked heavily into buying them for myself but chose Talons instead. They are wonderful speakers and my dad has Utopias which i have yet to hear... but i am eager to see how the Talons compare. Hope this helps .....
Wow im very impressed. For a college system this simply rocks. I agree with the other comments. I have a stealth and love it and the Sim needs upgrading. Also if i were you i would consolidate your funds in digital into one amazing 2500.00 dollar player like the EMC 1 MKII which makes redbook sound a bit better than SACD did on my old SCD 777 ES. Im very impressed ... incredible for a college system.... i can show my dad your system and maybe now he will stop calling me crazy!! :-)
