Not sure, maybe $2-4K for speakers and amp, if needed. Not counting turntable.
I bought some JBL speakers for home theater and JBL nearfield monitors based on Zeos’ hype. I don’t feel that they live up to the hype.
My main pc in my office has Emotiva Airmotiv powered monitors but Emotiva stopped making monitors. On the Emotiva website, I did see that they still offer the same tweeter in their non powered speakers. So, if they sound as good as people are saying, and if they sound like my monitors, I would look at the Emotiva Airmotiv T2 plus $1000/pair.
If you are buying locally, try to audition some Monitor Audio speakers. They have various tier levels depending how much you want to spend. I have not kept up with their latest models but I can tell you that the midrange on some of the ones I have heard were absolutely smooth and lush.
Those are two for you to look into that I can suggest.
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What I do to evaluate speakers, as living in an area with many physical stores, is visit physical stores. I can visit places selling extremely high priced stuff on down. If there are not dedicated hi-fi stores near you, many cities have a Best Buy with a Magnolia unit. They target suburban remodelers who want customized listening rooms and/or home theater setups.
Speakers are tricky to asses because the room acoustics and placement near a wall can transform them for good or bad. Many people place speakers with rear-facing ports near a wall and hear nothing but BOOM BOOM. What a store visit can tell you: (1) is the treble clean, (2) is the mid range clean, (3) is the bass there at all and boomy or clean. A store with a pre-set selector and random DAC/amp won’t get at the nuances or possible tweaks.
Findings from my visits: High priced products are great, if you want to spend that kind of money (e.g., Wilson Audio). I like Focal headphones and I like Focal speakers (similar tone). B&W are similar to Focal to my ears. I like some ELAC and Definitive Technology too. KEF can be stunningly holographic but sometimes too bright for me. I don’t like mainstream SVS, Revel, or Klipsch, but perhaps would like elite Klipsch.
Etc.
I recommend that you visit a store.
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AC regenerator is pretty damn incredible. The all in one quality of protection and SQ. 
You already know this though. You are a smart guy.
If you are concerned specifically about lightning there is nothing that can fully protect you against a nearby lightning strike that enters your wiring. Your “surge protectors” will just melt along with everything else.
Some power companies have a service where they can install equipment between your house wiring and the incoming power lines which is designed to prevent (or reduce) lightning from entering the house wiring.
Also, don’t forget about the cable if you have wired cable tv / internet service.
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Magnepan,
Harbeth
Mágico
Wilson Audio
B&W
Quad ESL
Martin Logan
OK, Now you’ve been educated on speakers, Master class available. Sorry, couldn’t resist being a smart ass some of the time. But you won’t go wrong with any of the above,. @Torq favors LINN, which are nice too.
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That’s a very solid budget. There’s no substitution for auditioning, so do it as much as you can. Unlike headphones, try not to buy blindly. If you’re forced to, though, buy from someone that offers an in-home audition trial period if possible; all internet direct brands do this, and many local dealers allow weekend demos (you’ll have to put your CC # down in case you damage or don’t return the speakers of course). The best case scenario is demoing the speaker you’re interested in your own home.
How big is the room you’ll be placing the speakers in?
The room can effect the sound as much as the speakers, so don’t automatically assume they’ll sound the same in your home as the showroom. Take your time with this one - it’s a whole other ballgame. It took me over a year to find my favorite speaker within my price range, for what it’s worth.
Spend the majority of your budget on the speaker, but don’t totally cheap out on the amp and preamp either; but you can always upgrade the front end later in order to find the synergy you need.
My favorite brands ended up being Revel, Kef, Salk Sound, Vandersteen and Dynaudio for 2-channel. For home theater only, JTR is amazing.
Try to find a Magnepan 1.7i to listen to. Maggies.don’t waste you money on boxes Probably the best real hi-0fi- bang for the buck. You need some room for them. I have a pair of .7i on order, but there are production delays. If I find it getting too long, I will pull the trigger on the small Harbeth, most likely, even though it goes up a price class. I looked at the 1.7i Magnepan, and they are just a bit too big for my office. If I need more bass, there is always the auxillary panel.
Very true. I anticipate having to put in a bit of acoustic treatment, especially if I go with my preferred Maggies. Probably some bass traps at a minimum.
I’ve heard Maggies. Definitely an interesting sound, but they didn’t have the dynamics I was looking for. But wow, they imaged like mad!
Plenty of dynamics if set up right. They hunger for some amplifier power, and you need to be able to handle the 4 ohm rating. Add the bass panel and they are really kick-ass. However, you got me. I’m an imaging freak.
Have you had a chance to listen to Harbeths? And if you like dynamics, the big Klipsch horns are worth an audition.
In case there was some confusion, I’m not actually the one in the market for speakers - it’s elliot that is (that’s who I was replying to). I finished my speaker journey long ago, although I am toying with picking up something for my office/desk; probably some studio monitors or something.
I finished my speaker journey years ago too. In 1975 I ended up with the rectilinear IIIs that I have today. But nothing is forever and they’re feeling their age. I think that Barbara and I have decided on Harbeths to replace them in the next year or so. She determined that the Magnepan 3.7i was not only large but not cat proof. I am undergoing a little journey and deciding what to put in my office.
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The room is not that big at all. Maybe 20x10. Walls on three sides and only one, relatively small window.
10’ wide? If that’s the case, it’s a bit on the narrow side for big speakers in my opinion, so you may want to look at bookshelf speakers and perhaps pair them with a corner-loaded small sealed subwoofer. Large speakers benefit from breathing room (space away from the walls/boundaries), as room modes and reflections can dominate when placed in small rooms; this means you’re hearing the room more than the speakers, which is bad.
Do you have HiFi shops in your area that you can visit for speaker demos? If so, make a playlist of tracks you’re very familiar with and go to town. Try to level match the speakers when auditioning, and if comparing multiple pairs, if possible, have the sales rep move them to the same location (again, for room interaction reasons); this will be a more apples to apples comparison.
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And rear-ported speakers or flat panels often perform best 3’ away from a wall, eating into the floor space if placed so there’s only 6 or 7 feet of usable area (versus at the end of 20’).
Bookshelf speakers likely perform best off of bookshelves (i.e., disconnected from resonating surfaces). They work fine on either pro audio foam speaker pads or dedicated tower mounts.
I was researching REL’s “audiophile and music” series 5, 7, and 9 sealed subs, but decided I don’t want one immediately. Subs can be finicky to configure and always add complexity to a setup.
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I don’t think we experience power-dips or brown-outs, but we do have momentary outages. As to SMPS or linear, I do not know. How do I find out? My equipment is a Hp Desktop/BiFrost 2/Jot R/SR1a.
Thank you so much for the help. I have no idea about these issues. I really appreciate it.
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Exactly. They also perform well on stands.
This is true, but if you’re willing to put in the time, a sub(s) can turn a mediocre system into an incredible one. It’s all about finding the proper placement, which most people refuse to do because of where the sub may end up in their room based on purely performance; many are more concerned about location based on aesthetics and therefore compromise on performance. Secondly, the size of the room should greatly dictate the size of the sub or the necessity for more than one. Many purchase small subs that simply aren’t big enough to perform well in a large room. Oh, and decupling them from the floor improves performance as well.
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Hi again @nuance, and a shout-out to @generic and @elliot
I’ve been reading quite a bit on speaker placement in primarily rectangular rooms recently, and wish I could find the article which talked about several possible good locations. If speakers have a rear port, it is very important that they not be placed too close to a wall - but there are several iterations of too close, based on sound wave size and reflections.
If you can’t place speakers out more than a meter from a wall, then there is a secondary good spot that is greater than 2 inches from the wall but less than about 15 inches from the wall. I found this in the article, which was also talking about room acoustic treatments. In this descriptions corners are avoided, and speakers were at least 1 meter from corners. This advice also agrees with my personal experience over the years. It also suggests a bit of angle in on the speakers.
Less than 2 inches will cause a physical barrier to the moving air in a bass note. (especially with rear ported designs, be they bass reflex or labyrinth). With planars, I expect that I will have to add some trapping treatment in corners if I’m not placing the speakers out over a meter - and possibly even then.
I do like this YouTube regarding speaker placement - from Harbeth, so it would apply to bookshelf speakers on stands.
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I’ve found that my near-wall, front-port, downward angle setup works pretty well. Breaking the relationship with 90 degree walls plus foam isolation pads neutralizes room effects. I recall people building custom listening rooms with 4 degree inward-sloping walls to avoid standing waves…am I getting the same effect by putting the speakers high and slanting down…?
Once I figure out my brand/model preferences I’m plotting to spend 10x more on technically superior speakers. Sooner or later. However, these basic ELACs perform in the HD-6XX ballpark and are fully satisfactory for a background music use case. They have slightly diffuse and rolled off treble but expansive imaging, plus all bookshelf speakers have bass limitations. Frankly, one gets more for the money with mainstream speakers than similar quality headphones.
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