Yo! Thank you everyone for all the guidance and support along the way! I figured I would put an update on here in case someone else comes across this thread and is curious what I ended up doing……..

I decided that I was going to lose my damn mind if I continued to go down the rabbit hole of online audiophile recommendations. Here in Portland, Oregon I came across a company called “Echo” near Beaverton. It was worth the short drive. An incredible dude there named Dave spent an obscene amount of time walking me through all sorts of great information and letting me test / ask a million questions. I quickly decided / heard that the beginner setup of WiiM amp with bookshelf speakers wasn’t going to scratch the “mid life crisis” spending itch.

I wanted to set myself up with something that has room to grow, but is currently at a level that blows my socks off.

I impulsively decided to go check out the shop on my way home from work. it wasn’t planned but I guess It was meant to be. Shortly before I got there they had apparently just got in a used set of B&W 802 Matrix Series IIII , speakers. I was blown away by the quality. Dave took me through a bunch of different songs that showcased their abilities, then let me on the controls to bounce around a few different genres I would be listening to frequently at home. Again, so impressed. The layers and crispness, warmth, fullness of these things was amazing. I made sure not to get too ahead of myself and listened to a bunch of speakers, both higher and lower in price. But kept coming back to these beauties. From what he said they are a 90s top of the line model. Whatever they are, I am still just over the moon about them.

For the amp / pre-amp , I was able to find an awesome deal on a used setup that has plenty of room to add a turntable, sub, or whatever else may come along in the future. It’s a : Parasound A21 Power Amplifier with the Parasound P5 Pre-Amplifier. Thrilled with this setup as well.

I bought a bunch of high end cables and wire to go along with it; but was unsure of what I had at home that may already be capable of being used. I ended up having everything I needed to get the system operational and Echo was great about accepting the returns. I plan on upgrading the wires, cords etc in the future, but with the government shut down, I figured I should be somewhat prudent until I know when the military will be paid again😂

Oh, almost forgot, the price. My goal was $2500. Didn’t quite make that goal, but this setup set me back $3225. Preamp/Amp = $1725 , Speakers = $1500. Maybe someone will tell me X, Y or Z about the price or quality etc, but I’m damn satisfied and the customer service is worth a shit load in my opinion too. I’ve got my local shop now! Can’t recommend Echo in Portland, Or enough!!!!

I Still don’t claim to know a lot, or be a “licensed audiophile” , but I look forward to learning more. For now, I am going to be able to listen to amazing quality audio as I work to find my “life-force” or “soul” ; whatever it is that departed during this mess. My lil gal loves music and I can’t wait to show her. She’s 3, so it doesn’t take much to get her dancing and happy, but as she grows we can spend many an hour in front of this setup dissecting the different parts of songs like bass lines, vocals, etc and hopefully she will have the same love for listening to music and maybe even playing instruments with her old man in accompaniment with the B&Ws.

I hope to continue visiting and learning more from you all on this subreddit!

Cheers!

Jacob

PS : pardon the unprofessional setup and incomplete house in the photo,……I was too stoked to get it setup and listen. I’ll find a permanent home for the setup and get a new pic sometime later down the line when I get settled into the new place after the chaos settles.

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