You'd be surprised

You'd be surprised what magic can be had by careful construction of a Mid-Level system. We had set our Mid-Level price constraints at about $12K—not much by Audiophile standards, but a fortune for most people walking into a Best Buy. We've asked all the right questions and our answers pointed us towards building a full range system providing outstanding sound that is a clear improvement to our entry-level setup. We first start with the loudspeaker. We're going to target not less than 50% of our budget on these foundational elements. Despite the Linn mantra of source first, we're going to subscribe to the opposite because no matter how good the source, if it can't reach your ears… There are literally dozens of speaker combinations to choose from and I am not going to list them all. What I will do is stick my neck out and show you a couple of examples of how we could put this system together within the price constraints. You can do better: You don't have to have new, you can wangle a deal, you can leverage your older gear into a new product with a trade-in—like the service we offer. No Mid-Level system need be less than full range. If I drop $12K on a music setup it damn well better be full range. As we'll see, this means accepting a subwoofer. Get over it. Here are some examples that would fit our bill:

• Vandersteen 3A $5K
• B and W CM10 $4K
• REL t9i $1.3K (though I would recommend a pair)

Either of these speaker/subwoofer combinations would work. You can walk out the dealer's door for about $6K. Either provides a full range listening experience that images, is faithful to the music, forms the basis of an excellent system. Tomorrow, electronics.