Nine

This comment is spot on. You’re about to be very busy and mobile in the military. When I was in everyone had Walkmen and headphones and it was tapes or CDs. Been a long time now 😃 In my opinion, investing in some nice headphones with a good source that is small and mobile will let you hear great mus

I dunno how feasible this is, but making the walls not parallel will make a huge difference. If not, retractable curtains will make a bigger difference than any speaker choice. You may want that anyway for daytime watching. An area rug in front of the TV will also improve things quite a bit. I would

Amazon has the sevens and the nines by klipsch on sale….a pretty significant sale And those speakers are plug and go…no need for an amp

Look at a pair of wireless, powered stereo speakers: Kef LSX or LS50, PSB Alpha IQ, Klipsch Sevens/Nines, SVS Prime… your classical music deserves a true stereo image! Save up for a subwoofer too.

Appreciate the response! Planning to just use the default cartridge until I get the $$ to upgrade. Any recommendations on a stellar cartridge? Why would you recommend phono preamp and then passive speakers cs Klipsch Nines that have a built in preamp?

There is no such thing as average audiophile, this is highly divergent hobby. My take comes from simple objective measurements. Klipsch is better as brand than Bose, I guess, who seem to have made no speakers that aren't terrible. But I only think the new Klipsch stuff is actually good, like active

Klipsch the Nines might be cool, then you don’t need an amp. Saw some on Amazon on sale. If you want something bigger, you could get a pair of wharfdale lintons (just slightly over budget on sale rn) or super dentons, or Klipsch RP800F II. You’d need an amp though. I’m a sucker for the classic look.

A pair of Klipsch The Sevens or The Nines and a sub. You’re done. Audiophile? No. What you’re looking for? Yes.

Lovely room. Agree with much of the advice given but speaker upgrading to properly load or pressurize that big room is the first step for sure. Bringing speakers out from walls can be a hard thing to do because it can screw up room aesthetics. This is avoided somewhat if a ported speaker is ported o

I'd look at something like a pair of powered speakers with HDMI E-ARC and Phono inputs. I'd look at something like Klipsch the Nines