Choosing the right components for a hi-fi system is hard. It's more important to get ones that match than to just choose a couple highly rated products and throw them together. We take the guess work out of it by assembling the products we know sound best together. Level 1 The Teac CR-H227i is an amazing little mini system. Tiny size but tons of features, great build quality and amazing sound. The included iPod dock lets you control your iPod with the Teac remote. Matched with the MS Carnival 2, this system is unbeatable at the price. Teac CR-H227i CD player/Receiver/iPod dock Mordaunt Short Carnival 2 Speakers Price: $649.99 Level 1 - "Micro System" Thanks to a breakthrough in amplifier technology you can now get audiophile quality in a really tiny amplifier. The Pro-Ject amp box is smaller than a CD. Matched with the Logitech Squeezebox, you can stream digital music from your computer in a minimum of space and still have excellent sound. Logitech Squeezebox Pro-Ject Amp Box Mordaunt Short Carnival 2 Speakers Price: $950.00 Level 2 Marantz has always been the premium entry level brand and we're proud to offer it as the basis of our Level 2 system. The sound is big and powerful and the receiver offers all the functionality you'll need. Marantz SR-4021 Receiver Marantz CD-5001 CD Player Mordaunt Short Carnival 2 Speakers Price: $1099.99 Level 3 For those getting back into vinyl, this is the place to start. The Rega Brio is a gorgeous sounding little amp and has a superb phono stage built in. The Pro-Ject is the best value turntable ever made and has won countless awards the world over. Rega Brio Amplifier Pro-Ject Debut III Turntable with Ortofon OM5E cartridge Mordaunt Short Carnival 2 Speakers Price: $1499.99 Level 4 This system features the same amplifier as Level 2 (it's that good) but offers a big jump in sound thanks to the Epos M5i and Pro-Ject Xpression III. For many this will be the last stereo you ever need buy. Substitute the Creek Evo CD player for the Xpression III for only $350 more. Rega Brio Amplifier Pro-Ject Xpression III Turntable with Ortofon 2M Red Cartridge Epos M5 Speakers Price: $2299.99 Level 5 Now we're getting into some truly phenomenal sound. The Creek amplifier is a modern classic with a highly detailed and punchy sound and all the emotion you could ask for. The Pro-Ject turntable is state of the art - acrylic plinth, vinyl platter and carbon fibre tonearm. AT the price there are no rivals. The little Graham Slee phono pre-amp is a staggeringly good product and will embarrass many preamps costing over twice as much. Substitute a Creek Evo CD player for the Pro-Ject Xperience for $775 less. Creek Evo Amplifier Pro-Ject Xperience turntable with Dynavector 10x5 cartridge Graham Slee Gram Amp 2SE phono pre-amplifier Epos M12i Speakers Price: $3999.99 Level 6 Improvement over Level 5 comes from the fabulous Pro-Ject RPM 9.1 Turntable. This thing is so good it's scary. The improvement in detail retrieval warrants a better phono stage as well - the Graham Slee Era Gold V, one of the best solid state phono preamps that money can buy. Creek Evo Amplifier Pro-Ject RPM 9.1 Turntable with Dynavector 10x5 cartridge Graham Slee Era Gold V phono pre-amplifier Epos M12i Speakers Price: $5299.99 Level 7 Level 7 is a jump forward in scale, soundstage, dynamics and micro-detail thanks to the Creek Destiny. The Destiny offers a clean 100 w/ch which brings the little Harbeths to life. You won't believe the kind of scale these tiny speakers can bring in this system. Finally we start to see the kind of detail and resolution the turntable and cartridge are capable of as well. Substitute a Creek Destiny CD player in place of the RPM 9.1, Era Gold and 10x5 for $100 more. Creek Destiny Amplifier Pro-Ject RPM 9.1 Turntable with Dynavector 10x5 cartridge Graham Slee Era Gold V phono pre-amplifier Harbeth HL-P3ES Speakers Price: $7999.99 Level 8 With Level 8 you get a quantum leap in accuracy but still retain musicality which few expensive systems can boast. At the heart of the system is the amazing Audio Research VSi55 tube amplifier. Substitute the Pro-Ject 9.1 for a Rega Saturn for $100 more. Audio Research VSi55 Amplifier Pro-Ject 9.1 Turntable with Dynavector 20x cartridge Graham Slee Era Gold phono pre-amplifier Harbeth Compact 7ES-3 Speakers Price: $10999.99 Level 9 With Level 9, we begin pushing the limits of what a stereo can do. The Harbeth speakers bring a level of transparency and presence which is amongst the most natural of any speaker at any price. The Audio Research only reinforces the naturality by providing all the detail and timing of the source to give a realistic sense of the acoustic space. The Pro-Ject RPM 9.1 turntable is so good that it can take a cartridge costing more than the table, the world class Dynavector XX-2 Audio Research SP17 Preamplifier Audio Research VS55 Amplifier Pro-Ject 9.1 Turntable with Dynavector XX-2 cartridge Graham Slee Elevator phono step up amplifier Harbeth Super HL5 Speakers Price: $15999.99 Level 10 It's hard to get around the fact that ultimately, if you want to listen at concert-like levels with real dynamics you need big speakers. Unfortunately, most big speakers are dreadful sounding with uneven frequency responses, boomy bass and terrible imaging. Getting two or three drivers to integrate, especially if you also have to control big woofers is one of the toughest things to do. It takes a company with the engineering resolve of Harbeth to attack the problem and succeed. Custom made 12" woofer, proprietary midrange Radial driver and hand selected tweeter are brought together in a "lossy" cabinet which dissipates unwanted energy from the box so you don't hear it as unwanted distortion. The Harbeth Monitor 40.1s are truly one of the best all-round in the world. Thankfully they are also quite easy to drive and the light touch of the 50 watt Audio Research VS55 brings exceptional midrange texture and detail. The LS26 preamp is one of the world's best regardless of price and simply gets out of the way completely so that you hear the full glory of the source. The source is the same as the Level 8 and 9 systems because we think so highly of it. Optionally substitute the Pro-Ject, cartridge and phono preamps for an Audio Research CD3MkII CD players for the same price. Audio Research LS26 Preamplifier Audio Research VS55 Power amplifier Pro-Ject 9.1 Turntable with Dynavector XX-2 cartridge Graham Slee Era Gold Reflex phono preamplifier Graham Slee Elevator phono step up amplifier Harbeth Monitor 40.1 Speakers Price: $27999.99 Level 11 This one goes to eleven. We don't feel you can improve upon the speakers for all round listening - the Monitor 40.1 are supremely capable for rock to classical. Same goes for the pre-amp. Is there a better one available today? Perhaps some may prefer the REF3 but it would come down to small character differences only. That brings us to the source. It must be the Simon Yorke S9 record player. Hand made to the highest standards, it is a music playing, detail retrieving machine par-excellence! The natural cartridge match is the Allaerts MC1BMKII, again, hand made by one of, if not the world's finest cartridge builders - Jan Allaerts. Round out the system with more power from the VS115 and more subtlety and musicality from the 47 Labs Phonocube and the gelling of the system is complete. A real tour de force of capability and harmony. How much better is this system than Level 10? We confidently say twice as good. Considering how many horrendous $100,000 and $200,000 systems we've heard, this is a bargain. If you've got the money, this is our best recommendation. Audio Research LS26 Preamplifier Audio Research VS115 Power amplifier Simon Yorke S9 Record Player with Allaerts MC1BMKII cartridge 47 Labs Phonocube phono preamplifier Harbeth Monitor 40.1 Speakers Price: $44999.99