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Hi-Fi Lo-Fi

There has been a fair amount of discussion about how hi-fi seems to be a dying hobby. Most people just don’t get it.

And when we suggest that they need to have their house rewired and buy $1000 speaker cables to get good sound it is no wonder that that average person thinks we’re nuts.

We are nuts. Of course.

But that’s another story.

Anyway, I feel like a better way to expand the hobby is by showing folks that they can put together a decent system for less that a half decent speaker cable.

I recently did this. By accident sort of.

My old Toshiba receiver from high school (1980) finally bit the dust. It was the basis for the system down at my cabin.

I’d already replaced my Bose bookshelf speakers with Polk Audio Monitor 70 towers, $180 Craig’s List.

So I needed an amp and radio. We listen to the radio a lot down there. I had a Denon tuner in my home system that I never use. Approx. $110 eBay.

I just bought an NAD 316BEE on eBay, $200. Its 40 wpc and gets great reviews.

I had a Toshiba DVD play. $15 at thrift shop.

That’s $505. Add 12 ga low ox speaker cables and some banana plugs and an outdoor FM antenna and I’m close to $550. Interconnects are mid level RCA that I already had.

Results? Surprisingly good. The old Toshiba receiver was not bad but this NAD really opened up the sound stage...well outside the speakers in fact. And the room (larger main room in a small log cabin) is far from ideal. Bass seems great to me but I’m no bass fetish. I have a large B&W subwoofer but don’t feel the need. Volume and energy are excellent far exceeding levels I would ever actually listen at.

Of course it does not have the richness, clarity and sound stage of my home system. But it cost about 30x less.

Many folks won’t be willing to spend even $500 for a system. I only did so reluctantly and piece by piece.
But for those who really want to get started in hi-fi I think we all ought to be able to point them in this sort of direction to get them started.

Once they’re hooked we can steer them toward the $10,000 speaker cables. ;-)


n80
helomech
1,723 posts
 
Many folks won’t be willing to spend even $500 for a system. I only did so reluctantly and piece by piece.
But for those who really want to get started in hi-fi I think we all ought to be able to point them in this sort of direction to get them started.
I agree, however the elitism often encountered on this site doesn't help matters. The ironic part is that many are listening to their $20K+ systems in rooms that are severely limiting performance, sometimes in rooms so small or bright that they'd be better off with headphones. 

I recently pit some $200 Advent speakers against a pair of brand-new $3K speakers and the former were far more enjoyable. It's not difficult to piece together a $500 system that's better than any Bluetooth speaker and anything 95% of the population owns.
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mayoradamwest
430 posts
 
I don’t find the site particularly elitist, but sure, you could go to Steve Hoffman forums for a more engaged group discussion around more affordable audio HW. Why is it so bad to have a place where people confer on higher end products? It’s not like it’s a private club ... anyone can ask anything. 
helomech
1,723 posts
 
Sure, anyone can ask anything, but ever notice how the threads that elicit the most responses are those involving 4 and 5 figure products? Ask about a $300 item and you’re lucky to get 2 responses. Audio shows are full of the same elitist mentality. The "budget" systems at these shows still have $500 pairs of cables. In the real world, that’s more than the average Joe would be willing to spend on an entire system.

Recently a newcomer to the site asked whether it was worth reviving some speakers that originally retailed for $4K. All the speakers needed were some tweeters, and possibly some crossovers. This member was basically told he’d be better off putting them out to the curb. Let’s examine that logic - spend $500 to complete a $4K pair of inherited speakers or assume them a total loss and dump them on the curb:
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/speaker-help-5
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mayoradamwest
430 posts
 
Have you considered that there just aren’t that many people here that know about the less expensive products? That’s not being elitist. If you go to the Porsche forums and ask about your Kia, no one will look down on you, but you probably won’t get a lot of responses either. 
tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
2,598 posts
 
Audiogon serves one segment of the audio market and Ebay serves the $500 system market.  I don't want to sort through ads for $100 receivers and people looking for $100 receivers don't want to see ads for $1,000 cables.  There's nothing wrong with having two different marketplaces.
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