I'm thrilled with my PSB Image 2B front and Image 2C center channel speakers, REL subwoofer, and Radio Shack Optimus LX5 rear channel speakers powered by my Yamaha RX-V571 receiver(soon to be replaced with an Aventage RXA-4A receiver)! Even if I had a massive reserve of disposable income, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on HiFi/home theater components is unnecessary and ain't happening!!! But, I'm not hating on those who have the resources and choose to do so,
How cheap can you go and still be happy with the sound?
I would think many guys on this forum are spoilt by the gear they have and never listen anymore on cheap rigs.
I was listening recently on my younger daughter’s PC audio rig and got reminded again of how good it sounds. There is a fairly high level of clarity, detail, tonal balance and great bass in this rig.
- Yamaha HS8 powered monitors: $700 to $800
- Yamaha WXC-50 MusicCast streamer+dac+preamp: $450, often found on A4L for around $300
- Audioquest Powerquest PQ3 (was around $200 or so)
IMO, this would qualify as a high quality (sonically) charity price hifi rig for any younger or older person w.r.t small room nearfield or midfield listening.
What is the cheapest rig that has brought you happiness these days?
110 responses Add your response
I've owned both ends of a HiFi budget, Nothing beyond Pass, Esoteric, B&W, PS Audio... And I can assure you, hi quality HiFi can be had for a bargain if you do your homework. The 'cheapest' isn't necessarily a bargain in the long run. Here is an example. The Roon Nucleus, a very popular server, runs around $1400 USD. I purchased a preowned i7 NUC, 3.4 Ghz quad processor... Blah, blah for $120 on eBay. You can do the same for DAC's, Amp's, Transports... The flip side is pride of ownership. I remember a fellow right here many years ago was school teacher (low pay scale). He had cobbled together his system over three decades and always wanted an ARC preamp. He finally purchased one. He said thats the reason I drive a 20 year old Lexus lol... |
Perhaps another sample from the used purchases category that I regard as great value some are not low budget… Audio Research D240 MKII - original cost USD$900 Audio Research LS10 - original cost $1100 Audio Research Ref CD9- original cost $6000 This is a complete set up. Just add speakers. The CD9 doubles as a DAC for any streamer source (I use the Cambridge MXN10). It’s the best DAC I’ve ever heard. I know this can’t possibly fit this brief. Sorry for this high quality interlude. It’s an avenue.
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These are great posts. I am using an old Bose Soundlink Revolve in my living room/dining room for news and dinner party background music and it is remarkably satisfying in a difficult environment with a lot of reflective surfaces. I could never get a high end system to work in that room to it’s full potential. I have set up many small systems, and good sound is easy if you don’t want real bass. Good bass is expensive, and there is no real way around that. If you’re OK with everything above 50Hz, then there are many inexpensive systems you can assemble that will sound very good, if not great. kn |
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It's really hard to say, there are some great affordable pieces of gear out there and they're getting better and better as time goes on. I would be happy with a $5000 integrated and a $3000 - $5000 set of speakers. I'd get a decent streaming DAC and call it a day. Maybe another $1000 - $2000 for that. What I've woken up to is that I have accumulated a number of mid-tier gear that had I just saved my money, I could have bought a higher-end piece. Then again, it's hard to know what you like or don't like unless you try a lot of things. Thank God for used gear - at least I can sell this stuff without much loss. |
The price of your equipment bears little relationship to the sound it may produce. While it may be a "general principal" that the more the equipment cost the better it will sound... it... does not mean there are no exceptions - there are many! I bought a $700 Class D. Audio amp a few years ago (SDS-470C Class D Audio Power Amplifier - 300 watts / channel at 8 ohms), and it drives my $1000 Maggie LRS+ speakers to "audio Nirvana." That’s about as "cheap" as you can get for great sound! Though, I am using a Bryston BDP & BDA as the source. |
The best speakers I bought and enjoy are the JBL J216 speakers paid 40 bucks for them . At a Antique shop . I had speakers over 2 Grand could not compete with those. There efficient and sound fantastic tubes or solid state . Ant cheap tube intergraded amp will be fine . And a Rotel make excellent CD players for the money . |
I’ve owned three tube amps (I still own my first one) and the best sounding I ever owned were a pair of monoblocks that could be a bit unreliable so I replaced them, but they were the amps with the highest MSRP. I own three preamps, and each successive preamp cost more than the last one and each one had sonic characteristics that were distinctly better than the one it replaced. YMMV, but my experience has been that every increase in sonic performance that I have ever experienced has required an increase in expenditure. To me, that does not seem all that unreasonable.
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I had a pair of Sony sscs5 speakers for the deck (bought for ~80 dollars on a amazon sale). It was... meh ok. I put the GR research upgrade kit in it, ~300 dollars and it has become a creator of happiness. Can't do the liquor anymore... but, the Sony does work well with the coffee/cigars on my deck. |
I found that the dirtier and nastier the task, the more forgiving I am of flaws in audio quality. Listening to music while cleaning the bugs off the motorhome, for example, does not require a pristine delivery of an audio masterpiece to be a beneficial musical contribution.. Just something more pleasant than standing on a ladder while removing bug guts gets a "pass." Working on a classic car? Same rules apply, but genre also matters. The laid back sound of California surfer music instrumentals lowers the stress level and reduces the "tool throwing factor" by 50%. |
@waytoomuchstuff... +’something significant’...;) When banging the rocks together to improve and/or creating (some may say ’cretin-nating’, but they just don’t....."....well, never mind..."). ’Something pleasant to move the task along’ covers a lot of my need and desire for ’decent audio’, when involved in a non-audio ’fo-cussed foray’.... DLH ( ’Difficult Listening Hour(s)’ ) is when you’re ready to ’git down ’n In To’ that which taps your toes is a whole different activity.... ...esp. when you’re rubbing your forehead from that launched wrench that bounced off a surface and returned with a vengeance.... True story, that....wrenching on a Triumph Spitfire with a cantankerous bolt.... I pick my unintended targets more carefully since...like the object itself v. random uninvolved.... ;) |
@waytoomuchstuff....ah....*faraway stare (further than the usual space....)* Those got clipped in the Tigers...."That's why they so Mean" and nobody wanted to change the plugs when the 260 was hot..... Back when, the convo was on the relation to the 'Q ships" of WW2..... "Looks innocent enuff...." followed by it handing you yer butt and whatever was left... No doubt, still fun to drop the mic on the unwary or merely stupid.... Hey, can I be understood if I 'talk Normal'? (Well, for moi' anyway....) |
Nutz 'n boltz 2: When I met the 'spous' to be, she'd bought a Ford Fiesta hatch, 1st Gen in US trim... One day, both side by side for a common oil/filter routine.... Same engine, but the Fiesta spoke German backwardsdrawkcab "That which you should Change Early & Often,,," Uh huh..."Praktische." 👍 Both stick, fun to drive in their own fashion....both metric....🤷♂️ |
If your experience by choice is exclusive to high-priced and difficult-to-source gear, it is easy to forget how much progress has taken place in audio quality at lower price points in the market. Progress to a level of satisfaction for many may have taken years of listening and equipment experimentation, but nothing stands still at any level, and it is possible that with newer products from newer producers, reaching a level of satisfaction may take much less time and treasure than in the past. It's all good. |
@chenry Well stated. And, correct. Currently "messing around" with Fosi and WiiM gear at present. At just over $350 (for the pair), delivers something "enjoyable" to those who have not had the opportunity to get up close and personal with stellar hifi systems. @asvjerry "When I met the 'spous' to be, she'd bought a Ford Fiesta hatch, 1st Gen in US trim... One day, both side by side for a common oil/filter routine...." Oh yes. The exchange of fluids remains one of the most enduring dating rituals to this day. Standard or metric? Not a factor. |
Remeber, a $50k system sounds crapy in a room with bad accoustics (almost all rooms have bad acoustics) and a $1k system can sound beautifull in an acousticaly treaded room. To begin with, you have to study your room acoustics, take into account the type of system you want and consider advise on what acoustic treatment you need; then buy whatever you consider an appropiate system for you and you will be thanking me for the rest of your life! |
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@lubbertp
Gotta love sweeping generalizations and a random number generator. Many of us don’t have dedicated rooms, but instead have challenging spaces like large open floor plans but somehow manage to create very good sounding systems. Speaker selection plays a huge roll in this. As to the OPs question: $300 (B&O A1)
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@waytoomuchstuff.....or SAE or MilSpec for that matter....(got to take a pass on the latter. being 4F....the 'F' not totally being involved, except in regard to the 'potential of activity', the formula for which you are no doubt Very Aware of.... ;) 'CO' waivers at the last minute are a real PIA, regardless of actual 'site issues' (front v. back, that sort of alignments....) ...and fortunately, 'threading' doesn't apply, either....😏 @emergingsoul....replace the tape with rubber bands and a device swap, and I've been there, developed an entire new vocabulary to cope with it..... *wry Grin*
@lubbertp....I've applied the various accoutrements of analog and digital means to more lackluster spaces to overcome their weaknesses and downright in-built flaws (ever have a 10' cube of a space to cope with? Mix a drink without having to stir it....how novel.... 😣 |
....always seemed to miss out on having a space that even vaguely sported dimensions that would be 'kind' to an audio field.... 'Applied surround' Walsh speakers of my diy efforts have beckoned as a response (pun not intended, but there it is....), as one is 'IN' the sound field as opposed to 'looking/hearing into it'..... Think 'acoustic hot tub'... I play about with front v. back pairs, tiny delays between... Walsh, in and of themselves, don't seem to 'play louder' since they're 360 v. 180 or typically less in dispersion patterns. If one wants 'loud', add more drivers in quantity and matched qualities.... MHObservations..... Since you've no means to duplicate this, you or any would have to darken my stoop and demand a seat with a view and brew.... ...and so far, y'all have avoided this like the Covid.....for which I've had all my shots, and ones' that aren't on the Rx....;) Fosi stuff....I get their emails, with some intrigue involved..... all mine in mind, but so what's new 'bout that....*s* ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once upon a evening dearie..... When the original Tripath chips were intro'd, there was a mfr. that debuted a series of early D amps...both 2 chan and mono's....that could be mounted into a separate chassis (there were 2 sizes of which, I think....'out of memory' in that detail...). Missed out on that; but since, D has grown into a mini-Godzilla that has begun trampling on 'phile tropes since....and will continue unless extreme measures and measurements of 'beauty kill the beast..." ....following sea of loud 'n proud... ....from a pointed head rendered blunt..... ;) That concept of an 'amp farm' has occupied me since, and into the use and application of distribution amps. Decent enough specs for all but the esoteric 1%..... 6 discrete 2chan amps, each either buss or individual. Each can be mono'd, or can drive 4 separate speakers....minding the ohms, Holms....:) Each has L&R level and delay control for the 2nd tier of speakers.... Fronted by both room and signal eq options than absolutely needed, but came with and applied judiciously.... Be interested in your thoughts on the Foci' |
@immatthewj wrote:
From my chair the monetary value, as a necessary indicator, is too simple, contingent and crude a measure - indeed misleading. To a point I'd concede price can be factor, until it isn't, and when it all gets mixed up in a complex context of the interdependency of many factors (not to mention subjectivity), things get tricky, and stubbornly trying to maintain price as a measure (for all) to go by is simply missing the bigger picture. A proper design isn't the really expensive part, nor its proper implementation. Audiophilia on the other hand has a tendency to run amok with wild expenditures in select areas that's more about idiosyncrasies, catering to exclusivity and/or trying to make up for or work around a range of design restrictions. Did I mention cables? Primary factors however are time, experience, (again) proper design, implementation, adherence to physics (speakers, acoustics and coupling/decoupling), a sense of the holistic/seeing the forest for the trees, an open mind and, dare I say, a sense of anarchistic adventure. The latter is particularly important in the face of PR bullcrap being thrown about, dogma, conservatism, and not to mention the tendency to bow to business and community consensus - including the appeal to authority. To reiterate: price can be a factor, until it isn't. From here on there are bigger fish to fry. |
@immatthewj ....and I will basically agree on some levels of the pursuit of the 1% (and narrowing) 'level of perfection achievable currently'... Given ones' level of 'a proper space/venue' for ones' equipment, the qualities of the played media(s) with the choices of said equipment driven by taste and the depth of ones' credit/cash/or the contingencies of outright theft....Atypical for the bulk of A'gon associates for the latter, no doubt. ;) Based upon what I've read here and elsewheres'. there would seem to exist almost a variant of an 'event horizon' in terms of the apparent responses of a given set of equipment in a given space occupied by a very special pair of ears that can apprehend what's being experienced.. It would appear that to experience this 'edge of the probable' one will need very deep pockets and a near degree of absolute silence over working towards and achieving this goal to some degree.... Owning ones' own manufacturing facility would be a plus; one that is very profitable to allow the research and the creation of the 'space to play within' ought to be in parallel with the former.... And then...keeping the lid on what you've done. A Saudi prince would be the most likely suspect to do such. I'm certainly not, so I'll just continue to wade through the sludge I tolerate....😏 |
I’m surprised that setup has not been a much larger part of this thread. It makes a huge difference in even the least expensive system. Make sure the speakers are wired in-phase, that each is exactly the same distance from your ears (like within a quarter inch) and ensure that the tweeters are at the same height above the floor as your ears when in your listening seat. You may well be amazed how good even a cheap all-in-one system can sound. In my experience of more than 50 years, setup is the most often overlooked part of entry-level audio systems. |
@gigabit, agreed on phase and phasing proper, which ought to be easy; one needs to ensure that any sub being run is in phase as well. Any sub worth calling it one should have a switch to reverse such.... Tweeter heights should automatically be the same unless a disparate speaker array is underway.....odd to note, but I've not experienced everything in all circumstances, either...🤷♂️ The 1/4" distance comment is a bit daunting for any species to pull off, however. My cats can do that, but I'm not so motionless. I suspect I'm not alone at that, but can stand to be corrected.... "The house is on fire!" This Opus is nearly complete! I'll be outside in a moment! Not-So-Famous Last Review/BBQ Division..... |
Ive been upgrading my rigs over decades buying, selling for decades. From humble "hand me down" beginnings I have been through many different modestly priced set ups over the years, I enjoyed them. With each upgrade you realize the increase in performance, as your set up progresses in quality some upgrades have a bigger impact than others. There is a point of diminishing returns or a level at which upgrades do not make as big of an impact because you have reached a point of relatively good performance.
This point of "Good" performance will be different for each audiophiles journey but for me it came when i reached speaker performance of a certain level and that was a pair of old Ohm Walsh 2 (made in the 80's, I bought them in the 2010s) that i dropped off at Ohm to have restored. After hearing them at a friends house i knew i liked their overall character, Omni directional speakers are very life like. I ran my restored Walsh 2's with am inexpensive Denon home theater receiver and i was in heaven. After some time I ended up scoring an old Rotel Solid State integrated from the 90's and that when i hit "Good" performance, the veil was lifted, the bass was controlled the sound stage was wide and deep like ive never felt before in my own environment. Ive moved on from that set up but from that point each upgrade was enjoyable but did not have as big of am impact. In short, you can have an enjoyable rig for less than $1,000 bucks.
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