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Really Inexpensive Systems That Sounded Great?

I think there is a big difference between "cheap" and inexpensive. I have blown money on "cheap" cables and immediately regretted it when my ears started bleeding from the brightness in my digital components. I also don’t mean "bargains" like the time I scored $2000 speakers for $200 on Craigslist, that is basically luck.

I am talking about inexpensive (less than $1500) for a system that sounded really great to you.

I fell into a whole house audio system from DTS Play-Fi because I wanted to try and compare different brands. I picked up Play-Fi amps, preamps and active speakers made by Polk, Paradigm, Klipsch, Onkyo and DefTech all for less than $1000 a pop. For what it is, whole house audio/casual listening it sounds great.

What inexpensive great sounding systems have you tried?

 

kota1
buckycyo
13 posts
 

Lots of new equipment sounds nice if well matched thanks to trickle down…my thoughts go back to the old days of Hafler pre and amp, Dahlquist DQ10s or Roger’s JR149s (a friend is still using my old ones and they sound great). Tough to evaluate how inexpensive these pieces were given decades of inflation, but I could afford them new and used when I was pretty poor…

waytoomuchstuff's avatar
waytoomuchstuff
1,077 posts
 

The KLH Model 20 "Amazing Music Box" was my first experience with hifi sound. A buddy was telling me great his new stereo system sounded, so I decided to drop over after school for a listen. Here was this dinky little chassis with a turntable stuck in the middle of it with cutesy little knobs. Speakers were not small, but lacked the awesomeness I that I envisioned. The expectation of a mind-blowing musical interlude had already dropped to near zero as he cued up the music on this glorified table radio.

Then, he played WIth a Little Help from My Friends, a song I’d heard on my dad’s dual chassis 12" 4-way Admiral console stereo many times before. There was a delicacy to Ringo’s voice I hadn’t heard before. Hum? Other selections revealed details and the feeling of "being there". Okay. This was IT. I was hooked.

lordrootman's avatar
lordrootman
368 posts
 

Chromcast audio ($35) streaming Tidal to my Sony AVR ZA3100ES ($400)and Klipsch KG 5.2 ($350) superb sounding 

kota1 OP
2,706 posts
 

Anything in the Sony ES line is going to be good and Klipsh are a good match, nice job!

russbutton's avatar
russbutton
420 posts
 

I have a little system in a back room with some home brew loudspeakers with a 5" Vifa bass driver and a 1" soft dome Peerless tweeter.  Damn things sound GOOD.  I got the drivers from Madisound.  The Vifa was being remaindered and I paid $15 each for them.

Your best value is always in a good DIY loudspeaker, whether you build it yourself, get a friend hobby builder to knock 'em out, or find them used.

The Linkwitz LXmini system can be done for as little as $1000 and that will embarrass a lot of systems costing many times as much.

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