What is your favorite budget audio component?

Watch out for blindjim and his audio trinkets.  Cheap but they accomplish nothing.  He must be a dealer.

Budget?  That varies according to disposible income, audio interest and other factors.  But for VALUE (which is quality divided by price), the industry loves Emotiva.  Clearly the best bang for the buck in that price range.

ADL-GT40 - The "Swiss Army Knife" of high end audio.  Combines a pre-amp / 24-96 DAC / MM MC phono stage that produces clean, clear, musical sounds.  Throw in an A to D converter that will facilitate high rez vinyl  rips, and that is one kick @$$ budget component considering the $500 I paid for it.  Look up Art Dudleys review in Stereophile for a more detailed look.

Note:  The upgraded 40a features a DAC capable of 24/192 and other improvements.

BTW - Not a dealer or anyone in the industry. Just a satisfied consumer.  

After thinking this over, I have forgotten my favorite cheap upgrade is this: 

My room was a little bit "hot" so I purchased a 5' X  9' rug. Using a couple of carpet tack strips which I nailed to the wall and into studs, I was able to hang the rug from the tack strip. Not only did it greatly improve the sound but the rug adds a good look to the room. 

I am a dealer for carpet tack strip so don't buy them from Lowes I can sell them to at a greatly marked up price. 

Jim
Dealer of the decade.

Already been mentioned but if we stick to sub $1000, just has to include Bluesound Vault 2( $999 new open box) and Oppo 105d, most versatile cost effective shiny disc spinner in existence...imho.

But my biggest steal was a nearly new Exogal Comet Plus, list $2995, for a paltry $1000 even! How could I not buy it!

My favorite unit was a Onkyo T-4711  AM/FM Stereo tuner I bought new at the old Circuit City store back in 96'  It's retail price was at the time $600.00 but I got it new for $159.99, as a matter of fact I bought three of them, two gold, and one black unit all for the same price because I have three systems and I wanted a decent tuner for background music when working on something. All three are now working for 21 years and not one ever had a problem. This is a great tuner and one I'm never letting go of.