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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
1,715 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
Ag insider logo xs@2x
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
2,597 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.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
People who really love listening to music and have heard a decent system are not going to settle for MP3 files. It is a matter of priorities.
Those same people who are looking for cheap used stuff on e bay are buying $10,000 snowmobiles so they can run around going no place burning fossil fuel or 75 inch TVs with tiny little speakers. The people here would rather buy Hi Fi gear. The trick is not just building a cheap system it is building a great system inexpensively. No offence n80 but the stuff you are talking about is not even remotely on our radar. If that is all you can afford than go for it. And, if you really love listening to music you'll get a good job, save money, skip the snowmobile and build yourself a great system. 
n80 OP
2,125 posts
 
@mijostyn,

So many strange stereotypes in one post!

For the record, I have a good job, access to capital is not a real problem, a snowmobile would be useless where I live and I have already built a great system.

The lo-fi system I’m talking about is down at my cabin. It is for casual listening. And as mentioned, sounds pretty good. Better than you, or I, might have expected.

But, you’ve helped make my point. Telling someone who is new to hi-fi and thinks they might want to try it out that they need to get a job and save money is problem a big reason hi-fi is having a hard time maintaining traction.

To other responders, I did not intend this as a criticism of Audiogon. Audiogon is what it is and it is primarily about high end.

I’m just saying that the audiophile community should consider starting people off from a point they can actually start from.....rather than suggesting, for instance, that they get a job and or give up other things that interest them.
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