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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
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
n80 OP
And I don’t want anyone to get me wrong here. I’m not knocking high end audio. I’m not even knocking people who just like the super expensive equipment just because that’s what they’re into.

Its all okay.

>>>>That’s mighty decent of you, partner.
n80 OP
2,125 posts
 
Thanks Geoff. 
kacomess
200 posts
 
One way to achieve greater return on your investment is to buy used equipment from fellow Audiogon Forum members. Items are almost always very well cared for and you can get a lot of advice...at least that approach has helped me. I'm not knocking Craigslist, but dedicated audiophiles may sell here preferentially.

Keith
n80 OP
2,125 posts
 
I would certainly consider Audiogon for a high end purchase but when I was putting all this together I did not find a lot of low end stuff here....which makes sense of course.
coachpoconnor's avatar
coachpoconnor
380 posts
 
I agree with n80

After the divorce and in my 50's, I became interested in Hifi again. In the beginning I bought some entry level gear, PSB speakers, NAD c326bee etc. Didn't have a lot of cash in the beginning. (Child support and my sons tournament golf). After a while I got the upgrade itch. I've read a ton of threads on various components and different subjects and have enjoyed this re-entry into hifi. When I was in my late teens I worked for a midwest electronics chain called Burstein Applebee. It was there that I learned that there were certain components that "punched above their weight", I remember purchasing a KA-5500 integrated amp that several of us at the store thought very highly of, for not much money.

What I have enjoyed, is buying decent sounding stuff on the cheap. Anyone can go into a Hifi store or order on line, gear at full retail. The challenge is to find decent and or vintage gear cheap (inexpensive) in a city with 3 hifi shops. One is a Magnolia..Yuk! and if you combined the other 2 stores together, I'm not sure that someone from NY City would consider it decent. I'm not sure that good sound always correlates dollar for dollar with money spent. I went to hifi shop a couple of months ago and listened to a pair of Wilson's (30k) on one end of the showroom and a pair of Sonus Faber's (5k) on the other. With the right amp and tt, I would have taken the SF's.
I found a pair of Zu Omen's Mk1 in excellent condition for $300.00 on Craigslist, the NuForce amp on AA for $500.00, Marantz tt15s1 with the Virtuoso wood for $600.00 in Omaha, and one of my favorites was a HK t65c turntable for $270.00. tmraudio for a phono preamp and DAC.  A new audio friend sold me an Audio Research LS3 for $500.00. I think they should have a dedicated thread for "audio pickers". (tv show Maybe?)

Don't you think stuff sounds better when you've gotten a good deal?

I have had several people that have been very helpful on here.. One is Mr. D.  I also have asked some very sincere questions and gotten few reply's. It is however, rather entertaining to ask a question on this forum and then read veteran Audiogon members correct and insult each other over some esoteric fact. You think to yourself.. wow! I didn't plan on creating this kind of trouble.

In closing I'd like to compliment n80 for taking that slight





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