Hi-Fi Lo-Fi

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

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.

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

I have been a mid-fi enthusiast for years. My system is usually comprised of a mixture of new and used, entry-level okay stuff and Craigslist/garage sale purchases. The Audiogon forums are populated by folks who are generally into more expensive and esoteric equipment than I am. I like to read hi-end hobbyist's posts, even though I am unlikely to be in their ranks. Audiokarma has a myriad of posts about great cheap equipment scores from thrift stores and such. There are outlets for all of us.

n80,  Again, for most people it is a matter of priorities. I seriously doubt that homeless people are on this web sight. There are snobs here and some advise might not be useful but I think most of use here like to help people build great systems at a reasonable price. I have seen good advise given to newbies frequently and contrary to popular thought I do not think this love for accurate music reproduction is dying. I think it may be growing. The surge in vinyl sales particularly to young people is evidence of this.