What are/were the best sounding cheap components you have ever had?

schiit modi 3. since buying it i've had multiple $500-1000 dacs through here and none offered enough improvement to justify the additional spend for me. going to try the denafrips one all the reviewers rave about before writing off that whole price bracket as a waste of money for me...don't know when i'll get to it though, because i am playing the cartridge upgrade game at the moment (ultimately i care more about vinyl than digital playback, and funds are limited.) but yeah the modi is a killer little piece of equipment in my experience

ear 834P clone. the good one with the covered torroidal, black board with gold traces

$300 shipped. didnt mod it at all. just put in good tubes and WOW. 

1979-1981..NAD 3020 integrated amplifier.  Great on a student's budget.

You know. I saw this thread a while ago. Unless I can think of a way to add value… I tend to just follow it and not comment.

After some thought… my answer is never. I have never had a cheap component that sounded great, I have had cost effective… or good budget components. But, the only components that have blown my socks off have been incredibly well thought out and constructed audiophile equipment. Not one “cheap” component that I can think of ever sounded great. I have owned at least a hundred components. I would imagine after over fifty years of pursuing the high end for my main system, portable speaker system (I spent over ten years living in motels), portable headphone systems (I spent over 40 years while traveling and listening (pursuing the best possible sound), permanent headphone system (20 years pursuing the best), and permanent office system.

While looking for bargains is great. The way to get a truely great audio system is not to look for cheap stuff. You just get cheap stuff… and it might at best sound OK.

Great sound comes from dedicated companies willing to invest in research and development, quality components, and outstanding manufacturing quality.

ghdprentice,  Your advice is always "sound".     There is no cheap way to good sound,  no matter what your budget is.

Forty plus years into my HiFi journey I am finally able to afford some better gear.  I try to put those $$$ into well planned upgrades that are not subtle.  Most recent was my Toolshed 300b ,  in fact it's so good I sold my soul for it's companion preamp that's under construction now.   I took inventory of stuff I wasn't using,  sold some stuff including my existing pre and put my trusty Sonic Frontiers SFL-1 in the system temporarily.   That move demonstrated how good the Zesto Leto was , it was a giant leap backward in sound quality with that no longer in the system.

I think your rational in spending two or three times more than the component being replaced  for an appreciable impact is spot on.   Anything less is often a lateral move or slight improvement.  I'd rather be patient,  save a little more and enjoy marked improvement.