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How cheap can you go and still be happy with the sound?

I would think many guys on this forum are spoilt by the gear they have and never listen anymore on cheap rigs.

I was listening recently on my younger daughter’s PC audio rig and got reminded again of how good it sounds. There is a fairly high level of clarity, detail, tonal balance and great bass in this rig.

 

- Yamaha HS8 powered monitors: $700 to $800

- Yamaha WXC-50 MusicCast streamer+dac+preamp: $450, often found on A4L for around $300

- Audioquest Powerquest PQ3 (was around $200 or so)

 

IMO, this would qualify as a high quality (sonically) charity price hifi rig for any younger or older person w.r.t small room nearfield or midfield listening.

 

What is the cheapest rig that has brought you happiness these days?

 

deep_333
shtinkydog
670 posts
 

I threw this together and turned out to be a killer el cheapie system:

yamaha a-s501 used $350

dayton audio outdoor IO8XTW speakers new $320/pair

pioneer blu-ray play new $350

AQ type 4 speaker cables $150ish

i listen to this strictly outside and is way more fun than my main rig. 

freediver
1,122 posts
 

IF everything in my life went to SHIITE & I had to sell everything I own,I would hang on to my Motorola smartphone,loaded with about 1800 songs in FLAC & my HiFiMan "Deva Pro"Bluetooth headphones..Total investment,$230.00

deep_333 OP
1,281 posts
 

Don't get me too wrong, I can sometimes kind of enjoy listening to iphone when I have nothing better at the moment.

Yes, this is audiophile forum and standards should be high enough. $10k is not much really.

@inna ...This is more along the lines of why i started this thread. In my case, i've never been able to enjoy the sound coming directly out of a phone DAC....with some dragonfly or similar dongle...maybe.

I am no longer able to enjoy music in a car. The noise floor is just too high. I recall being able to enjoy music in a car once upon a time.

But, there are a handful of things around a 1000ish dollar budget i am still able to appreciate when i hear it.

Assembling a great sounding system with a big budget shouldn’t be that hard.  Synergy between components and the room matters but at 5 figures and up you are probably going to get some decent sound even if you throw darts to pick the components.

  Building a satisfying system with a modest budget is a much greater challenge 

@mahler123 +500... I ended up spending an arm and a leg on the former before i knew enough to build the latter. I think most guys who've already spent an arm and a leg tend to stay there and probably never investigate any modest gear (pricewise) thereafter, unless if it was for a secondary rig or something. I can think of a few reasons why.

curiousjim's avatar
curiousjim
4,560 posts
 

@deep_333
 

So sorry you can’t enjoy music in you car anymore.

When I’m mowing the lawn, music through the earbuds does make the time go by. Or when I’m in my car, I still tap my toe and slap my thigh to the beat, but I definitely prefer listening to music with my main system a whole lot more. 
 

Jim

moonwatcher
421 posts
 

The question was, "How cheap can you go and still be happy with the sound?" Well, I can listen on my ~$20K system at home or I can listen to a $200 JBL Charge3 Bluetooth speaker when I’m grilling steaks. I can still be happy with the sound from each and enjoy music. I’m not EXPECTING the cheap Bluetooth speaker to do more than what it does. Still sounds better than a small transistor AM/FM radio, which is what got me into music in the late 1960s.

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