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?
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. |
I am not an audiophile (neither the ears nor the funds) so I can enjoy various mixes from used components (craigslist, goodwill) - Celestion F3, Hafler DH-200, CA 540p, Dual 506, etc. under a $150 each - my latest finds. (And I have an equal number of non-functioning gear unfortunately - I don’t always get that lucky) Could I spend 15K if I was "forced" - probably, but I dropped such an ambitious goal from my bucket list. (But if I were near a bluetooth portable speaker, I would genuinely want to use it as a football) |
For all those saying that you need at least 10K as an entrance fee to good sound, just keep saving and you’ll get to this range. https://futureaudiophile.com/how-many-audiophile-whales-are-there-really/ |
