Extremely budget minded system for under $500.00 ?

Be careful not to use Radio shack IC's and cable (or other very poor cables)) for you will greatly impact your sound for the worse. Good IC cables can be had for $39 - Audio Art IC-1. Good used speaker cable can be had for $40. Audio Art, Paul Speltz and others.

This will improve your sound more than spending $100 on a CD player vs $50. The Tosh players are fine for $50.

Wire is important and should not be just cast aside. For your $500 budget you can have both!

Others are right in that you should not spend $100 for an IC. Please don't ignore wire however. If you do you you may as well buy a used $30 JC Penny MCS series receiver - classic :-) That is the sound you will get!

Bill

NAD L40 CD Receiver (about $400 on A'gon) and Paradigm Atom or PSB Alpha B speakers (about $100 on A'gon). Home Depot bulk 12 or 14 guage extension cable for speaker wire - puts you over budget about $10 though. Maybe the L40 comes with some rough speaker wire, or you can negotiate it into the deal. Good luck - a rough price point!

Groovybassist really has a great idea here. I second it as a great package!

Bill

Toshiba or Sony entry level DVD player (unbeatable for $50-$60), Infinity Primus 150 bookshelfs and a Cambridge 340A integrated.

I've recommended that system to several friends and almost turned one into an audiophile with it. Stick with basic cables, if your friend shows interest add cables and power conditioning...then bring over your best music to enjoy it!

Hmmm, anybody want to ponder the logic of hooking up a $50 DVD player with a $40 cable?