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Amazing ''Overachieving'' products...your pick?

I have owned both expensive gear (and I do mean expensive) and ''budget'' gear. Many components are mind-boggling on a price-paid versus performance ratio. Three of my favorites are:

1. The Bedini clarifier. This gizmo just plain works. You may like - or not - the difference it makes on your cd's. In my case, it clears up a lot of fog. The cheapest upgrade to ALL my cd's.

2. The Cayin TA-30 integrated amplifier . So much performance and flexibility for so little money. Put it up against anything up to 3 times the price, musically and from a build-quality perspective. Just plain amazing.

3. The Apple i-Pod Mini. Yes, even from in an audiophile application, playing cd's (not downloaded MP3's). You can snob it but you cannot ignore it.

What are YOUR picks ?
sonicbeauty

Showing 5 responses by pubul57

pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Blue Jeans ICs and Speaker Cable. Belkin wire with excellent specs, good shielding, and connectors. Compare them with cables 20x the price and see if you can tell a difference, and if you can, see which you prefer.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
I would nominate the Music Reference RM10 MKII ($1,950) which may very well be the very best sounding 30-40 watt amplifier there is (The Atma-sphere S-30 maybe as good and possibly better with some speakers, but quite a bit more expensive). This RM10 with the right speakers and passive preamp like the Lightspeed Attenuator is world-class in almost any way that I can detect, matching equipment I have and had several multiple more expensive. It is also overachieving in the sense that it is less the 10lbs and about the size of a hardcover book, it looks too small to be great, but great it is.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Yes, and better yet the First Watt Aleph J.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Since it is the finest sounding line stage I have had in my system and it costs $450, I would have to say the Lightspeed Attenuator. For an active line stage, the Mapletree Audio gear is a must listen, comparable to line stages I have owned in the 5-8K range, it comes with 2 chassis, one for its tube regulated power supply - all for under $800. The ME series of Joule preamps are certainly great achievers, but at there price point I'd be hard pressed to call them overachievers.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
I understand how you feel about the Mapletree Audio 2A/SE Rockadanny, and $40 for the Blackgate filter capacitor upgrade is an overachieving upgrade too. Mine matches the RCA tube box color scheme, now that's cool:)
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