BEST budget system. What is yours?

Wadia 302 CD Player driving an Ayre V-5 directly. Speakers were Vandersteen Model 2's. AQ Balanced Cheetah between amp and CD. 2 seperate runs of AQ CV-6. ESP Essence PC on the Wadia.

My Garage/Workshop set up..................................................................

Adcom GTP400 PreAmp/Tuner(used)                                                 110.00
Adcom GFA535 Amplifier(use)                                                             140.00
Sony SCD‑CE595  SACD Changer(bought refurbed from Sony)         89.00
Pure I20 iPod Dock(bought new)                                                          100.00
iPod Classic(bought new)                                                                     100.00   
Adcom speaker selector (used)                                                              40.00      
2 pairs Dayton Audio B652-AIR 6-1/2" with AMT Tweeter(new)         120.00   
1 pair DIY 8" 2-ways                                                                            100.00
1 pair  Pyle PWRC82 8" weatherproof ceiling mounted (new)             90.00
Misc cables                                                                                            
Total                                                                                                       889.00

Vintage NAD 3020 $5
Vintage Rega Planet $50
Project Debut Carbon with 2m Red$60
Infinity 4000a Speakers $40
Morrow low end cables for about $100,Phono, speakers and 2 pairs of Rca cables.
Marantz 2220B $20
Technics SL-1700 with AT 14s cartridge $50
JVC XL-Z1050 $25
ADS L470 $50
2 pairs Older MAC AgQ sound pipes and WE 16gd speaker Cables for about$60.

Monitor Audio i-deck. Has an ipod interface built in, plus a line level input you can plug a CD player, phono stage, tuner, or cassette/reel-to-reel deck into.

Just put together a great budget system for my sons dorm

Technics  SA-80 Rx circa 1979 = traded for beer

Klipsch KG 1    $50

Logitech BluTooth RX to RCA convertor  $30

Update:

Apparently my son does not appreciate vintage 70's gear...... hes content with a Bluetooth speaker.....  

I put it in my workshop....sounds great , perfect for that duty

Budget system? What's that? I've blown the budget on every system I was lucky to own.

Emotiva pt-100 
Emotiva a-300
Pioneer bd-51f used as transport
Jbl studio 590 
Cardas bi-wire cables
Clarity coax and power cords
$1700.00 total investment and I'm done. My system is fun and sounds great so no need to spend more.

Audio Research LS16 tube pre-amp - free
Madrigal Proceed HPA2 amp - free
Arcam CD92 CDP - free
Aerial Acoustics 7B speakers - free
Transparent cables throughout - free

Total:$0.00

Finding audio gear in your brother-in-law’s basement that he doesn’t want, doesn’t need and does not know how to work...priceless

OK...this is SERIOUS budget. I put this together for my wife.
Pioneer speakers...the little Andrew Jones ones
Onkyo 9110 integrated (amazing sounding amp)
NAD CD player that I already had...forget the model
Garrard GT55 with ADC XLM mk2
This little system that cost me maybe 400 kicks ass!

shtinkydog33 posts02-20-2018 4:53pm

NAD 372 integrated: $50 at swap meet

Onkyo C490 (?) cd changer: $150 new

Kicker 6000 outdoor speakers: $80 new at Costco.

I listen to this far more than I do to my main rig, cuz I have it on whenever I play with my dog and/or bbq. So pretty much every day.   Killer sound on the cheap.

Cables are all freebies or whatever. Total: $280.

Man, I had a 372. That's a great amp! I can't believe you got it that cheap. I think I sold it a couple years ago for 600 or700!

My third system is vintage 80’s NAD 7020 receiver  (recently refurbed) to Boston Acoustics A40 (I re-foamed these myself) with Google Chromecast as source. ~ $200 used if you can find it in similar good condition. Sounds really good!

My 2nd system consists of:

Pioneer Elite DV-37 CD player (hard wired power cord)
w/ Stager Silver interconnects
Monoprice 50w Integrated amp 
w/ SilnoteAudio Posedian GL powercord
into JBL PRIMA L50 vintage speakers (one of the best JBL ever made)
w/ 14g wire for speaker cables, with bare wire connection

About $950

Great Sound: Great pace, toe-tappin presentation with plenty of thump

Sorry: just realized that the speakers should be listed as JBL L25 PRIMAs...

If I didn't use really good interconnects and power cord, I'd be down around $700...

Samsung S9