Hafler DH-200 with lots 'o Musical Concepts mods thrown in. Perhaps the start point of this downhill slide... |
To me, best value for money is some cheapish trannie radio. You get a tuner, antenna, amp and loudspeaker in one package. You don't have to buy software, it's all around you. Doesn't come cheaper..... |
NYAL OTL3 amps or the Sonic Frontiers Power 2 |
A pair of Vandersteen 1Bs for $200. Mind bogglingly great for the bread. |
Nothing in my experience has been higher value than my current Canary CA-339 amps. Pricey, but worth every nickel. |
There used to be a phono only pre-amp with a volume control. It was called the 'Super-It'. My first taste of true highend audio. |
Cousinbillyl - you have good taste. I just sold a Super-It along with an old Sota Sapphire. It was a fabulous piece of cheap gear. Lovingly remembered by all who owned one, I'm sure. |
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The Original Son of Ampzilla |
my vote goes to the "stereo compact"- a receiver with a top- mounted turntable w/cartridge, 10" 2-way or 3-way speakers, cables included. harmon kardon used to make one with a dual-1219 turntable. my parents bought the fisher- i think we're talking $300 tax included. |
A sublime Accuphase T-100 tuner. And better yet is listening to WBGO -Newark , NJ Jazz station on it. The Accuphase rivals CD and WBGO rivals CDs |
My first amp, the nad 3020. Listened to lots of amps that cost more and was happy to plop down about $150 plus tax for the one that sounded the best. With my Frazier Concerto speakers and Thorens TT I was rockin!
That was over 20 years ago, today I would say the Transcendent GG preamp. And on the used market, Musical Fidelity E624 cdp. |
04-27-01: Lev335
Mark Levinson 335 Running a Mark Levinson 39 cd player direct. The sound is so Natural.
Lev335 (Threads | Answers) Can the Mark Levinson be found in $100-200 range ? |
My Supratek Chardonney has made the biggest improvement in my system, |
Harvey Rosenberg's SuperIt phono stage. I bought one used for about $100 back in the late 80's, hot-rodded it and used it with good Grados for years. What a delight - slightly warm but natural sound, lots of detail, not finicky about the tubes I fed it. I recently sold it with my old SOTA/Alphason/Grado combo - it needed a new wall-wart, but then it was back in business, playing music for a new generation of audiophiles. |
AR-9 Towers from Teledyne anyone? $1600 new , I see them listed in top 10 speakers of all time about 6 times! |
For me, for electronics, it has to be the Meitner PA-6i/MTR-101 combination, last manufactured in the early 1990s, but still serviced and upgraded by Museatex (www.museatex.com). I've had this pre-power set in my main system for seven years. I keep bringing in other amps and preamps, some much more expensive, that I hope will improve upon them, but none has yet displaced them.
For sources, it would be the venerable Technics SP-10MKII turntable, preferably mounted, not on the beautiful "obsidian" plinths that Technics made, but on a 20-30 kg DIY composite plinth of Corian, birch plywood, and MDF.
My speaker mega-favorite is the Tannoy System 15 DMT II: when I think these come as cheap as $1500-1800 on the used market (though prices appear to be rising), I'm absolutely gob-smacked. |
The Cayin TA-30
Just go listen to one as soon as you can (regardless of price) |
Dahlquist DQ-20i's. Scan-speak mid and tweet drivers with a magnat 10in woofer. Not a flawless speaker, but for the $ very hard to beat.IMO |
Proac response 2, any mid to late 70s' open reel tape deck. |
Sonus Faber Extrema (incredible speakers). $14K back in 1992
which was a lot of money then. Today they would be hard to beat for $30K. That is how great these speakers are.
Marantz SC-7S1 (absolutely one of the best preamps you'll ever hear). I had sold my Levinson 32 preamp after the purchase of the Marantz SC-7S1. This preamp is one of the best kept secrets out there.
These are a couple of the best components ever for the money. I have a few more since owning several systems but these are the first two that I highly recommend. |
Marantz SC-7S1 preamp and Sonus Faber Extrema speakers. Both are absolutely incredible for the money. |
I have a new nominee. Nelson Pass' new Aleph J amp from his First Watt company. I'm just getting the measure of one, and my reactions so far have all been of the "Holy Cow!" variety. It's busily smoking a tweaked-out PX-25 SET amp that cost ten times as much... |
Ming Da MC 84-B integrated. Under 400.00. A 40 pound beauty with a midrange to die for.
Ruark Swardsman for 60.00, pair.
Sony XA7ES CD Player, DEMO from Sony Factory store, 399.00 w 1 yr. factory warranty.
Maggie 1.4 Ribbons, 375.00 mint OBO. Almost like the 1.6's, just cheap.
Current Onix 60 watt integrated. 175.00 Great tube sound, looks like Audionote amp.
Arcam Alpha 5 Integrated, 225.00. Great mids, and wonderful phono. |
The new Panasic sa-xr55 receiver! |
So far for me the best buys for the bucks have been the Legacy Audio Classics speakers, under 2700.00 for them in rosewood. The Parasound Halo JC-1 amps for 6,360 a pr. are a steal as far amps that can sing like these do and have the power to go with it. My used Sony SCD-1 for 2300.00 might be my best buy so far. The sacd is awesome and I'm using it also as a transport into my Audio Aero prima SE DAC, for redbook that is out of this world good. |
VPI HW 19 MK. IV...used for $800 these days!
Marty Nickison |
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BOSE Acoustic Wave Music System II !!!! |
This is easy. The Ming DA 2A3 preamp ($1,250)will (properly tubed)go head to head with any mega buck pre you can find.
Bart |
Getting the Ming pre! Too many other people saying the same thing. |
Those late 70's batch of superior quality analog tuners(many brands) were a great buy. My Hitachi FT920 has provided good sound since ~ 1976 and responded very well to AC power upgrades. Still provides my Saturday afternoon at the Opera-better than ever! That's nealy 32 years of 24 hour a day operation w/o a hitch.(I've had it cleaned and aligned twice-shd do it again for the new year)). I am impressed with that value $300 new / 11680 days = 2.5 cents a day. |
*2nd vote for Supratek Chardonnay (preamp)
*Lenco with Denon 103-R (Turntable, Cartridge)
*Trends Audio 10.1 and Little Dot T 150 (Digital amps)
*Cyber 800 (Power amp - tube), beats many at twice the $$$$
*Citypulse DA2.03e II w/USB Input($450 DAC), TubeDac+ with upgraded power supply (Tube DAC). |
I still say those old tuners, that cost only 2 cents a day and work for 30+ years "define" value in the high end. |
Bart,
Interesting you should say that. I also found that the Ming Da has potential. However I found it a bit noisy. What tubes did you use it with? Please enlighten us, because I think the basic design is very good. |
Detlof, has potential is an understatement. Bart has put a lot of time, energy and money into this pre amp and I can tell just in the short time I have had it that Bart's pre is on another planet from where ours will be until we hunt down the tubes that really belong in it. It is worth investing in the best tubes. I am just scratching the surface with this pre and the performance has changed dramatically. It will be very easy to spend over a grand on the right tubes which I definetely plan on doing. Once you start you can't stop! Could very easily be the best component for the money. If not, then it has to be way up there. |
Isotek Titan... really makes everything sounds so right...! Far exceeded my expectations!!! |
I used to have a pair of B&W DM302s. At $250/pair, they're able to hold their own against speakers that cost several times what they do. The low end is non-existent, but everything else about them is great.
The best improvement I've ever gotten per dollar, though, was $9 worth of acoustic ceiling tile screwed to the wall in the primary reflection point. |
I paid $250 for a brand new pair of floor standing Whatmough from Audiolabs.
These have a very nice slender shape and very good sound quality. They are as good as my B&W 604-S4 speakers and they look better! |
Trends Audio 10.1 integrated amp. I have had other integrated amps like the Rega Brio 3, Krell KAV-300i, and Cambridge Audio 540C V.2, and this tiny thing keeps up very well with them all. I would not say that it sounds better, but it sounds very close at a fraction of the cost. |
JBL Paragon, a design classic |
Oppo upconverting universal DVD/SACD/CD/DVD-A player for under $200. |
I'm a bit surprised that no one has mentioned the Rega RB-300 tonearm. In my experience, the 300 is significantly better than anything cheaper (other than maybe the 250). Caveat-I obviously haven't heard everything out there, but I have heard a lot.
The general idea - simplicity at the expense of flexibility, coupled with superior manufacturing - is well suited to this thread. Although those needing azimuth or integral VTA may downgrade it, IMHO the RB-300 is, irrespective of price, a tremendous product.
It's also worth noting that the 300 has spawned a full blown cottage industry - probably unmatched by any other high end product. Modifiers, oem applications, and even Rega's own line of arms all sprang from the loins of this product (do arms have loins?). IMHO, it's got to be on the short list for this honor. |
Vintage Sansui sp-5500's....one of the all time greats! They just don't make them like they use to anymore! |
The Dynaco Stereo 70 has to be the best component ever, for the money. |
Pioneer PL-12DII.
This table could be had, brand new, for about $75 or so. It has a fairly decent arm, good speed stability and great isolation.
Still an awesome buy today. |
Tie:
McCormack DNA 125 amp $1600 new
Channel Islands VDA 2 DAC $600 new |
Best for the buck in SS pream used under $400.
It a Meridian 565. It has a build in dac same chip
than the Meridian cd 508.20/506.20 CS4329. One analogue
input, it can be use with a sub and it a 5.1 processor!
New it was $3500/4999 and i like to use a pream that
include a dac.It wonderfull in 2ch set up.When i think
to upgrade the Meridian 565 is there to stay... |
First Sound pre amp. Get the best upgrade you can afford. Simply spectacular |
New AR turntable with Shure 91-ED 65$ |
