2. amps-preamps
  3. 150712-115924

Hi-Fi Lo-Fi

There has been a fair amount of discussion about how hi-fi seems to be a dying hobby. Most people just don’t get it.

And when we suggest that they need to have their house rewired and buy $1000 speaker cables to get good sound it is no wonder that that average person thinks we’re nuts.

We are nuts. Of course.

But that’s another story.

Anyway, I feel like a better way to expand the hobby is by showing folks that they can put together a decent system for less that a half decent speaker cable.

I recently did this. By accident sort of.

My old Toshiba receiver from high school (1980) finally bit the dust. It was the basis for the system down at my cabin.

I’d already replaced my Bose bookshelf speakers with Polk Audio Monitor 70 towers, $180 Craig’s List.

So I needed an amp and radio. We listen to the radio a lot down there. I had a Denon tuner in my home system that I never use. Approx. $110 eBay.

I just bought an NAD 316BEE on eBay, $200. Its 40 wpc and gets great reviews.

I had a Toshiba DVD play. $15 at thrift shop.

That’s $505. Add 12 ga low ox speaker cables and some banana plugs and an outdoor FM antenna and I’m close to $550. Interconnects are mid level RCA that I already had.

Results? Surprisingly good. The old Toshiba receiver was not bad but this NAD really opened up the sound stage...well outside the speakers in fact. And the room (larger main room in a small log cabin) is far from ideal. Bass seems great to me but I’m no bass fetish. I have a large B&W subwoofer but don’t feel the need. Volume and energy are excellent far exceeding levels I would ever actually listen at.

Of course it does not have the richness, clarity and sound stage of my home system. But it cost about 30x less.

Many folks won’t be willing to spend even $500 for a system. I only did so reluctantly and piece by piece.
But for those who really want to get started in hi-fi I think we all ought to be able to point them in this sort of direction to get them started.

Once they’re hooked we can steer them toward the $10,000 speaker cables. ;-)


n80

Showing 7 responses by n80

n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
Thanks Geoff. 
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
Thanks. And I don't want anyone to get me wrong here. I'm not knocking high end audio. I'm not even knocking people who just like the super expensive equipment just because that's what they're into.

Its all okay.

But if someone says, 'wow, your home system sounds really great, I'd like to listen to music that way too' it is helpful to be aware of an entry point for them without suggesting that they need speaker cables that are bigger than a garden hose and cost over $1000 (like mine). For most people that either puts them off because they think such things are not obtainable
 or because they think I (we) am a pretentious snob and don't want to be associated with a hobby full of people like that.

On a more practical level, being able to assemble a system like this is handy for situations exactly like mine. Let's say you've just plopped down $10,000 for those awesome looking speaker cables.....or that snowmobile...and you want a system for the garage, cabin, shop or office and you only have $500 or so..............
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
@mijostyn,

So many strange stereotypes in one post!

For the record, I have a good job, access to capital is not a real problem, a snowmobile would be useless where I live and I have already built a great system.

The lo-fi system I’m talking about is down at my cabin. It is for casual listening. And as mentioned, sounds pretty good. Better than you, or I, might have expected.

But, you’ve helped make my point. Telling someone who is new to hi-fi and thinks they might want to try it out that they need to get a job and save money is problem a big reason hi-fi is having a hard time maintaining traction.

To other responders, I did not intend this as a criticism of Audiogon. Audiogon is what it is and it is primarily about high end.

I’m just saying that the audiophile community should consider starting people off from a point they can actually start from.....rather than suggesting, for instance, that they get a job and or give up other things that interest them.
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
I would certainly consider Audiogon for a high end purchase but when I was putting all this together I did not find a lot of low end stuff here....which makes sense of course.
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
MrD., first I think I’d have to modify the estimate on the system I inherited. I think it probably cost around $15k, maybe a little more. That would have been in early 2000’s dollars.

So to answer your question, based on the adjusted cost of around $15k, the answer is no, I would not spend that much right now if I needed to replace it even if I had that much cash in hand.

You may read that answer as a snub toward high end audio but it isn’t. It simply comes down to a few simple things: 1) I could think of a few other ways I would enjoy the money more. 2) I probably just don’t have the ear or taste for the level of performance that others hear in their high end systems. In other words, those dollars would probably be wasted on my ears. 3) After hearing my low end system I’m certain that I could be well satisfied with a home/primary system that cost way less than $15k.

The fourth reason would be that I think I would enjoy doing the shopping and research to put together a good system for, say, under $5k.

That would probably be my cut off point; $5K.

And in my book that is still a lot of money.

But yes, I think I could assemble a system that would more than meet my needs for that amount and have a blast doing it.

In fact, given that my system is over 15 years old, I could probably nearly duplicate it for $5k. There is a chance I could better it with more modern gear at that price too. Who knows?
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
" I still believe, at " retail "pricing, your gear that was acquired, was over 20 K, based on my familiarity with the gear"

That could be true. I was never able to find actual prices for when some of the components were new.

For what its worth, I'm still enjoying the system and impressed that it works so well after all these years and the abuse it endured before I got it.
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
tony1954, I think you are correct for a certain percentage of people.  Which is probably small.

My (limited) experience has been otherwise. A few times to my amazement. I have had people who like music listen to songs that THEY LIKE on my system who come away utterly unimpressed. My wife being one of them. They are even less impressed when they find out what such a system costs and when they consider how it would affect the decor of their home (my speakers are 4 feet tall, weigh 140 pounds each and a black......my wife hates them).

So yes, I agree. Folks have to hear good sound to appreciate it. But once that appreciation develops they also need a way to do something about it. If you tell them it will cost as much as their mini-van, BMW......or hot rod snowmobile..... it becomes a harder sell. 

Anyway, I've been down at the cabin listening to my $500 system and it is all too clear that it is not a $20,000 system. But it is also clear that it sounds good enough to enjoy even from an audiophile standpoint, even for periods of serious listening.

I should also clarify something. I'm comparing it to my home system which was probably around $20k new. The system at the cabin would probably have cost around $1200 new. A quick eBay search shows my home system's basic components could be purchased used for about  $6000, closer to $7000 with similar cables.
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