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How cheap can you go and still be happy with the sound?

I would think many guys on this forum are spoilt by the gear they have and never listen anymore on cheap rigs.

I was listening recently on my younger daughter’s PC audio rig and got reminded again of how good it sounds. There is a fairly high level of clarity, detail, tonal balance and great bass in this rig.

 

- Yamaha HS8 powered monitors: $700 to $800

- Yamaha WXC-50 MusicCast streamer+dac+preamp: $450, often found on A4L for around $300

- Audioquest Powerquest PQ3 (was around $200 or so)

 

IMO, this would qualify as a high quality (sonically) charity price hifi rig for any younger or older person w.r.t small room nearfield or midfield listening.

 

What is the cheapest rig that has brought you happiness these days?

 

deep_333

Showing 1 response by pwdmark

pwdmark's avatar
pwdmark
33 posts
 

I've owned both ends of a HiFi budget, Nothing beyond Pass, Esoteric, B&W, PS Audio... And I can assure you, hi quality HiFi can be had for a bargain if you do your homework. The 'cheapest' isn't necessarily a bargain in the long run.

Here is an example. The Roon Nucleus, a very popular server, runs around $1400  USD. I purchased a preowned i7 NUC, 3.4 Ghz quad processor... Blah, blah for $120 on eBay. You can do the same for DAC's, Amp's, Transports... 

The flip side is pride of ownership. I remember a fellow right here many years ago was school teacher (low pay scale). He had cobbled together his system over three decades and always wanted an ARC preamp. He finally purchased one. He said thats the reason I drive a 20 year old Lexus lol...

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