I too have a bunch of expensive and inexpensive stuff. Some is Schiit gear, a Aegir amp, a Freya n preamp and now a latest spec Gungnir DAC. I also hav e an $8000 SS integrated amp and a $5000 tube integrated amp and to my years the Schiit and at a cost of a fifth and a third of my other amps the Schiit combo sounds at least as good. I have seven pairs of speakers going from $700 to $3500 and they all sound fantastic with my sources and amps. With the stuff I have I could put a combination of gear together that costs less than $3000 that will blow you away. I also use the Genelec powered monitors that were reviewed in Stereophile with the Freya preamp and a $1200 Burson DAC that at around $3500 is my favorite system. It is that good. So inexpensive equipment with the right synergy can play with way more expensive stuff. As a 65 year old audiophile I have either owned it or heard it so I know of what I speak. One of the best systems I have ever heard was back in the nineties when a friend who didn’t have a job and could spend his time tweaking the system had a pair of inexpensive PSB towers , two small asl tube monos ($200) and a modified pioneer GD transforms cd player. Most musically engaging system I have ever heard besides my Genelec system.
Really Inexpensive Systems That Sounded Great?
I think there is a big difference between "cheap" and inexpensive. I have blown money on "cheap" cables and immediately regretted it when my ears started bleeding from the brightness in my digital components. I also don’t mean "bargains" like the time I scored $2000 speakers for $200 on Craigslist, that is basically luck.
I am talking about inexpensive (less than $1500) for a system that sounded really great to you.
I fell into a whole house audio system from DTS Play-Fi because I wanted to try and compare different brands. I picked up Play-Fi amps, preamps and active speakers made by Polk, Paradigm, Klipsch, Onkyo and DefTech all for less than $1000 a pop. For what it is, whole house audio/casual listening it sounds great.
What inexpensive great sounding systems have you tried?