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?

 

kota1

I don't like really expensive wine.  I feel like a lot of the time it tastes like wine with a bunch of gravel in it.  I really don't like expensive coffee. It's too bitter.  I've listened to some five and low six figure sound systems and while they seem impressive they seem like they're trying too hard I can also find the sound kind of uncompromising and the whole experience just overbearing. 

Mostly, expensive systems are an aesthetic that's harder to achieve at a lower price point. The fact that it's hard to achieve that aesthetic at a lower price point doesn't mean that it's somehow better.  I've watched a lot of people chug down expensive wine without knowing if they liked it. 

At some level there's a lot of diminishing return chasing some imagined super system. The whole hobby is filled with confirmation bias, and desire for desires sake, and if you ask me, a lot of junk science. 

My main system is a Tom McNally SET amp that I bought for $350 in a Harbor Freight parking lot and a pair of Omega speakers which are single drivers.  I love that system and wouldn't trade it for anything. It's easy to listen to for extended sessions and the mids sound great to my wife and I. 

In the end, you'll be happy with your system when you allow yourself that pleasure. 

Ultimately there is no objective measure, not really, as I don't listen to test tones in an anechoic chamber. 

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. 

I've been enjoying listening to our living room / tv system comprised of Raspberry Pi 4 source, HDMI out to tv, tv optical digital out to a Nuforce DDA-120 integrated and a pair of Polk R300 speakers.

Playing Qobuz at 16/44.1 (limited by what the TV will pass thru), it sounds good enough to definitely hold my attention.

RPi 4 was about $100 (running Raspberry Pi OS and Qobuz in the Chromium browser), DDA-120 was I think $275 used, and Speakers were $100/pair on sale.

The Nu-Force DDa-120 has gotten rave reviews and that sounds like a MUCH better way to listen to TV. Can you run the Pi via USB into the amp?

Mac C26 and Mac2100 bought 30 years ago at auction for under $400, recently re capped pre and well maintained amp. 

Polk Lsim 707 towers for $400 off Craigslist in immaculate condition, replaced my 27 y/o Acoustat spectra

Sony RCD W500C used $100

Sony PS LX5, Grado cartridge (looking for upgraded tt) $125

JDS Atom headphone amp for $80 with Sennheiser HD 518 (my wife goes to bed early)

Room is 16 x24 with 9' ceilings. 

I can and have listened all day and never get tired of the Polks. About $1200 all together.