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What are/were the best sounding cheap components you have ever had?

It is easy to like the best of the best, so to say.  However it is always satifying and memorable when an inexpensive product turns out to be very good to great. 

Some that come to mind from personal experience"

Large Advents (original)

Early Nakamichi SR receivers

Original Monster interconnects and speaker wire

Pioneer Pl-12 turntable

Shure M-95

Early Stax and Audio Technica headphones

MoFi "special" pressings

Magnum Dynalab Etude.  Yes some were better, but a real value

The Absolute Sound mag in the beginning 

Early Conrad-Johnson and Audio Research tube electronics

Early Classe integrated amps.

The original Sony Trinitrons

And there are others....but part of this hobby is enjoying the journey.

Have you had cost effective items that were successful for your enjoyment?

jusam

Showing 2 responses by helomech

helomech
1,535 posts
 

Considering the company here, I would say the Tekton Lore Reference Be speakers ($1870) qualify. They contend for best speaker bargain I’ve encountered and fair well against most $5-6K/pair speakers available from the B&M dealers. What is really remarkable is the quality of their midrange and tone despite using a modest Eminence mid-woofer.

helomech
1,535 posts
 

I have owned at least a hundred components.

That possibly might account for why you haven’t heard anything that’s both great and cheap. I’ve only been back in this game for a decade or so and have easily gone through twice as many products. Despite my frequent gear churning I still attempt to seek out high value products with a goal of synergy. It’s possible you just haven’t been fortunate enough to encounter them yet, or you did, but they didn’t play well with the rest of your system at the time. It’s my opinion that never before has there been a better time to be an audiophile on a budget.
 

And it’s worth mentioning what can be accomplished through DIY. It’s possible to DIY a $1500 speaker that competes with $15,000 speakers all day. That’s no exaggeration. Sure, it takes some leg work, probably more than the well-heeled want to devote, but it is indeed possible to achieve great sound on a modest budget. 
 


 

 

 

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