This Pyle Phono Stage, $14.
doggone thing beat fancy ifi ... cambridge duo, .... it hides behind, linear in/out, I prefer my phono in my mx110z and my Luxman, but to get up and listening, it's surprisingly good.
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?
110 responses Add your response
Story about ’CHEAP’. I’m a retired Interior Designer, specialized in Corporate Offices, New Headquarters, Relocations, Renovations for 46 years. I’m still in school, working part time, just allowed to meet clients alone. I come back from a meeting, tell Betty, head of the Decoration Dept. (furniture and furnishings). "The client wants cheaper furniture" Betty leans back in horror, batts her eyelids at me and says "We don’t sell cheap furniture, tell the client I will find something "LESS COSTLY". I didn’t say anything, but the word has been out of my vocabulary ever since then. |
Cheap chinsy. Yes, it is out there. Price conscious, inexpensive, less costly. It is all out there, but to demean and then ask for recommendations is a left-handed compliment at best. "Where did you get that suit, JC Penny? You look great in it." That is how some people come across, maybe not even realizing it. Then there are the mean people. But mostly, as I notice grammar, spelling, intent, 'opportunity', etc. it reminds me just how poorly we may be expressing ourselves. The intent in this thread is simple enough. What component comes to mind that didn't cost what you thought that it should, that also sounded beyond your expectations?
You get what you pay for is true enough so much of the time, yet there have been notable exceptions. |
Once upon a long while ago, I bought a pair of Speaker Lab 2 way raw kits for my first 'outside the box' diy cabinets. Based on a top half of the curved back of the capital R with same proportion face width of the box designed for those drivers, just taller to keep the cubic volume the same. Out of oak strips for the curve....Clear oil finish... Sounded better than they deserved to. Have pics, but the speakers ended up with a my landlady when she bought an AR table at my suggestion and I bought the 901's....to her later dismay... "Jerry....do you realize I can hear your stereo over mine....indoors...?" oh.... *L* |
Rega Planar 2 - $19.00 - Goodwill in Los Gatos |
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Yes, I liked my AR-Xa turntable in 975 for $95, but that’s nearly $700 today for an all manual TT. Same math with large Advents, where $250 a pair is about $1,800. So for modern gear, I think my $299 Musical Fidelity V-90 DAC was great. After auditioning much more expensive DACs, I finally bought and kept a PS Audio Directstream for, what, 15x more, and that was on sale. If you like Magnepans, and I do, then they are bargains. |
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. |
Around 10 years ago I bought my current Vincent SA 31MK hybrid tube preamp. It has always been good especially when paired with the matching power amplifier the SP 331 MK. I went and bought it in a B stock sale, I was updating from my Rotel preamp in my second system . I actually bought the SA 31 list $1399 for $699. When I got it home it was not the same as on the box. It looked slightly different and had a remote control. I thought at first is was simply a Mk 2 version however eventually I went to Vincent site and found out its a totally different amp. The store was very local, less than 5 minutes drive. I went back and saw the young salesperson who seemed confused, however it could well have been embarrassment, he told be there were no B stock SA 31 MK's and A stock was $1699. I said what should I do. He went out the back, returned and said it's the last one we are not a dealer anymore, it's easier for us if you keep it. Still got it. |
Tekton Lore - $1080. Punches way way above its price. Pay extra for the grills if you don't like the looks. Van Alstine Vison SET 120 Power Amp. $1200. I haven't heard better at this price. Schiit Saga + Preamp. $400 If you like the sound of your power amp and don't want to change its sound, this pre is transparent and the build quality is better than $400. Aiyima A07 stereo amp $85 I know, a communist product. But a big improvement over the NAD D3020 in my second system with regards to sound quality and power output. It's tiny and not much to look at.
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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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some nova 6 [RS] speakers, mellow and surprisingly non-resonant [compared to their other speakers] first order crossover acoustic suspension design. a 1973 pioneer sx-737 35 wpc receiver which paired very well with the radshack speakers. a used akai 250D reel tape deck, solid tone with extended trebles. a technics sl-5 compact linear-tracking turntable with a shure m97HE cart on it. |
@chowkwan: are you sure about the $750 price for the ET LFT-8? It’s price at introduction 30 years ago (!) was to the best of my knowledge $1500/pr, increasing slightly when the -8A was introduced with improvements, and again when the -8b appeared. The -8b finally settled at a stable price of $2499’pr for years (what I paid for mine), and has now crept up to $2800. In the opinion of more than a few (Harry Wesifeld of VPI, Robert E. Greene of TAS---yes, there ARE persons of integrity at the mag, a number of UK reviewers, and myself. Reviews available on the ET website), the best speaker value on the market.. Then there is the new -8c, which incorporates a new dipole woofer, woofer amplification, and an active x/o with DSP (beating Magnepan to market with same), selling for $3900. The new woofer/amp/DSP is available separately for current -8b owners (a simple bolt-on replacement for the -8b's passive sealed woofer), at a price of $1500/pr. While the ET-8 IS inefficient (mid-80’s), its modulus of impedance is quite different from that of Magnepans. The woofer and magnetic-planar panel present a fairly even load of 8 ohms to the amplifier, the m-p panel alone (when bi-amping) an almost purely-resistive 11 ohms, great for tube amps. Magnepans in contrast are a 3-4 ohm load, which is why they prefer solid state. |
The one that stands out best in my mind was a pair of ADS bookshelf speakers, possibly the L300. They had a wooden veneer cabinet and a metal grill. I recall a review about them that was full of praise and that said that in a dark room, the speakers seemed to disappear leaving only the music. And, it was true. They were in my second system In our finished basement. The clarity and imaging were fantastic. I don’t remember what I was driving them with, possibly an NAD integrated amp, but, in a smaller space, the midrange and treble actually was a close second to my Infinity RSIIb’s, which were bi-amped. Great little speakers. |
My first Rega with a wooden base and an S-shaped arm, NAD 3140, and Allison Threes(the corner models). When properly placed, the Allison's performed well above their paygrade. Also my very first CD player; an early Magnavox/Philips built in Belgium and modified by one of Steve McCormack's early ventures, "The Mod Squad". It died twenty years ago but recently I ran across an original un modified unit that looks like it was preserved in a time capsule since brand new. Nearly bought tears to my eyes, I had to own it.
https://imgur.com/Ld9cvCS |
’less costly’ tubes sounded better My used Cayin amp had a pair of 6sn7 and pair of 6sl7, Cayin branded, no maker’s id, absolutely identical looking, but numbers were marked Tested em all, incl power tubes. With my great experience I put two in wrong sockets and blew a 6sl7. Put a used GE from stock, sounded great. Ordered matched pair Sylvania Military grade, cool looking chrome tops (wanted visibly different, so smart) They did NOT sound good. Brent Jesse had me first break them in 60 hrs, still didn’t like them, he gave me full credit, I tried some GE, half the price, sound great. Oh Happy Day! |
Gifts, yard sales, inheritances, not the same as buying 'less costly' new and it sounded great. Then there is unintended LUCK. I needed a front loading TT for the Garage Shop system to stack stuff, keep dual cassette in for nostalgia and home made tapes. Sony PS FL-1, P mount. I planned on getting it, converting the P mount with a 1/2" adapter so I could buy a better advanced stylus cartridge for it. Darn thing arrived with a P Mount Shibata! AT 485U (didn't know they made them). got what I wanted by pure luck most similar I can find is this modified version, AT body, bonded shibata tip
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This is great stuff but what it makes me want to weep for is all the stuff in the last 50 years I've either left behind or given away to kids, step kids, grandkids, storage spaces never saw again and etc. Klipsch speakers, Tannoy speakers, old subs, cheap power conditioners, cables, cords and connects I may have paid a fortune for. o and a Krell 2250 I traded to Peachtree for $900. Do I miss it, I dunno I never had a Pre that worked with it anyway. Another trip down memory lane-Peace Out Bros, |
@nicolelynn_94115: Oh man, I forgot about the FMI 80! Talk about value!! I didn’t have the 80, but I had Robert Fulton’s Model J, which employed the 80 as it’s midrange reproducer. For highs it was the RTR ESL tweeter box (containing 6 ESL tweeters, the same ones David Wilson used in his original WAMM), for lows a transmissionline-loaded dynamic woofer. I don’t remember the price of the 80 (something like $200?) but in 1974 the Model J was priced at $1200/pr, itself good value By the way, Robert Fulton was also an excellent recording engineer. His ARK label LP's feature fantastic recorded sound, with superb inner detail and natural timbres. His recordings are exclusively of local Minnesota choirs and church organists, good ones. |
Ocean Digital WR 10 Digital Tuner. I bought it to dip my toe into the world of Internet Radio. It was becoming impossible to get even a clean mono signal from WQXR in NYC ( yes it's a shitty 710 watt classical station) But there was a time when my Magnum Dynalab could receive it in Stereo BUT with all the new hi-rise construction in lower Manhattan those days were long gone.... I was told by one of the former repair techs from Stereo Exchange to just get an internet based unit. I didn't want to spend a lot so I went for the WR 10 based on reviews.
WOW it's a great little unit. Mind you I'm just using it to stream classical music ( Easy Classic French in this case) for background BUT WOW! I replaced the wall wart with a $50 dollar IFI power supply,added a Monarchy DIP and have it running into my Kora Tube DAC - and it sounds AMAZING ... The unit was under $150 bucks, the power supply another 50 and a used Monarchy DIP $200 bucks. Another maybe 150 bucks for digital cables, which you would need in any case and you have a little world beater. It sounds ridiculously good! Pair it with a a set of self powered speakers and it would be a fabulous, desk top, 2nd bedroom, work room sound system. |
KLH stereo clock radio purchased in ‘82. Walnut cabinets( main unit had one speaker & then a separate speaker) & sounded really good. Obviously not extended at either end but very smooth & listenable. It was $200 which was a lot for a clock radio then but had it for over 30 years until I gave it to a friend to enjoy. |
Vintage Equipment, Intended Overhaul, Great Sound and Great Value I took a chance on a vintage mx110z McIntosh Tube Tuner/Preamp. Enjoyed it as received for a few years, then sent it to Audio Classics for Overhaul. New capacitors/resistors/rectifiers/align tuner/all new gold plated rca jacks. Now, I advise: Prearrange with Audio Classics (or ____?, McIntosh: send directly to Audio Classics; They Overhaul it, ship to you. You buy, you pay directly for UPS to pack and ship; seller simply drops it off unboxed at nearby UPS in your name. i.e. my mx110z mid 2019, bought $1,200. Overhaul $1,200. Total $2,400. (plus tax/ship, any equipment needs that). Costs have gone up, so has new stuff. It is a tremendous way to get Old World Sound Quality and Full Features with New World Overhaul, for Far Less than New. |
I bought Pioneer SP-FS52 speakers designed by Andrew Jones at the recommendation of my brother-in-law for some cheap speakers in a secondary system. I knew they were superb for their price pair with an old Hafler DH-200. However, I recently brought them into my main listening room for some fun and Wow! Admittedly, I am driving them with a Cary Audio SLI-100 which is probably unusual for such budget oriented speakers. Nevertheless, these speakers have no obvious weaknesses and punch so far above their price point that it is hard to believe. Hats off to Andrew Jones. He is a master and the crossovers are dialed in. |
