what are your top "audio bargins" in your system history?
It is great to have all the money you need to have the best and endless upgrading. But what about the components you've had that were inexpensive that turned out to be favorites of yours?
I'm lucky to live in the Philly/NYC megalopolis so good choice appear often. I bought all my gear used except for two SVS SB1000 subs. My first system Adcom preamp/ tuner GFP555, GCD575 cd player and the big GFA 555 amp for $600, from a guy who worked in an audio store. My speakers were a pair of pristine Snell C2 purchased for $1000 from a guy downsizing. This was my first real audio system. I was just out of college when I bought the gear and lived 20 min. from the Adcom office around new Brunswick NJ. So I stopped by cold with my gear and for a dozen donuts they went over everything replacing parts as need as I waited by the back door, lol. That gear lasted decades. I sold it only when I bought a Technics SUG 700 for $1400 which was just 3 months old from a guy who decided to go separates and Canton 9k reference speaker with stands for $1200 also almost new, both currently in use today.
The down side when you buy like this you don't purchase the sound you like, you buy quality and you adapt to the sound you bought. The Snells were fantastic but to big for my wife's liking so after a decade or sooo 😉.I relented and sold this system only to have my wife say the stand mounted speaker were the same footprint, dah.
+1 on Buchardt s400 mkii speakers. I purchased them recently for my second system and have been utterly impressed. The base response of these speakers impart a warm, easy-to-listen quality. They are keepers for the price.
Nordost knockoffs cables from China: DIY HiFi store. These I tried on a lark and would up replacing all my WireWorld expensive Series 8 cables and power cords
Inexpensive is rather relative term... Any of this is not an necessity and not "must have", like food - which can, like right now, get unnecessarily expensive. While I am not wealthy nor rich, my understanding of a bargain in this hobby is directly related to the ratio of enjoyment to the price paid. Shorter period I kept it, less of the bargain it was.
Listed are components that I had, or still have and enjoy. And by my definition above, my system is the real bargain. Nordost cables included, and they are not cheap by any measure...
For the money:
Thorens TD160 with SME 3009
Audio Note CD1
Bel Canto S300iU with Dynaudio X12
Ortofon Quintet Black MKI
Overal:
Jelco TK series tonearms; I have 850
Koetsu Black Goldline
Capriccio Continuo Auralea 309
Martin Logan Motion series (HT only)
Any vacuum record cleaner; I bought my VPI 16.5 more than 20 years ago, and it is still doing great cleaning.
I bought a new pair of Thiel 2.7 when they were clearing out the a- stock after their closing was announced. Nearly 75% off, they were the stunning birdseye maple.
probably the most beautiful wood finish I’ve ever owned. Even my kids were impressed.
The biggest bang for my buck was buying a Linear Tube Audio Micro ZOTL or MZ2. This high-quality headphone amp, preamp, and class A 1-watt power amp makes this the Swiss Army knife of Audio.
Was purchasing a beautiful Luxman L-100 in 2002 from a music teacher a few towns over. While there I was admiring some of his other pieces & we made a deal on his Sansui, AU-9500. Both great components. We're shaking hands on the way out when he points to a box on the floor. Tells me "why don't you take those too, now you'll have a complete setup". Box contained a pristine set of 11ohm Rogers, LS3/5A. I offered to purchase those as well and he replied, "I have bigger speakers now, you take those" pointing to a room filled with Gershman & ARC and a Baldwin, Grand Piano. There is no better deal than free, lol. What a wonderful old gentleman with great taste in Audio.
In my case it would be a tie between a Yamaha CT 1010 I bought second hand for about $30 in the mid eighties, and a Sumo Athena, which I picked up around 1992 for $100. Neither are the best of course, but I still use them every day, and have built the rest of the many system iterations over the years around the phonostage built into the Sumo.
She's put up with all other replacements over the years, until seeming to say "all right, that's enough. It's my turn again".
I search for deals anytime I buy anything, which generally helps me get something twice as good as I can actually afford at that time. My two favorite finds were completely by accident though. One was a Dual record player that was in the prop room at our high school. The director thought it was broken and said it was donated for a past show, but if it worked I could keep it. It worked perfectly. The second was a pair of Dahlquist M909 speakers at a garage sale on my block for $150, essentially in perfect condition. Before I found them, I was stressing about what I was going to get once I finished my basement renovation. When I picked them up, I figured at least these could take care of us until I figured it out. They sound so good, I no longer feel any need to upgrade. It really feels like an endgame speaker for me.
My whole system from the used market. Intergrated amp at 45% retail, steamer-dac at 40% retail, speakers at 40%. 33 grand system for 15 grand. Plus 10 grand of cabling for 3. Only way to go on a disability pension over time. I was lucky enough to sort out getting my dream speakers when they became available, which was the game changer for me. Was seriously hard to do, but well worth it to me.
In 1982 I saw a pair of ESS TranStatics listed in The Recycler, priced at $400. They originally retailed for $1200 in the early-70's, when I had lusted for a pair.
The speaker is a 3-way, the highs reproduced by three RTR ESL tweeters (the same tweeters Infinity was using at the time in their Servo-Static and 2000A models), the mids by a KEF 5" B110 driver, the bass by the renown KEF B139 oval woofer (used by David Wilson in his original 1970's WAMM) in a transmissionline enclosure.
All the above are value for your money, I love them and would recommend the above components/cable to anyone. Their prices pale in comparison to my other stuff, by a large margin, yet provide me with great enjoyment. Bought most of them on sale or at a discount, even better!
If I had to buy Everything New....I couldn't afford it, and I be typing this under a bridge on a nearly dead cell....*L* Or some sort of 'Other' exquisite torture from the spouse....
Rather stay on her Good Side...sometimes it flickers, but still comes back ;)
Lets' see: Bought new, recent history; a purpose-built 'puter, digital crossover, a simple splitter/mixer, a rack to bind them 'in the darkness forever'... 😏
Earlier hist, an eq. and a patch bay....the latter, decades ago.
Some things...you keep them. You may not see the sort again, and if so...
It won't be cheaper. They aren't.
Everything else is either used and bought, or 'gifted'. *S*
The latter has been interesting; some from 'upgrading' by others, some from items audio that came with "...if anyone would appreciate This, it'd be you!"
There's the ones' that stick, tho'....
A Parasound C-4, another pair of crossovers, one very....'obscure'...but much appreciated. *wry S*
A pair of new large Heils', however....not from spouse,,,!
*s* Us 'junkies' gots' to stick together and sometimes stun each other. :)
Acurus 150 power amp bought store model for 300 hundred b&k pre amp
Reference 20 100 dollars ebay hifi zen bluestreaming dac 120 elac 2.0 ub52 three way speakers new for 455 at Amazon speedwoofer mk2 still enjoying them all.
”what are your top "audio bargins" in your system history?”
Any POOGE unit. Recently sold a Van Alstine modified Magnavox CD player and purchased a Decware modified unit. One great unit sold, another great unit purchased.
Also the Hafler DH-220/200 amplifiers. There are many out there and lots of resources to repair, modify, etc.
Cables Nordost Tyr, ic and speaker cables.Kimber 8ag Speakers cable and kcag ic.But the most bagain I got are my Audioquest storm series pc at Music Direct, I got them they have a demo sale, 1 Hurricane pc, 2 tornado pc.High Fidelity cables as well.
Norh le amp mono $400 Norh mine synthetic marble $900 from Thailand by Michael Barnes. KLH model nine,Icon ps3 phono pre at TMRaudio.Raysonic Tube Tube cdp from Paradygm audio dealer. Krell krc preamp from Saturday audio in chicago.Elac B6 .
I wonder if the SL600's I donated to the local thrift store ever found an appreciative home. I wonder, too, how long the tweeters lasted, or if the new owner even gave a damn.
I paid a dollar for about as mint as it gets of Beethoven's nine symphonies, Karajan/ Berlin on a tulip bordered Deutsche Grammophon box set, most sides not even a pop on them.
$40.00 for an unopened box set of the 58-65 Solti / Vienna Wagner Ring. I have only seen two sets, one nice condition, the other acceptable, and any other set, trashed. I almost wet my pants when I saw it, an unopened box as I wasn't even shopping for music.
I've gotten some good deals over the years. A few years ago I bought a Janis W1 subwoofer for $41.00. I think that it must be the best bargain that I've ever bought. Another one is the inexpensive Dayton Subwoofer amp that I bought to power it that's better than the original Janis Interphase amp and cost just $220.00. Speaking of $220.00, in 1979 I bought a pair of Mcintosh MC60's that I'm still using as my main amps today. I paid $110.00 for each.
Grace F9e, purchased new in 1984 for $158. I’m using it right now while my Soundsmith, The Voice, is getting retipped. The F9e is still amazing me after 39 years. You can buy one on eBay right now $500 from Japan. I’ve seen in the tires $1200 and thought about selling it. I’m glad I didn’t.
The 1986 classic Croft Micro phono preamp for £150. Blew away a stack of Naim gear. Rolled in some Dynaco Telefunken 12AX7s and a Brimar black plate CV5042 and it drove my system for years.
Thorens TD150 mkII turntable - a gift when my brother was cleaning out his garage.
AR turntable - bought used for $50 in 1980
Wharfedale Diamond 12.0 bookshelf speakers - the overall capability of these speakers would have been unheard of at this price point only a few years ago.
Chord QuteHD dac - bought used, when combined with MCRU linear power supply, this is the biggest single performance/price bargain I’ve found yet.
Lovely Thread, this is news I can use. I like my Mapleshade Speaker Wire, They don't look like much but for the money they out perform everything I have tried in the (lower) price range. I added some cheap bananas and I use them with my SS/ Harbeth 30.1.
About 1973. Marantz 105 tuner, $45, brand new, at a Navy Exchange somewhere in the Med. They had a stack of them that needed to be moved out, and my ship happened to be in port. Several of my shipmates grabbed one too, after I passed the word.
First "Audiophile" interconnects taught to me by Stan Warren (the S of PS Audio in the early 80's) at their facility. Three gauges of magnet wire(motor or coil winding wire) in something like 2/2/3 strands, wish I could remember exactly, braided and silver soldered into the cheapest Radio Shack RCA connectors, the ones with little metal wings and no outside insulation. Cost back then, about $1 for 3 ft pair.
We listened to his set on their shop system and compared to the best other cables they had on hand, they were better:) Also go to listen to the original cigar box preamp as well:)
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Later 90's I learned about using Star Quad raw cable and decent but low cost RCA connectors to make dang fine cables for around $10 a pair or less. I have used it for balanced cables as well.
I have no plans to spend more on cables, have plenty of raw cable to make all I will ever need.
Portal Panache Integrated...I had a few, but after surgery needed a unit with remote...I think they were all made in 2003, would love find one and had it refurbished/upgraded by Jon S...oddly, I was just thinking about that this morning...
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