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?

jusam

The original Rega Kyte bookshelf speakers that were £200 sometime in the early 1990s.

If it wasn’t for their lack of bass I’d still be using them.

They had such natural timing and coherence that they made most others at the time sound somewhat messy and blurred in comparison.

@cd318 I feel the same way about the Rega RS1. The driver stores almost no energy so everything sounds so fast and natural. There are only a few crossover parts so there is less there to color the sound. I would love to hear the old Kyte. Most that I see for sale are in pretty rough condition. 

@alerrico 

The one and only NAD 3020A back in the 70's.  Was the start of you can get quality without all the fuss from NAD.

 

Of course!

I can't believe that I've somehow forgotten about the first amp I bought!

I got mine in the mid 1980s and it did a great facsimile of far bigger and far more costly amps that followed it. 

None of which came close to matching it for value for money.

A stone cold bargain if ever there was one.

I wish I'd kept it now.

Job 225 amp $1,300 in 2017

HH Scott LK-72 $500 in 2019

McIntosh MC240 $1,000 + $1,000 for total refurb including tubes in 2022

Buchardt S300 “C” stock new $850 in 2018.  Pristine condition not sure where the “C” stock comes from!

The Dynaco tube system --- FM3 tuner, PAS3 preamp, and ST-70 power amp, without a question....still not off today's best systems with fresh tubes and critical components updated with modern capacitors.

The second best: KLH ORIGINAL (not new model) Loudspeakers ..... still very competitive with my Thiel 2 2's and 3.5's.