Budget gear that has really impressed you

McLogan - agree with you there. I have a Debut II turntable which sounds superb for the money. Shows how you only need to pay a bit more for a decent TT over the cheap plastic jobbies.

 

The Project Debut III is good is it? I'd be vaguely wondering about getting one to play with... There's a version with a built in phono stage,is this any good or is there a better cheap phono to go with it?

 

I'm very pleased with the Debut III, considering the money paid and that some of the cheaper 'plastic' turntables from the likes of Sony are available for not much less money. I'm pretty sure the cart is upgradable at a later stage too.

In the 'super budget' phono stage category, there is only the Pro-Ject PhonoBox or NAD PP-2 to really consider. The next up is the Graham Slee Gram Amp 1, available for £85. If I was buying the Debut III and needed a phono stage, then I'd buy the one with the built in phono stage. Mine seems to be playing up - the power brick socket seems to be very loose. I'm currently using a nasty £20 B-Tech that I bought ages ago from Richers - which sounds pretty naff. Going to get a NAD PP-2 next month, as I think it'll be a good match for my C320BEE amp and if past NAD gear is anything to go by, it should be decent VFM.

 

rega planer 3 ,and it still does today.
a classic piece of kit i think?

 

DENON PMA250SE / PMA255UK

Only 30 Watts but it sounds way better than one might expect at the price. Well built too.

 

i have the denon 350 and it sounds rather good.

 

Depends in what it impressed me.
Soundwise: none.

 

is cable allowed into this?

i bought some gale XL-315 bi-wire for £4 a metre.. and have tried on various occasions to replace it with more expensive stuff...

kimber 8vs... too smooth in the midband
chord rumour 4... to peaky in the midband and generally forward
naim naca5... not bad but still a little rough around the edges to me
Van Den Hul CS-122... overall too laid back and lifeless. seemed to rob my system of energy.


and every time i end up back at the gale stuff. which seems at least to me to be balanced.. well judged and not over recessed or forward in any area. It could possibly use a little more air compared to the chord.. but id rather lose a little air and save my eardrums from splitting upper mids.

Great stuff... go buy some

 

oh.. and the rega planar 2.... far better than it has any right to be for that sort of money. Still love it.. and it knocks musical socks off my cd player most of the time.

 

yeah, I was also impressed with the gale XL315 speaker cable - in fact I still use for my centre speaker...it's less than 2 quid a metre

 

A couple more giant killers:

QED Qunex 2
Cambridge Audio Pacific

QED Silver Anniversary

 

Compared with other things that perform at a similar level, I'd call the Squeezebox 2 budget. Great bit of kit only let down a bit IMHO by the cheap digital clock styling - but if it were different it wouldn't be on a budget thread

 

Agreed. Very well-made, for the money.

 

The Qunex 1 isn't bad either - got a few of those in my system. Thor cables are also quite decent for the money - I'm using a 3.5mm to 2x Phono to connect my PC to my amp. You can get them in Maplins.

 

The Nordost WyreWizard line of cables I find particularly good value for money.

 

I soldered some phono plugs onto the orange mains cable that I used to use with my Flymo mower.

Fantastic value for money.

 

yep, even better value for money...

 

yeah, on my old technics hifi - I replaced the original bell wire (speaker cables) with the cables from some old hair dryers...!

 

Does the Marantz PM6010 count as budget? I can recall flogging them for £150 odd at RS and felt that it was superior to the competition in virtually all respects. Had a nice built in phono stage as well.

 

Got to be the Sonic T, cheapest thing I've bought and I'm sure I haven't heard it at its best yet.