Cheapest system you could live with

i was wondering what is the cheapest system you could live with and use daily an still enjoy the music.

i would be happy with a cheap sony cd player run into a basic rotel amp and some mission bookshelfs which i think could be had for < £100 second hand.

 

Assuming CD only, I could live with the Marantz DR6000 I have, coupled to my Nait 2 into a pair of Royd Doublets, connected with Naim NAC-A5 cable. Total value around £600 or thereabouts. Sounds better than many much more expensive systems I've heard.

 

Ipod

 

Tivoli

 

A Denon MC30 with some fairly decent budget speakers. Just anything with a bit of warmth and a bit of good fast bass.

 

MP3 + Koss headset

 

squeezebox 2, nosdac, technics power amp with power meters (se a3000 would be the one or an se a1 sold by someone who didn;t know it cost 6kwhen new) and 2nd hand ipl transmission lines. cables would be homebrew.
that's about 400 quid all in if you can find the ipl's.
cheers

julian.

 

Hi,

Decent 6.5" fullrange driver (preferably old Alnico Magnet japanese ones) in sealed boxes, nice EL84 SE Amplifier, sensible player, right now it is a Morphy Richards Brand B&O inspired compact system with line level outputs added. I call that the bedroom System.

If I where waving the flag for the Business, I'd say 3D Acoustics CD T-80 CD Player, 3D Acoustics STP-80 Integrated Amp, 3D Sonics Transparence Speakers with some sen sible commercial Sub. My own Living room system is a few jumps ahead of that though.

Ciao T

 

Honestly, I don't have a clue. It would depend from so many factors.
Having money then probably I wouldn't have anything less than my system. Having much less money, maybe my system without the analogue sources and all the voodoo-stuff.
Not having money (as it was nearly 40 years ago), I would probably buy stuff that I can resell later with profit. I would then go more often to concerts..

 

But... I'm not entirely happy with what I have at the moment! I ma very happy with it but I could live with what I have now for a long, long time if I had a better source and a good subwoofer. I am quite taken by the look of the Wadia 27xi so am saving my pennies

However, I think I could live with, and regularly enjoy music on Monitor Audio GR10 speakers, a Cyrus 3 amp, DEQ2496 and cheap transport (like the Cambridge Audio I have) and a pair of my bass traps.

 

hmmm well i just built a system for a mate... mission 780 se's i got from a mate for £100... a rega brio amp he got for £110 and an arcam alpha 7 cd player which was bought for £120.. and a rega planar 2 i sold him for £80 so thats what £410 all in..

it sounds totally superb. very musical nimble and full of sparkle. Very enjoyable in every way. I could certainly live with that every day.

oh and forgot £20 to add two runs of DNM reson solid core cable which i recommended to him

 

Cheap DVD player...

Paradigm/Infinity speakers upto about 80% of budget...

... allowing enough for a Denon AV receiver (ie DAC + amps)

Interconnect included with DVD player. Speaker cable from electrical dept at B&Q, along with breeze block speaker stands (if necessary).

Probably total out to a 1000 dollars for brand new gear at todays street prices.

 

So... given all of the above, why do we spend thousands on hifi? Are we stupid? Are we overpaid? Are our willies so small that we have to wave them at every opportunity in the hope that they will stretch a bit?

Actually, I had a mate round yesterday and we played a load of CDs and they all sounded great (apart form the new Madonna one which is execrable - bass and treble to maximum! the engineers should be shot). I'd hate to have to settle for anything less than I have now. Since the arrival of the Contour 1.1s, anything less simply won't do.

 

Hi,

Well, I could LIVE driving a Trabant or a Lada, that does not mean I would do so IF I had other options.

Is that the Imperial or the Schizophrenic "We"?

In either case, you will have to answer that, for myself, no.

Doubtful, seeing where I work.

No idea how it hangs with you, no complaints here...

There then is your definition.

Another system I lived with for a good while was a pair of JBL Control 1, a small cubical german semi-pro (home) studio Amp and a CD Walkmen plus one of them Sony Semi-Pro Tape Walkmen. That was while living out of a suitcase during my live sound & DJ Days....

During those times even my current bedroom system would not have been a "livable" option. nFor me music lives in the midrange, so I'll do without the extreme bass, the extreme treble and without extreme loudness, if I have to. Not that I'd prefer it that way, merely that I COULD LIVE with that.

Equally, I prefer low quality sound music over no music. While pushing nightwatch duty in the east german paramilitary I was listening to music using a tiny, clandestine pocket radio and small earphone, listening out of all stations to AFN on AM. I'd have been in plenty of trouble had any of the officers noticed.

So, a system to live with can be a tiny AM pocket Radio under one set of circumstances and a £ 100K Kondo/Audio Note Japan Setup under a different one.

Ciao T

 

Cyrus One + B&W DM 110i + nice CD-player, like 2nd hand Marantz.

 

That sure as hell is a nice system...

 

Naim Nait-2 or -1, Marantz CD63KI, B&W 302's, or Monitor-Audio MA1's.

 

New Senn hd 650's cans (£200) . 2nd Hand rega ear - 2nd hand p3 with rb300, 2nd hand rega wall bracket for p3 and new bias or 2nd hand elys . £450 ish all in.

the ear was voiced with the 650's, And they are the amongst the best headphones money can buy. The ear is an amazing bit of kit for the money, as is the p3.

+ will form the basis for a great cd amp and speaker based system, whne you get the money.

i

 

Technics SL-D2 + Shure M75ED turntable - £4 from my local dump.

Technics SL-P222 CD player - £4 from the same place.

Yamaha CR820 Receiver - £25 from Freeads

Mordaunt Short MS20i Pearls - £5 from car boot sale.

Budget audio bliss, both CD AND vinyl for £38 - Sorted!

 

My shiny new Samsun YH-J70 MP3 player sounds great into my Senn HD600s. Get 'em both 2nd hand and you're looking at maybe 250 quid, tops. Add a 2nd hand Rega Ear and you've got real quality for 350 quid.

If you want speakers, then my friend's Musical Fidelity A1000 amp into a pair of 2nd hand Kans sounds absolutely wonderful. Granted, he's got a decent LP12 front end, but even with a 2nd-hand, half-decent CD player like a Marantz CD63 KI or something, it'll still sound great, and shouldn't cost more than 400 quid or so.

Dunc