Your advice for building the 'Best Bang for the Buck' system

[DaveyF]

On the other thread...'A question of value in today's hi-end', I asked about mega buck gear.
Today an a'phile friend asked my advice on what i would buy if I was to build a great
system with as little budget as possible. IOW, what I would recommend to a novice a'phile
who was just entering the hobby and wanted to get a 'taste' of what the Big Boy systems offer
for as little money as possible.
I'm sure many of you have thought about this question or have recommended
a system that you believe would fit that category..
IMO it is a LOT easier to come up with a Big Boy system when budget is no issue than when the opposite is true....So, in keeping with the forum "What's Best"-- what is the best for little money? --New or used gear, makes no difference.
Let's see what the members can come up with

 

[amirm]

I just arrived at one version of this:

1. PC as the media source and transport. $500 to $900 with the latter being an all-in-one touchscreen PC.

2. A nice USB to S/PDIF converter. $500 but optional.

3. PeachTree Nova. $1,100.

4. Bookshelf speakers of your choice. I tested both Paradigm Studio 20 and Revel M22. Former is $1,100 the latter $2,000 MSRP.

So $2,600 at the low end and $4,600 at the high end.

With all the components above and M22, I was shocked at the resolution and fidelity of the system. It was sitting to another system at 10X the cost and I must say, a lot of what I liked about the big system existed there. I removed #2 and replaced it with built-in USB and quality dropped to "high-fi" from high-end .

Best of all the system is very easy to use, and simple to put together.

In a couple of weeks we should have the Paradigm Atoms to test with above to see if we can shave $500 from it.

Note: we sell all of this gear so take that into account in what I said .

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

I'd like to think that I came up with a pretty good system that qualifies as a "best bang for the buck" one.

Not having a lot of disposible income I had to really search for components that offered me the kind of sound that was both acceptable to me (primary), yet at the same time offered something above and beyond. I have kind of found that, although I know improvements could be made.

My system consists of a Nottingham Analogue Horizon SE TT with Rega RB250 arm and (temporary) Sumiko Pearl. It replaces a Grado Ref Platinum that is pooched. For speakers I chose Totem Sttaf for their ability to reproduce a very nice mid-range and upper frequency response, as I enjoy voices and acoustic music most. It is being driven by a vintage Pioneer SA-9500II integrated amp and has given me much joy. I incorporated some tweaks and have tried to get the best out of the components and room given my resources.

When reading this it may not sound like much, but it is a nice "best buck for the bang" system.

 

[RogerD]

I really like the Accuphase Kensonic seperates that were manufactured in the mid 70's. I have recapped both C200 preamps and P300 amplifiers. The build quality,versatility,sound and design are top notch. They come up on ebay all the time and can be purchased for less than 1K invested. With parts and labor you will have about 2500.00 invested when done,and will have in my opinion a great core system. FWIW.

 

[mep]

Davey-In order to make this perfectly clear, this is all just an exercise right? This was just you and your buddy wondering how cheap you could put together a system for a currently non-existing newbie that might ask you the question? You forgot to mention whether your imaginary audiophile newbie wants a digital or an analog front end.

 

[DaveyF]

mep, that is correct. I would not expect this forum or any other to be involved directly with the recommendation to a 'newbie' of what to buy ( unless of course a novice directly requested same). Although, I do think that the members of this forum are certainly very capable to suggest valid recommendations to the question.
I also think that the question of analog vs. digital front end, should fall on the individual posters recommendation as to where their belief of which offers the 'best bang for the buck'

 

[Bruce B]

Just remember, the better your room acoustics are, the less you'll need to spend on equipment to have high-end sound. If people just put a few hundred dollars in acoustics, they would find out what "bang for the buck" meant!

 

[naturephoto1]

Just remember, the better your room acoustics are, the less you'll need to spend on equipment to have high-end sound. If people just put a few hundred dollars in acoustics, they would find out what "bang for the buck" meant!

Bruce,

Plus, with the Acoustic Room Treatments in place you will be able to hear any changes made in the system more readily and to determine what if any other changes that you may want to make.

Rich

 

[Gregadd]

Just remember, the better your room acoustics are, the less you'll need to spend on equipment to have high-end sound. If people just put a few hundred dollars in acoustics, they would find out what "bang for the buck" meant!

From your mouth to Ethan's ears.

 

[naturephoto1]

From your mouth to Ethan's ears.

With the exception of my speakers, the addition of the Acoustic Room Treatments have had the greatest affect on the audio performance in my room.

Rich

 

[Bruce B]

Bruce,

Plus, with the Acoustic Room Treatments in place you will be able to hear any changes made in the system more readily and to determine what if any other changes that you may want to make.

Rich

You're so right.. too bad room treatments are as sexy as a new DAC or TT.

From your mouth to Ethan's ears.

SHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

 

[DaveyF]

Bruce, I do agree with you that room acoustics are a MAJOR factor as to the ultimate sound of one's system. However, I think that including room acoustic advise to a novice or someone who is coming into the hobby from the typical Bose system would turn them off pretty quickly vs. acquiring just new gear. When you say..."You're so right.. too bad room treatments are as sexy as a new DAC or TT." I think that you are absolutely on the right track there!

 

[Ethan Winer]

From your mouth to Ethan's ears.

But it's surely The Truth (tm).

--Ethan

 

[caesar]

On the other thread...'A question of value in today's hi-end', I asked about mega buck gear.
Today an a'phile friend asked my advice on what i would buy if I was to build a great
system with as little budget as possible. IOW, what I would recommend to a novice a'phile
who was just entering the hobby and wanted to get a 'taste' of what the Big Boy systems offer
for as little money as possible.
I'm sure many of you have thought about this question or have recommended
a system that you believe would fit that category..
IMO it is a LOT easier to come up with a Big Boy system when budget is no issue than when the opposite is true....So, in keeping with the forum "What's Best"-- what is the best for little money? --New or used gear, makes no difference.
Let's see what the members can come up with

This is a lot easier "asked" than "recommended and experienced". Audio is like fine wine. It doesn't make sense for a beginner to drink expensive wine. He just can't tell the nuances, so it's a huge waste. Same with audio. You want to start out "cheap" and with a "value play". But as you get more experienced, spending more money gets you a tad closer.

To start, get some cheap B&W's and drive them with Rotel, fed by a "cheap" Rega cd player.

 

[DaveyF]

This is a lot easier "asked" than "recommended and experienced". Audio is like fine wine. It doesn't make sense for a beginner to drink expensive wine. He just can't tell the nuances, so it's a huge waste. Same with audio. You want to start out "cheap" and with a "value play". But as you get more experienced, spending more money gets you a tad closer.

To start, get some cheap B&W's and drive them with Rotel, fed by a "cheap" Rega cd player.

I'm not so sure that I really agree with you regarding your point that a novice cannot hear the nuances in audio. In fact, I think that a novice may be more astounded by the differences to be had in high-end vs. what they have typically heard at the Big Box stores etc.
As one example,I would bring up Maggies as a way to introduce a novice to what the high-end offers. Some of their older models can be had for very little money, and besides the vast difference in look to what a novice would be used to, they also offer far superior sonics as well.

 

[flez007]

I have a small Chineese SET amp and a pair of LothX speakers at my office, feeding music thru my laptop... Nice results at less than $2Kusd.

 

[caesar]

I'm not so sure that I really agree with you regarding your point that a novice cannot hear the nuances in audio. In fact, I think that a novice may be more astounded by the differences to be had in high-end vs. what they have typically heard at the Big Box stores etc.
As one example,I would bring up Maggies as a way to introduce a novice to what the high-end offers. Some of their older models can be had for very little money, and besides the vast difference in look to what a novice would be used to, they also offer far superior sonics as well.

I am in total agreement with you about the initial wow factor of hearing excellent reproduction of music by a quality system. That's how a lot of people get hooked on the hobby.

But I am talking about subsequent upgrades, like going from a $2k amp to a $5k amp to a $10 K amp. I think that those differences are much more subtle and more difficult to perceive for newbies in the hobby. As an example, my wife and I attended a jazz concert. We did not have the best seats. My wife, who does not care for my participation in the hobby, surprisingly told me that my system sounds much better than what we were hearing at the show. But when I upgraded my amps and speakers my wife could not tell the difference between $5K and $25K speakers.

After people get into the hobby and hear a lot of gear, they start to appreciate more nuances of the more expensive gear. Or they stop spending money and say what I got is good enough.

 

[Bruce B]

But I am talking about subsequent upgrades, like going from a $2k amp to a $5k amp to a $10 K amp. I think that those differences are much more subtle and more difficult to perceive for newbies in the hobby. After people get into the hobby and hear a lot of gear, they start to appreciate more nuances of the more expensive gear. Or they stop spending money and say what I got is good enough.

I very much agree with this. I teach people and seasoned audiophiles on the fine art of listening. After a certain point, if you don't know what to listen for, you're not going to hear it. Case in point.. at the last EXCO meeting where Gary had the analog/digital setup, I was telling the guys what to listen for. Once they started getting the hang of it, it became alot easier to pick out the differences.

 

[JackD201]

In my mind, audio is about making the right compromises whatever the budget.

In that context, I'd throw the question right back at the newbie.

"What aspects of sound float your boat?"

Without the answer to that question, I wouldn't know where to start in making up a short list.

 

[rsbeck]

The best bang for the buck system I ever put together was this:

Computer front end.

USB to Apogee Mini-Dac.

Balanced interconnects from Apogee to Mackie internally bi-amped speakers.

Incredibly simple signal path, synergistic components that played extremely nice together and produced organic naturally detailed sound with excellent extension over the audio range.