"High End" audio on a budget

[s1mp13m4n]

Hello everyone. Those of you that know me on here know that I was born visually impaired. You may also know that I love music. I enjoy music and getting the best sound that I can on a budget. I am wondering what quality audio gear you may have and use. My system has some age on it now (and is in storage because of room) but I still miss it. I am currently enjoying my Tivoli Audio Model Two table radio with the Model Subwoofer. I love that little gem. Here is the gear that I own but do not have in the room right now:

NAD AV-716 receiver
NHT Super Zero speakers
NHT SW-3 subwoofer and matching amp
Marantz Model 67 cd player
Panamax Max1000+ power lin protector
MIT audio cables

Now I have had that setup for almost 15 years now. I also enjoy headphones. I own three sets...Sennheiser HD580, Grado SR225, and Sennheiser PX100. Also two Headroom headphone amps...the Airhead and Supreme. Again these items came from the mid 90's except the Tivoli and Px100 headphones.

What gear do you like, prefer, and use?

 

[bob.e]

B&K Amp
Superphon Pre-amp
NHT speakers bi-wired
Rhapsody interconnects and speaker wire
nakamichi cd player
onkyo turntable
yamaha surround sound amp and processor
the brick line conditioner and a panamax 1,000 line conditioner
I use a Bedini compact disk clarifier on my Cd's

 

[Sodapopjones]

Its called the on-board sound card in my PC with 2 satellites and a sub that lights up

I will kick the feces out of any Bose setup! Including the 901's my step-father used to have waaaay back in the late 80's haha.

Just to clarify I do have a harmon/kardon AV35 and a set of 10" Audiophiles I never use.

 

[VR6ofpain]

I was really into headphones before finding wet shaving. Yes shaving took over as my "weirdo" hobby. The only thing left is a few sets of cans and an amp. Specifically:
AKG K601, AKG K81DJ, Etymotic ER-6i, Gilmore Lite headphone amp

As far as home audio, I have:
Marantz 6.1 receiver, NHT Classic front and center speaker in "special dark" color (a dark brown), and a Velodyne subwoofer I have had forever (VA series).

Currently I only have the two fronts and sub connected to the receiver. Moving to an LCD I no longer can perch a center channel on top of it.

 

[syzygy]

I am a 2 channel guy with a penchant for vinyl and I think my rig is pretty amazing:

Rotel 1062/1072 Integrated/CD combo
Pro-ject Expression III turntable/ AudioNote IQ1 cart
Graham Slee Gram Amp SE / PSU1 power supply
B&W 685 speakers
AudioNote Red cables/connectors
Sansui TU666 tuner (vintage and awesome)

This would be considered on the budget end of things but it really is an incredible setup.

 

[Singapura]

I'm mostly into portable gear. It's a big thing here in Singapore with 3 shops spe......ed in headphones alone. My rig is a 3G 60Gb iMod, HeadAmp AE-2 and a pair of customized Shure E500.

 

[cityjim]

Audio Mirror T-61 full TUBE preamp - all triode class A harmony
Audio Mirror SET , full class A TUBE monoblocks
Magnepan 20.1 speakers in cherry wood finish and black socks
Oppo BDP-83 Blue Ray any everything else player - Heavily modded
Logitech Transporter
Klipsch KSW-15 subwoofer

Music to my ears .................


cityjim

 

[ouch]

Audio Mirror T-61 full TUBE preamp - all triode class A harmony
Audio Mirror SET , full class A TUBE monoblocks
Magnepan 20.1 speakers in cherry wood finish and black socks
Oppo BDP-83 Blue Ray any everything else player - Heavily modded
Logitech Transporter
Klipsch KSW-15 subwoofer

Music to my ears .................


cityjim

How the heck do you run Maggies with SET's?
They need a lot of juice to come alive.

 

[cityjim]

How the heck do you run Maggies with SET's?
They need a lot of juice to come alive.

That is where most people are wrong . One watt develops about 87dba or so with room gain . 2 watts 90dba and so on up the ladder . Most people don't know how loud 90dba really is . And this is without the subwoofer which pounds my entire house . See where I am going with this ? SET's and Maggies are meant for each other . Now a 2 wpc SET is obviously pushing it no doubt .

My tube amps are rated at 45wpc pure class A . Sure I could use more headroom when playing WITHOUT the sub , but I would lose the harmonic beauty of tubes . All by getting a larger non triode tube amp or god forbid a solid state amp .

I have other SS amps that are dull and lifeless to listen to . Adcom's flagship 5802 will push the 20.1's all over the floor . And that was no where near the 1% distortion lights being lit on the front panel . The lights were dimming in the house though . My Krell 600 watt FPB amp is nothing but severe overkill wattage wise . I am not even close to clipping this or the Adcom amp . All that wasted wattage just sitting there .

I measure the amp input voltage off the preamp and calculate the amp gain . Then measure amp output voltage , divide by 4 for the 4 ohm impedance of Maggies and get a reading of the actual wattage I am listening to . I find that the majority of my listening time I hardly get over a fist full of watts . Of course the sub has it's own amp ...... The guy that said the first watt is what counts was not BS'ing anyone .

So that is how I do it . Let's just say my equipment is far superior to any source material I can find . I easily hear minor changes in the same recording on a different label for example .

cityjim

 

[WhosYerBob]

I'm mostly into portable gear.

Same here.

I used to have a Bang & Olufsen BeoCenter 8500 with various speaker systems over the years but eventually sold it off. Now I use an iPhone with Etymotic ER4P headphones that I've modified with Leight Max earplugs for better sound isolation.

 

[chainfire]

For critical listening I have a CAL Audio CD player and a Steve McCormack personally upgraded headphone amp (tho I was torn between it and the Headroom Max) with Sennheiser 600's or Grado RS-1s. These are overkill in today's crappy quality mp3's and I don't use them like I used to, but when I do, I'm in pure audio heaven.

 

[Henrique]

My sistem was very unexpensive, but I think it's hard to beat in terms of "bang for a buck".

Cambridge Audio Azur 540A amplifier
Cambridge Audio Azur 540C CD player
Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 Speakers
Sennheiser HD-555 Headphones

 

[withoutink]

I love my SVS Speakers...
http://www.svsound.com/

 

[bradyarz]

my receiver is a $200 ish 6.1, 110w/channel sony, nothing to get excited about, but i do have it connected to some cerwin vega dx-9s that i managed to find. 15" woofers, 6" midrange, and i believe 1.5" tweeters. they weigh almost 100 lbs each, and are as big as a good sized mini fridge.

i know everyone is going the way of the 5.1, 7.1, or 23.8 sound systems now, but there's just something about having a massive set of vintage 3-ways sitting in the living room. they're rated at 400w each, and they really sound great all across the frequency spectrum.

i just have them hooked up to the receiver, tv, and dvd player for general use, but back in college we used to point them out the window and have block parties. not only do these things sound full in your living room, they sound nice and full a block away!

 

[s1mp13m4n]

Back in my teen years before I knew about high end audio gear I had this setup:

Onkyo TX844 receiver
Royal tower speakers (the 12 inch woofers were replaced with Pyle woofers)
Yamaha bookshelf speakers (8 inch OZ woofers installed)
Built to spec box for a 12inch Pyramid dual voice coil sub
Sony 5 disc cd player
Kenwood full logic single well tape deck
Optimus (Radio Shack) 10 band EQ
Sound King 12 ga. speaker wire from Parts Express
Sony MDR-V6 headphones

Funny how I remember all of that. Looking back on it...it was all about volume and bass and not about sound quality. I do remember my step dad having to pound the nails back in to the outside wall of my bedroom now and then. I guess with 3 12 inch woofers and 2 8 inch woofers in an 11x14 room, something was going to rattle. LOL I am glad all of that is out of my system.

 

[Mysterion]

Great subject! I know a lot of B&Bers have some very impressive high-end rigs, but I'm really interested to see some systems that make the most of the least. I'm a firm believer that a little research, and a lot of patience taken in set up, and details like cable and tube choice, can yield really impressive results. That said, after some swapping about, I'm really happy with the system in my tiny, home office:

Jolida 102b amp (with a few little tweaks)
NAD C542 CD
Musical Fidelity V-DAC
Silverline Minuet speakers

 

[FLTiger]

I love my soliloquy speakers, though I've not set them up since we moved into the apartment. I've had good luck purchasing through Audiogon. If you know what you want and are patient, you can often find really good bargains. I actually had to drive down to Tampa to pick up my speakers, but given what I paid, it was well worth it.

 

[jkchuma]

When I'm mixing, mastering, or listening for pleasure its my Sennheiser HD650s and my mbox mini. In a few years I should have the money to buy a used HD system on eBay.

 

[Crazy Dave]

With the exception of the catridge, some of the cables, and the power conditioner, everything has been bought friom thrift stores:

Yamaha C-60 preamp
Theshold CAS-1 Amp
Spendor BC-1 Speakers
Sony X222ES CD Player
Linn Sondek LP12 turntable from the ealy 70's, no upgrades, bottom cover removed, Grace 707 tonearm
Shure M97xe cartridge
Yamaha T-80 tuner
16 ga. lamp coard for speakers
Monster cable IL Referance II, Tsunami (CAT 5), and AR for interconnects.
Adcom Ace-515 power conditioner
Dedicated 12ga power line from the fuse box
PS Audio Power Port and Leviton outlets
Stocked Ikea record shelves as diffusers

Dave

 

[Thebigspendur]

The title of the post is high end on a budget. That's an oxymoron. You can buy bottom tier high end stuff which to some might be budget but to most its just expensive stuff. You can buy bang for your buck equipment but it will be pretty much mid fi stuff. Everything is relative.