It is always a little dangerous visiting forum communities like SN. I get to live vicariously through many of you, viewing and reading with a sense of awe at some of your setups. I love music, but my budget for this hobby is towards the much more modest end. I have over the years put together the best system I could, given opportunity and $ constraints. Second hand all the way for me and I have ended up with a, to my ear, very decent sounding 2ch system for relatively few $ spent. Has largely been responsible for keeping upgradeitis at bay for a decade and counting.

 

Would love to see other members' more budget rigs, maybe with a brief story about how you came to put it together.

 

Let's try to play by the following rules/guidelines for this thread:

* total outlay for the system needs to have been less than $1000 in your home currency

* no more than 2 components can have been $0 gifts

 

My humble rig, total outlay $301.12:

* Rotel RA-970BX Integrated - won on eBay for $95.56

* Beresford Caiman DAC with 2 good RCA cables - $85 on Gumtree

* Chord Company Rumour speaker cables 2m - traded locally for some computing equipment

* Sound Dynamics 300Ti Speakers - $120.56 on eBay

 

I had initially set a budget of $500, so was really happy with the above end result. Managed to source it all over the course of about 12-15months, starting back in 2012. Along the way there were some other purchases (eg. a lower power Denon amp, a CD player) that were sold when something better was found - all iirc were sold for at least what I paid for them.

 

So would love to hear your story.

 

I should be able to add to this thread. Not until the weekend though.

Pics would be good.

Running a second system, vintage/old

TT Sansui FR1080 $120 with new stylus on a EEI cartridge

Sansui 331 reciever  $180

Marantz CD52 MkII SE $180

DCM Macrophone speakers $200

Chord RCA cable $50

Free RCA copper RCA cable for TT

Mission speaker cables 40 yrs old

$730 total 

The synergy of the system, very musical.

12 wpc is great for late night listening.

Edited June 8, 20232 yr by wen

Love that receiver

Not sure we need another thread like this - we already have one:-

 

 

Hear what you are saying   @Hydrology, but some people with 

" humble" systems may be overshadowed by some of the more epensive and eotic systems posted on that thread, they may feel their system is not up to being posted. EG, TAD speakers RRP $269,000 v $1000 for the whole system.

Edited June 9, 20232 yr by wen
typo

12 minutes ago, wen said:

Hear what you are saying   @Hydrology, but some people with 

" humble" systems may be overshadowed by some of the more epensive and eotic systems posted on that thread, they may feel their system is not up to being posted. EG, TAD speakers RRP $269,000 v $1000 for the whole system.

Unless there's rules in place about what is considered a "humble" system, there will always be the chance of misrepresentatation. I don't really want to be looking at 10 different "Post Your System" threads. I don't mind the individual threads, but multiple "clique" threads tends to segregate rather than promote what this forum is supposed to be about - COMMUNITY.

Anyway, off topic now, if the mods see the value in its existence than so be it.

Hmm, I just realized that my "humble" system does not sneak in under the $1k mark. It is a B&O Beoplay A2 + phone via Bluetooth. I guess it sneaks in under $1k if you don't count the phone. The sound is quite surprising for such a compact speaker. That's my potted basil enjoying some tunes ... 

 

On 08/06/2023 at 11:46 PM, wen said:

Running a second system, vintage/old

TT Sansui FR1080 $120 with new stylus on a EEI cartridge

Sansui 331 reciever  $180

Marantz CD52 MkII SE $180

DCM Macrophone speakers $200

Chord RCA cable $50

Free RCA copper RCA cable for TT

Mission speaker cables 40 yrs old

$730 total 

The synergy of the system, very musical.

12 wpc is great for late night listening.

 

 

Thanks for sharing your system, wen. Your comment, "the synergy of the system, very musical", resonated with me. My system has less components, but I would draw a similar conclusion that the various parts of my system seem to work well together and produce a very pleasing, musical sound, that I enjoy listening to for hours.

 

I hesitated to share pics of my setup due to its current less than optimal arrangement (and the messiness of my desk).  Used to have more room (and thus more flexibility for speaker placement), but 2 years ago my daughter moved her study desk area into my office, halving the space. I have enjoyed the many hours of cross-the-table chats with her, but it has meant my speakers currently reside under my desk. Far from ideal, but I still enjoy the music.

8 hours ago, Hydrology said:

Not sure we need another thread like this - we already have one:-

Hi @Hydrology. Sorry, didn't mean to cause any friction with my post. I am a newbie, but looking forward to being part of the community.  Prior to my post, I had gotten through the first 50 or so pages of the 'My System Today' thread that you linked (plus most of the first two pages of other threads in that sub forum). Amazed at so many of the systems shared there - love the passion, the pursuit of each member's unique idea of audio 'perfection', blown away by the level of knowledge represented and the desire and willingness to share that knowledge. Having said that, I didn't see many posts featuring simpler/cheaper/more humble rigs, hence my post.

 

Not looking to create divisions in the community. Just interested to see how other fellow music lovers, with budgets towards the end of the financial spectrum that I find myself in by circumstance and choice, have pursued that common passion.

I’m for keeping the ‘modest’ rig thread 

Happy to browse both threads 

😁

7 hours ago, j_rider said:

Hi @Hydrology. Sorry, didn't mean to cause any friction with my post. I am a newbie, but looking forward to being part of the community.  Prior to my post, I had gotten through the first 50 or so pages of the 'My System Today' thread that you linked (plus most of the first two pages of other threads in that sub forum). Amazed at so many of the systems shared there - love the passion, the pursuit of each member's unique idea of audio 'perfection', blown away by the level of knowledge represented and the desire and willingness to share that knowledge. Having said that, I didn't see many posts featuring simpler/cheaper/more humble rigs, hence my post.

 

Not looking to create divisions in the community. Just interested to see how other fellow music lovers, with budgets towards the end of the financial spectrum that I find myself in by circumstance and choice, have pursued that common passion.

 

Hello J, I'm all for you keeping this thread going too and I'll certainly be having a look at it. Don't be too concerned with other members not wanting to read your thread, they can always just not read it and if that is the worst thing that happens to them here, then they have very little to worry about.

 

I have a relatively humble system that consists of a pair of Dayton outdoor speakers on my back deck and they're driven by an old Quad 306 amplifier. The source material comes from a mix between the two indoor systems, which aren't quite as humble.

 

Keith

On 09/06/2023 at 11:32 PM, Keith_W said:

Hmm, I just realized that my "humble" system does not sneak in under the $1k mark. It is a B&O Beoplay A2 + phone via Bluetooth. I guess it sneaks in under $1k if you don't count the phone. The sound is quite surprising for such a compact speaker. That's my potted basil enjoying some tunes ... 

 

 

No need to count the phone! Thanks for sharing. Glad to see your basil enjoying the tunes too.

Worth remembering, room acoustics is of critical importance to the final performance of a HiFi system.

PS Audio CEO Paul McGowan, comments that he's heard million dollar HiFi gear in poorly designed listen rooms, which have been vastly outperformed by modest HiFi systems costing less than $10k in great sounding acoustic rooms!

Simply DIY projects for acoustic panels and bass traps could be made for very modest sums.

Key is the willingness to research, learn, and implement room acoustic treatments as required. This skill will be required for the life of an audiophile from modest system to elite.