Post your alternative product recommendations here.

[idc]

The aim here is to produce a collated list of other, usually cheaper alternatives to known brands and in particular alternatives to What Hifi tested products. It is to cover the huge amount of products that do not have the budget to advertise and/or submit items for review, but have been found to work well.

Please feel free to add to the list, either with a new product or to add further testimonial, positive AND negative to one of the products already listed. (If this thread could be linked to the My useful posts thread, I would be obliged.)


Please quote your sources, especially for the recommendations. It is better to have multiple recommendations, for example you and positive feedback from Amazon. If the recommendations are primarily from another forum, mention this but do not provide a link as this is against house rules.

Please do not provide links to individually listed items on ebay which will disappear once sold. It is better to suggest how to search for the item.

Prices; I have included standard UK delivery charges, but they will vary.



CABLES

Silver High Breed interconnect and speaker cable. Recommended by seasiders rock and 100% seller on ebay. Prices from £26.50 which tends to be used, a bit more for new. Available on eBay, search Silver High Breed. The usual sizes are available. Unusual construction of silver and copper cable with noise suppression valves, which looks like ferrite cores.

Chunky cables, interconnects. Recommended by Spacehopper and 100% seller on eBay. Prices from £27.00. Available on eBay, search Superb audio interconnects. The usual and individual sizes can be made up. Come with locking phono plugs.

MAINS PRODUCTS


BT MTU mains conditioners. Recommended by trevor79. Prices from £20, though it is a heavy item and postage can be as much again. Available on ebay, search bt mains and go through list. These are second hand, reconditioned BT mains conditioning units for telephone systems, but work for hifi as well. That may involve changing the fuse to a higher rating and one forum member The Record Spot bought one which turned out to have a split cable, so care is needed.

Maplins PSU. Recommendations from other forums. A cheaper alternative to the expensive upgrade Power Supply Unit from Russ Andrews for the DacMagic and certain Musical Fidelity kit.. Priced at £16.00. Search the Maplin site under AC adaptors part number L54BR. Note there are mixed reviews of this product and Cambridge and Musical Fidelity warn against fitting alternative PSUs to their products.


EQUIPMENT SUPPORT


Ikea Lacks tables. Recommendations from various What Hifi forum members, other forums and Ivor Teifenbrun the founder of Linn. Prices from £7.82 and available at your local Ikea store. It must be something about the thick but light wood construction and its damping properties. I have seen pictures of tables which have had their legs cut to size and fitted with spikes, supporting VERY expensive high end kit. Similar recommendations are out there for Ikea TV stands, particularly the wooden ones.

Supermarket granite chopping boards and place mats. Recommended by various What Hifi forum members, including me. Prices from £5.00 and available at your local supermarket. My Morrison’s placemats have stopped vibration to my hybrid valve amps from a wooden floor and the drawers in the cabinet they sit on. They are also used as plinths to place speakers on.

Blu Tack. Recommendations from various What Hifi forum members, including me. Prices from £1.50. A large pea sized dab of blu tack between speaker stand top and speaker base helps to reduce vibration and secure the speaker to the stand. Beware vinyl finishes on speakers, which can come off with the blu tack. Not everyone reports a sonic improvement.


Hifi


Headphone amplifier. The FiiO E3 and E5. Available off ebay and from Amazon. Search FiiO. Recommendations from other forums and feedback on Amazon. Prices from £9.06 for the E3 and £15.44 for the E5. These are very small headphone amplifiers to connect between ipod or MP3 player and headphones, or with the E5, also PC and headphones. The E3 is AAA battery powered, the E5 has a fitted rechargeable battery, charged by connection to a PC via USB. It also has a volume control and bass booster. This is possibly the cheapest bit of hifi kit available.

 

[Clare Newsome]

idc:
The aim here is to produce a collated list of other, usually cheaper alternatives to known brands and in particular alternatives to What Hifi tested products. It is to cover the huge amount of products that do not have the budget to advertise and/or submit items for review, but have been found to work well.

We've said it before and we'll say it again.... It doesn't matter a fig whether companies advertise with us or not: if they send us a review sample, we'll test it!

Happy to test all prices and brands of kit, with the only caveat that the products have reasonable distribution (which can include being sold online) and can be tried before buying (which can include the offer of a money-back guarantee/trial period for direct sales).

Hopefully we'll also get some inspiration from this list of new bargain products to try out.

 

[Andrew Everard]

idc:If the recommendations are primarily from another forum, mention this but do not provide a link as this is against house rules.

Actually, don't...

 

[the record spot]

I'll pitch in - AudioQuest Copperhead interconnect - circa £60 or so (I picked mine up for £50). Good value interconnect, tames overly bright systems with a warmer tonal balance, a nice inexpensive tweak and a substantial build and I use it in the system below.

No links to speak of incidentally - just personal recommendation; the item is listed on Amazon though and it seems around 35% of people who viewed it went on to buy, though I didn't check what the actual numbers were.

 

[Anonymous]

Dalkey Audio Cables - a small manufacturer who produces high end power cables and interconnects - silver - for very reasonable money - has an ebay store.

 

[Anonymous]

Naim - a small British manufacture whose electronics are a welcome breath of fresh air after all the mass produced budget amps, cd players etc

Rega - a small British manufacturer whose turntables, electronics and speaker provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

Densen - a small Danish manufacturer whose electronics provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

Electrocompaniet - a small Norwegian manufacturer whose electronics provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

Unison Research - a small Italian manufacturer whose electronics provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

T+A - a medium size German manufacturer whose electronics, speakers an turntables provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

Triangle - a small French manufacturer whose speaker provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

Plinius - a small New Zealand manufacturer whose electronics provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

Canton - a medium size German manufacturer whose speakers provide welcome relief after all those budget specials

Elac - a medium size German manufacturer whose speakers provide welcome relief after all those mass produced budget specials

Sonus Faber - a small Italian manufacturer whose speakers provide welcome relief after all those mass produced speakers with high bleeding ear factors

JM Reynaud - a small French manufacturer whose speakers provide welcome relief after all those mass budget models

Atohm - a small French manufacturer whose speakers and kits are anything but boring ear bashers

Linn - a small Scottish manufacturer whose turntables and electronics provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc.

Thule - a medium size Swedish manufacturer whose outstanding bike racks for cars and other accessories provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

Vikram Seth - a small to medium size Indian writer whose elegant novels provide welcome relief after all those Da Vinci code read-alikes

Nicolas Sarkozy - a small French president whose policies provide no relief at all

 

[jc.com]

Tarquinh:

Nicolas Sarkozy - a small French president whose policies provide no relief at all

I believe the OP said something about "found to work well"

 

[Bodfish]

Kitty Litter as speaker stand filler...no, really!!!

 

[chebby]

EDITED BY MODS

 

[lordmortlock]

chebby:EDITED BY MODS

EDITED BY MODS - please don't discuss moderation

 

[chebby]

I suggest buying and reading copies of What Hifi Sound & Vision. An excellent way of keeping right up there with current trends in high quality audio and home theatre. Written and produced by a superb team of dedicated enthusiasts with un-matched experience and knowledge, backed up with a unique, purpose built, state of the art listening facility to match everything from the large home theatre to rooms more typical of smaller homes to ensure that everything from the grandest audiophile system to the humblest gadget is assessed expertly in an appropriate setting.

 

[Clare Newsome]

Well, obviously

- but please can we get back to suggestions of products we may have missed? As Forum regulars will know, we're all up for feedback, including new kit to check out

 

[lordmortlock]

chebby:I suggest buying and reading copies of What Hifi Sound & Vision. An excellent way of keeping right up there with current trends in high quality audio and home theatre. Written and produced by a superb team of dedicated enthusiasts with un-matched experience and knowledge, backed up with a unique, purpose built, state of the art listening facility to match everything from the large home theatre to rooms more typical of smaller homes to ensure that everything from the grandest audiophile system to the humblest gadget is assessed expertly in an appropriate setting.

heh thats better

 

[idc]

Oh well, best intentions seem to have been taken the wrong way.

I wanted to complement the reviews of What Hifi by compiling a list of reviews posted on the forum of items that are probably not going to be reviewed by the magazine. There is no way on earth What Hifi is going to be able to produce reviews of all the hifi kit out there. And that is not a criticism.

I would be delighted and surprised if a review appeared of a BT MTU off ebay, a Maplins PSU or trying out a granite chopping board on a cabinet. There are literally hundreds of interconnects, speaker and other cables for sale, particularly on ebay. In fact recently there was a thread about a HDMI cable which was very positive. That is the kind of item I was hoping would find its way onto this thread. Otherwise it gets lost in the back catalogue of threads. Try searching HDMI on the forums! These are the kinds of cables I mean.

I think it is important to quote sources so as to help prevent an individual pushing one product. Hence my comments about sources and other forums. Hence the fact I have not mentioned a hifi product I have used, talked of on the forum, but it is only me who appears to have an interest in it.

Anyway, it was worth a try. I enjoyed spending a few hours this morning researching my initial list. Hopefull others will get something out of being able to read a little more about the products that are there.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know if they've been in WHF, but Revolver RW16 standmount speakers are quite superb and not that expensive. Very clear open and neutral sound, efficient and look great.

Merlin cables have been in WHF but here's a vote for the Bach interconnect, which they also sell in DIN configuration for Naim equipment - a serious alternative.

Also well-known as a company, though not one of their better-known products, the Rega P7 with a good moving-coil cartridge is a serious challenger to some of the best turntables. Impeccable timing, into a Naim amp setup I preferred it to an LP12 (and a Xerxes 10).

 

[Clare Newsome]

idc:
Oh well, best intentions seem to have been taken the wrong way.

I wanted to complement the reviews of What Hifi by compiling a list of reviews posted on the forum of items that are probably not going to be reviewed by the magazine. There is no way on earth What Hifi is going to be able to produce reviews of all the hifi kit out there. And that is not a criticism.

I would be delighted and surprised if a review appeared of a BT MTU off ebay, a Maplins PSU or trying out a granite chopping board on a cabinet. There are literally hundreds of interconnects, speaker and other cables for sale, particularly on ebay. In fact recently there was a thread about a HDMI cable which was very positive. That is the kind of item I was hoping would find its way onto this thread. Otherwise it gets lost in the back catalogue of threads. Try searching HDMI on the forums! These are the kinds of cables I mean.

I think it is important to quote sources so as to help prevent an individual pushing one product. Hence my comments about sources and other forums. Hence the fact I have not mentioned a hifi product I have used, talked of on the forum, but it is only me who appears to have an interest in it.

Anyway, it was worth a try. I enjoyed spending a few hours this morning researching my initial list. Hopefull others will get something out of being able to read a little more about the products that are there.

Honestly happy, as ever, for all suggestions on stuff we should cover - we've showcased everything from Blu-tak to house bricks and beyond previously, so open to all unsung upgrade heroes we may have missed (if everyone can easily try/benefit from them).

 

[the record spot]

Tarquinh:
Naim - a small British manufacture whose electronics are a welcome breath of fresh air after all the mass produced budget amps, cd players etc

Rega - a small British manufacturer whose turntables, electronics and speaker provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

Densen - a small Danish manufacturer whose electronics provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

Electrocompaniet - a small Norwegian manufacturer whose electronics provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

Unison Research - a small Italian manufacturer whose electronics provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

T+A - a medium size German manufacturer whose electronics, speakers an turntables provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

Triangle - a small French manufacturer whose speaker provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

Plinius - a small New Zealand manufacturer whose electronics provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

Canton - a medium size German manufacturer whose speakers provide welcome relief after all those budget specials

Elac - a medium size German manufacturer whose speakers provide welcome relief after all those mass produced budget specials

Sonus Faber - a small Italian manufacturer whose speakers provide welcome relief after all those mass produced speakers with high bleeding ear factors

JM Reynaud - a small French manufacturer whose speakers provide welcome relief after all those mass budget models

Atohm - a small French manufacturer whose speakers and kits are anything but boring ear bashers

Linn - a small Scottish manufacturer whose turntables and electronics provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc.

Thule - a medium size Swedish manufacturer whose outstanding bike racks for cars and other accessories provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

Vikram Seth - a small to medium size Indian writer whose elegant novels provide welcome relief after all those Da Vinci code read-alikes

Nicolas Sarkozy - a small French president whose policies provide no relief at all

You missed the "eye of newt".

 

[JoelSim]

Tarquinh:
Naim - a small British manufacture whose electronics are a welcome breath of fresh air after all the mass produced budget amps, cd players etc

Rega - a small British manufacturer whose turntables, electronics and speaker provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

Densenÿ -ÿ a small Danish manufacturer whose electronics provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

Electrocompaniet - a small Norwegian manufacturer whose electronics provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

Unison Research - a small Italian manufacturer whose electronics provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

T+A - a medium size German manufacturer whose electronics, speakers an turntablesÿ provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

Triangle - a smallÿ French manufacturer whose speaker provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

Plinius - a small New Zealand manufacturer whose electronics provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

Canton - a medium size German manufacturer whose speakers provide welcome relief after all those budget specials

Elac - a medium size German manufacturer whose speakers provide welcome relief after all those mass produced budget specials

Sonus Faber - a small Italian manufacturer whose speakers provide welcome relief after all those mass produced speakers with high bleeding ear factors

JM Reynaud - a small French manufacturer whose speakers provide welcome relief after all those mass budget models

Atohm - a small French manufacturerÿ whose speakers and kits are anything but boring ear bashers

Linn - a small Scottish manufacturer whose turntables and electronicsÿ provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc.

Thule - a medium size Swedish manufacturer whose outstanding bike racks for cars and other accessories provide welcome relief after all those mass produced amps, cd players etc

Vikram Seth - a small to medium size Indian writer whose elegant novels provide welcome relief after all those Da Vinci code read-alikes

Nicolas Sarkozy - a small French president whose policies provide no relief at all

You forgot

Gordon Brown - a small brained PM with equally small charismaÿ

 

[JoelSim]

idc:

The aim here is to produce a collated list of other, usually cheaper alternatives to known brands and in particular alternatives to What Hifi tested products. It is to cover the huge amount of products that do not have the budget to advertise and/or submit items for review, but have been found to work well.

Please feel free to add to the list, either with a new product or to add further testimonial, positive AND negative to one of the products already listed. (If this thread could be linked to the My useful posts thread, I would be obliged.)

Please quote your sources, especially for the recommendations. It is better to have multiple recommendations, for example you and positive feedback from Amazon. If the recommendations are primarily from another forum, mention this but do not provide a link as this is against house rules.

Please do not provide links to individually listed items on ebay which will disappear once sold. It is better to suggest how to search for the item.

Prices; I have included standard UK delivery charges, but they will vary.

ÿ

CABLES

Silver High Breed interconnect and speaker cable. Recommended by seasiders rock and 100% seller on ebay. Prices from £26.50 which tends to be used, a bit more for new. Available on eBay, search Silver High Breed. The usual sizes are available. Unusual construction of silver and copper cable with noise suppression valves, which looks like ferrite cores.

Chunky cables, interconnects. Recommended by Spacehopper and 100% seller on eBay. Prices from £27.00. Available on eBay, search Superb audio interconnects. The usual and individual sizes can be made up. Come with locking phono plugs.

MAINS PRODUCTS

BT MTU mains conditioners. Recommended by trevor79. Prices from £20, though it is a heavy item and postage can be as much again. Available on ebay, search bt mains and go through list. These are second hand, reconditioned BT mains conditioning units for telephone systems, but work for hifi as well. That may involve changing the fuse to a higher rating and one forum member The Record Spot bought one which turned out to have a split cable, so care is needed.

Maplins PSU. Recommendations from other forums. A cheaper alternative to the expensive upgrade Power Supply Unit from Russ Andrews for the DacMagic and certain Musical Fidelity kit.. Priced at £16.00. Search the Maplin site under AC adaptors part number L54BR. Note there are mixed reviews of this product and Cambridge and Musical Fidelity warn against fitting alternative PSUs to their products.

ÿ

EQUIPMENT SUPPORT

Ikea Lacks tables. Recommendations from various What Hifi forum members, other forums and Ivor Teifenbrun the founder of Linn. Prices from £7.82 and available at your local Ikea store. It must be something about the thick but light wood construction and its damping properties. I have seen pictures of tables which have had their legs cut to size and fitted with spikes, supporting VERY expensive high end kit. Similar recommendations are out there for Ikea TV stands, particularly the wooden ones.

Supermarket granite chopping boards and place mats. Recommended by various What Hifi forum members, including me. Prices from £5.00 and available at your local supermarket. My Morrison's placemats have stopped vibration to my hybrid valve amps from a wooden floor and the drawers in the cabinet they sit on. They are also used as plinths to place speakers on.

Blu Tack. Recommendations from various What Hifi forum members, including me. Prices from £1.50. A large pea sized dab of blu tack between speaker stand top and speaker base helps to reduce vibration and secure the speaker to the stand. Beware vinyl finishes on speakers, which can come off with the blu tack. Not everyone reports a sonic improvement.

Hifi

Headphone amplifier. The FiiO E3 and E5. Available off ebay and from Amazon. Search FiiO. Recommendations from other forums and feedback on Amazon. Prices from £9.06 for the E3 and £15.44 for the E5. These are very small headphone amplifiers to connect between ipod or MP3 player and headphones, or with the E5, also PC and headphones. The E3 is AAA battery powered, the E5 has a fitted rechargeable battery, charged by connection to a PC via USB. It also has a volume control and bass booster. This is possibly the cheapest bit of hifi kit available.


Can I add that from my perspective, the sell-on value of a product is also of paramount importance. For instance I shelled out £75 ish on a Nordost mains cable on fleabay, safe in the knowledge that I didn't like it I could get my money back from someone else. Likewise a few years ago I bought an unbranded interconnect 'audiophile quality' for next to nothing and if I sold it I would get nothing. Where is the better value? Especially given the fact that the Nordost is superb.

ÿ

 

[PJPro]

How about the ultimate headphone upgrade....Clicky

 

[chebby]

Well, despite being just a little partisan, I would like to see a review of the Beresford TC-7520 DAC utilising it's optical and USB capabilities and as both DAC & headphone amp.

(I don't use mine as a h/phone amp but I am sure it would interest many here.)

 

[idc]

PJPro:How about the ultimate headphone upgrade....Clicky

Not up to your high standards of modifications PJ, thats for sure. Though it is inventive

 

[idc]

JoelSim:

Can I add that from my perspective, the sell-on value of a product is also of paramount importance. For instance I shelled out £75 ish on a Nordost mains cable on fleabay, safe in the knowledge that I didn't like it I could get my money back from someone else. Likewise a few years ago I bought an unbranded interconnect 'audiophile quality' for next to nothing and if I sold it I would get nothing. Where is the better value? Especially given the fact that the Nordost is superb.

True, but there are plenty of reviews of Nordost products out there. Whereas if you google Silver high breed you get this forum (and other forums) as one of the results. Hence the idea of trying to collate all such reviews, of lets say rare products as well as the inexpensive, so that they are easy to find. Try finding the BT MTU and other products I have suggested can be difficult to trace. So they soon get lost and forgotten about. Then we go back to Nordost etc as we can find loads of information on it and a potentially giant killing fantastic product disappears.

(Chebby, that also applies to the Beresford! If you have an unknown, obscure DAC you want to recommend, this is/was intended to be the place)