REAL budget system

[Gaz37]

I am officially amazed at a "system" that I have just put together for (had I paid for the amp) £30.

A neighbour was throwing away an amp so I rescued it from her recycling bin (the same amp was for sale recently on Gumtree for £15)

I connected it to a pair of speakers that have been in my loft for months that I paid £15 for on Ebay. Plugged in my Galaxy S6 and it actually sounded ok, decent bass, crisp treble and fairly realistically vocals. Not much in the way of stereo imaging or soudstage but the speakers are on the floor just randomly placed.

This takeaway money system consists of an Acoustic Solutions SP101 amp and Celestion F10 speakers. I'm amazed at what sound can be achieved for such little money and am sat here listening to it with a slightly surprised silly grin on my face.

 

[luckylion100]

entered this lot into the recent bake-off... ;-)

 

[chris_bates1974]

It's certainly possible to get great results on the cheap. For my daughter, I managed to get hold of a NAD CD player (kind gift from a forum user here), a Sony amp for £15, and a pair of Wharfedale bookshelf speakers for £10. I then spent £3 on an interconnect and used some speaker cable I had laying around.

For my son, £15 on a Techincs CD player, £10 on a Sherwood amp, and 99p on a pair of JPW mini monitor. The interconnects came off a tuner I stopped using, and I spent about £5 on speaker cable.

So, two hifis (of sorts) for only around £60... And they both sound good. My kids are both under 10, and just really pleased to have their own stuff!

My first ever pair of "proper" speakers were JPW Mini Monitor, from Richer Sounds in Newcastle, in around 1994. I paid £39.99 for them at the time. They're still cracking little speakers now!!!

 

[Gaz37]

Maybe we should start a new forum challenge -

Best sounding sub £50 system.

 

[Paul.]

I recon the system I built for my father in law would win

rescued some Tannoy Mercury M2 and atacama stands at a house clearance, minutes away from going in a skip. Bought a Marantz PM4200 off eBay for £25 ish (never list collection only and no reserve kids) and spend maybe £20 on some half decent cables.

I think it would take £80-£120 to replicate with less luck.

 

[matthewpiano]

Maybe we should start a new forum challenge -

Best sounding sub £50 system.

Sounds good. I could do with a distraction or two right now, and putting together a sub-£50 system sounds like good fun.

 

[Gaz37]

I recon the system I built for my father in law would win

rescued some Tannoy Mercury M2 and atacama stands at a house clearance, minutes away from going in a skip. Bought a Marantz PM4200 off eBay for £25 ish (never list collection only and no reserve kids) and spend maybe £20 on some half decent cables.

I think it would take £80-£120 to replicate with less luck.

£45 WITH stands?

You're just showing off.

Rushes off to scan Ebay for sub £15 stands..............

 

[Gazzip]

It's certainly possible to get great results on the cheap. For my daughter, I managed to get hold of a NAD CD player (kind gift from a forum user here), a Sony amp for £15, and a pair of Wharfedale bookshelf speakers for £10. I then spent £3 on an interconnect and used some speaker cable I had laying around.

For my son, £15 on a Techincs CD player, £10 on a Sherwood amp, and 99p on a pair of JPW mini monitor. The interconnects came off a tuner I stopped using, and I spent about £5 on speaker cable.

So, two hifis (of sorts) for only around £60... And they both sound good. My kids are both under 10, and just really pleased to have their own stuff!

My first ever pair of "proper" speakers were JPW Mini Monitor, from Richer Sounds in Newcastle, in around 1994. I paid £39.99 for them at the time. They're still cracking little speakers now!!!

You should try adding some Nordost cables. They will lift a veil.

 

[Gaz37]

Please don't turn this into another cable thread lol

 

[chris_bates1974]

It's certainly possible to get great results on the cheap. For my daughter, I managed to get hold of a NAD CD player (kind gift from a forum user here), a Sony amp for £15, and a pair of Wharfedale bookshelf speakers for £10. I then spent £3 on an interconnect and used some speaker cable I had laying around.

For my son, £15 on a Techincs CD player, £10 on a Sherwood amp, and 99p on a pair of JPW mini monitor. The interconnects came off a tuner I stopped using, and I spent about £5 on speaker cable.

So, two hifis (of sorts) for only around £60... And they both sound good. My kids are both under 10, and just really pleased to have their own stuff!

My first ever pair of "proper" speakers were JPW Mini Monitor, from Richer Sounds in Newcastle, in around 1994. I paid £39.99 for them at the time. They're still cracking little speakers now!!!

You should try adding some Nordost cables. They will lift a veil.

saving up for the cables... what speaker cables for around £200/m do you reckon????

 

[Paul.]

I bought 5 meters of Vandamme blue. I have to say, it's a very nice shade of blue. 10/10 would recommend.

 

[Gaz37]

It's certainly possible to get great results on the cheap. For my daughter, I managed to get hold of a NAD CD player (kind gift from a forum user here), a Sony amp for £15, and a pair of Wharfedale bookshelf speakers for £10. I then spent £3 on an interconnect and used some speaker cable I had laying around.

For my son, £15 on a Techincs CD player, £10 on a Sherwood amp, and 99p on a pair of JPW mini monitor. The interconnects came off a tuner I stopped using, and I spent about £5 on speaker cable.

So, two hifis (of sorts) for only around £60... And they both sound good. My kids are both under 10, and just really pleased to have their own stuff! 

My first ever pair of "proper" speakers were JPW Mini Monitor, from Richer Sounds in Newcastle, in around 1994. I paid £39.99 for them at the time. They're still cracking little speakers now!!!

You should try adding some Nordost cables. They will lift a veil.

saving up for the cables... what speaker cables for around £200/m do you reckon????

It depends on what sound you want.
Warm sounding cable?
Bright sounding cable?
Detailed or revealing sounding cable?
I've heard some cables will even make you more attractive to the opposite sex

 

[chris_bates1974]

I'm really only interested in a cable that makes the air caress my ears like the breath of a lover.

 

[Gaz37]

I'm really only interested in a cable that makes the air caress my ears like the breath of a lover.

For that you need fancy power cables and plugs fitted with expensive audio fuses

 

[DIB]

I recently bought a pair of 25+ year old Mission 762 speakers (big standmounts) on a whim from someone local, and to be honest they are awesome. A bit pricey by the standards of this thread (ie £50!) but on a decent pair of stands they are as musical as you could want or expect for that sort of money. Definite keepers.

.

 

[chris_bates1974]

I'm really only interested in a cable that makes the air caress my ears like the breath of a lover.

For that you need fancy power cables and plugs fitted with expensive audio fuses

Hmm, that would be the preferred route, but I won't have budget for speaker cable support wood if I spend it all on special fuses. I'm sure the wife can find an extra bit of cash for whatever Mr Andrews would suggest though...

 

[torikoos]

wasn't that the brand sold by Argos? I seem to remember them with a green little LCD showing the source etc..

They were ok for the money.

I also had some JPW speakers in the past, their smallest one at the time (1992 ish) was one of the best compact speakers around, and took some beating. I'm sure they were the mini monitors, a closed design. Somehow it's slightly bigger brother (Sonata) didn't sound as good imho, the balance of cabinet volume and used drivers seemed to be just right for the Mini Monitors. It may have been that they (mini) added a little more warmth to the sound, somehow making them a little bit more pleasing to listen to. Working at a hifi store in the Netherlands at the time, I remember the sales rep coming in with them , telling us the cabinets were made in a prison. (this turned out to be Dartmoor prison and I now live about 40 minutes away from there). The oddest combination I've seen is those mini's connected to a Linn amp , as the sales rep worked for the importer of Linn in NL at the time, Malcolm Latham.

If you can find any of those however for cheap, it's a great buy.