Ideas for budget audiophiles


I recently rented an apartment closer to work to save myself a long drive. A big system, like I have at home, is out of the question. So, a headphone system would be perfect. The system I put together is inexpensive and it is a very nice system. The thought occurred to me that people on a budget, or for gifts for the holidays, might appreciate "reasonably priced" ideas. I put together a Pure i-20 ($90) which outputs Toslink to a Maverick Audio TubeMagic D1 pre-amp/DAC/Headphone unit ($199). If someone on your list has an iPod or iPhone or ipod Touch, the i-20 pulls the digital stream and can output to analog audio, Toslink optical, Digital coax, and has a USB input from their computer. Pretty good for $89. The Maverick has USB/Toslink/SPDIF coax/analog input so their computer can stream from the hard drive or Mog/Pandora/etc. I have my music stored on a classic ipod in lossless apple and I have tried my Sennheiser 600s and the sound is amazingly good, although there are remarkably good $99 headphones out there. So, $400 gets you outstanding sound. Now, what other systems out there would you recommend for the budget audiophile? Can we keep it under $500? My rig could add self-powered speakers for an additional $300-400 and make a complete system. I am interested in your ideas. Maybe we can make this holiday something special for those who love great music and sound but have limited resources.
tgrisham
For the Audiophile on a limited budget:

For Speakers, I would look at PSB, Paradigm, Polk Audio, Wharfedale (New), and maybe Dynaudio (Used)....

Integrated Amps (for a Budget System, Separates are OUT), I would only look at Cambridge Audio, Marantz, NAD and Rotel....

CD Players, I would look at Cambridge Audio, Marantz, NAD and Rotel.....

DAC's, I would look at Alpha Designs, Cambridge Audio, HRT, iFi, ,Marantz, Musical Fidelity, Peachtree Audio, Pro-Ject Audio, and probably a few more.

Turntables, I would look at Music Hall, Pro-Ject, Rega (New), otherwise, I would look at Audiogon and e-Bay and see if I can spot me a quality vintage table at a bargain price.

Cables, I believe Signal Cable is the obvious choice. Otherwise, I would shop the Internet and see if there any quality bargains which can be snagged.

--Charles--
All price points equal...I gravitate towards Akg or Grado over Sennheiser...$99 gets one a pair of K240s or Grado 80s...land a vintage receiver... Pick a source...add some budget killer speakers ala Pioneer, Polk, etc from newegg...boom!
Go onto Ebay and look for a vintage Sherwood 7100 or 7100A receiver. Then pick up a vintage Kyocera CD player. Then, a pair of new Grado 80s headphones. On the receivers ... if you want a more tube-like sound, get the 7100. For a more solid state sound get the 7100A. I picked up a mint 7100 for 20 bucks at a thrift store. Its part of my bedroom system.

Here's what you would be looking for:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/vintage-SHERWOOD-S-7100A-AM-FM-Stereo-Receiver-145-W-Japan-/261908761843?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item3cfafa8cf3

http://www.ebay.com/itm/KYOCERA-DA-310CX-MODEL-CD-PLAYER-W-REMOTE-NICE-/321763651170?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aea9bae62

Happy listening ...
Years ago my boss had a system I had chance to hear at his town house in downtown Richmond. It was an Adcom preamp with Adcom 535 amp. 65 watts per channel? Somewhere around that. A Caimbridge CD player, and I wish I could remember what his speakers were, some Di'Appilito style bookshelf speakers on nice stands. Proper setup, and he had a very nice sound that didn't bother the neighbors. Forgive me but that was 15 years ago and details escape me. He was proud of it and rightfully so, I was impressed with the sound quality he was getting, while it wasn't my $15K system, it was very livable. He still owes me about 3 CD's I loaned him! It's probably over $500, but used you may come close.
There are great used deals out there. It is futile to chase the latest craze. It's always just out of reach.