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Good Stuff Cheap

I thought maybe a thread like this may be useful. How about a listing of equipment that's cheap and performs WAY beyond expectations. To qualify, the item must be under $500 (new or used)for an electronic component and under $100 for wire. Try to include comparisons to other equipment.

I'll start off with the Musical Fidelity X-Can Version 2.0. Not as a headphone amp but as a pre-amp! I was noticing that some headphone amps can double as a pre-amp and the X-Can sounded pretty good thru my cans so I went to Radio Shack, got an adapter and ran the headphone output into the rest of my system.

Oh my! Detail, warmth, dynamics and musicallity like you read about. All for $250....NEW! Replacing the standard wall wart with the MF outboard power supply ($195)tightened things up even further. Looks funky with the "alien rectal probe" coming out the front, cables attached. It only has one input, but man does it sound good! As good as my Transcendance & Rogue 66.
1953
perfectimage
406 posts
 
MIT MH750 Plus Speaker wires. 300 used
garfish
1,840 posts
 
I'd nominate the Syn. Res. Master Coupler at a used price of about $150 to $180. Right now I see there are a LOT of them for sale here on Agon. But what that tells me is that it is an extremely popular power cord with many "out there". I use them on all my components. Craig
garfish
1,840 posts
 
I can also recommend Sonic Frontiers SFL-1 pre-amp that can sometimes be found used for under $500.-- good features and excellent sound quality. I used one for years, and then sold it for $475. here on Agon. Craig
wirehead
140 posts
 
CAL Gamma DAC. Bought direct from CAL for $99. I know its obsolete, but so am I. Great addition for my CD player until all the digital technology debate settles down and prices on hardware and software come down. Regards.
prs123
58 posts
 
Vandersteen 1B's are available for <$ 500 used, as is the older NAD receiver I have, powering them quite nicely. As I have auditioned them against B & W and a slew of other speakers/amps in this price range, I can say they are a true audio bargain. With a Linn Sondek LP-12 as the front end, and the $ 5.50/ft solid silver Tributary speaker cables(good bass and detail), you can really hear what this speaker/receiver combo can do, and it is holding its own in this fast company. It actually is more enjoyable than my extensive HT setup downstairs, at least with vinyl. And the HT system has about $ 10,000(new) worth of separates and speakers. (Yamaha DSPA1, Adcom GFA6000, Toshiba SD5109, PhaseTech cabinets out the yin-yang). My feeling is that the 1B's(or 1c's if you must) are a more successful design than the Vandy 2's, except maybe the 2CE Signatures.
Another bargain, for HT, would be the Adcom GFA 6000 amp I am using, which again is under $ 500 used, and will deliver
all the high current juice you will probably need, especially if you run powered subs( a must for HT IMHO).
Some otherwise good HT amps/rcvrs need help from a separate power amp and this is a cost effective solution. It runs very cool as well. Tight midbass and all around control is excellent. I heard 3 and 4,000 dollar HT units from Marantz, Denon, Yamaha, etc. which were simpering underachievers compared to the effect of going pre-out to this unit. The GFA 7400 is also great, but probably harder to get under $500. But that's HT.
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