Be careful not to use Radio shack IC's and cable (or other very poor cables)) for you will greatly impact your sound for the worse. Good IC cables can be had for $39 - Audio Art IC-1. Good used speaker cable can be had for $40. Audio Art, Paul Speltz and others.
This will improve your sound more than spending $100 on a CD player vs $50. The Tosh players are fine for $50.
Wire is important and should not be just cast aside. For your $500 budget you can have both!
Others are right in that you should not spend $100 for an IC. Please don't ignore wire however. If you do you you may as well buy a used $30 JC Penny MCS series receiver - classic :-) That is the sound you will get!
Bill
This will improve your sound more than spending $100 on a CD player vs $50. The Tosh players are fine for $50.
Wire is important and should not be just cast aside. For your $500 budget you can have both!
Others are right in that you should not spend $100 for an IC. Please don't ignore wire however. If you do you you may as well buy a used $30 JC Penny MCS series receiver - classic :-) That is the sound you will get!
Bill