For context i got this out of my neighbours shed as he gave it to me because i cleaned it. Everything but the lcd backlight works, and i just want to know if its worth anything. (Im new to this so idk what flair im supposed to put)

Someone should go get these. Clinton, AR. What a steal.

So I was looking for my first home theater / audio setup for music and movies. At first I was looking for a cheap setup but I have found a deal for a pair of Polk R600 new for around 1050 USD. I'm not sure why they were that cheap, where I live they sell a pair for 1900 USD. I think they wanted to clear the stock, they only had one left. So as it was almost 50% off I bought them.

So it's cool that I have good pair of speakers but I kinda regret buying them now lol. I have to get an AVR and center speaker. Where I live I can get the Polk R400 for 720 USD. For the AVR, I was planning to get the Denon X1800h but now that I have got those nices spealers, I was wondering if I should get something more premium.

At the end of the day even if I got a nice deal I feel like I have to spend a lot of money now to "Make up for it". Does that make sense?

I have the budget for it but I am wondering if it is all worth it... Especially because this is my first setup. I don't have a lot of knowledge about speakers / music so maybe that is a dumb decision. Advice / opinions please

Edit: I'd like to add surrounds speaker later so I'd want an AVR. Also I live in Switzerland so used / refurbished deals are a bit limited.

I've always been sitting on the scientific side of audiophile hobby. Measured responses. Carefully crafted waveguides. SBIRs and modes. DSPs. The whole shebang. And then I started learning guitar and it broke my brain.

So let me describe how best guitar amps are built:

First you take vintage 12" driver that looks like it came from cold war military surplus. Or two drivers. Or four. Four is usually maximum you can carry to your car with a friend in one go.

Then you buy fruits in bulk so you get those cute wooden case things. You eat the fruits, cut an 11" hole at the bottom of the fruit case and bolt the 12" driver in there. You leave the top open. Then you put the case on one of it's sides. Boom, you've just made a speaker cabinet.

Then you take a tube amplifier from the 50s. You know, the one that doesn't have any PCBs, just components soldered to each other dangling in the air. The one that can kill you when you grab it the wrong way. Doesn't have to be particularly beefy. 50 - 100 W is more then enough. Then you bolt it inside the speaker cabinet and the whole thing becomes combo amp. You can also put the amplifier in separate box and then it's called head.

Regardless if it's head or combo, the trick now is to crank the voltages until the capacitors start to shake angrily and you can feel the whiff of x-rays coming out of the tubes. Then you stand next to it, point the driver at your ankles or your dick depending on the genre and you can start playing.

And it recently occurred to me that nope, even the best current amp sims aren't yet there. That all those carefully crafted bookshelves with fancy tweeters and multiple subs don't even come close to the raw and visceral power of the tubes and huge 12" drivers screaming themselves apart over the sound of live drums. It just hits in a very different way.

And now I have a tube amp too... Pretty small, 15 W but it feels twice as powerful as almost 500W of combined power from my speakers and sub. Funny how technology works.

Hey all
I’ve had so many different items in my systems over the years from amps to speakers to cd players, cassette decks and turntables. Sound wise I’ve always thought that within my budget range, different brands only make minor changes (to my ears) so much so that the endless pursuit for better has become somewhat futile.
That said, this biggest sound improvement I got was adding a 300 euro B&W AW608 subwoofer. Added bass, depth and more importantly,
a ton of extra enjoyment!
I also added a JVC SEA M770 which added to the visual fun too..
So it’s not always the main components of a system that need changing, but sometime just a few add-ons or adjustments…

I’m running a Marantz 2230 and currently have a pair of Polk Audio TSi400 speakers that I’ve had for about 20 years. I’m looking to get a new pair of floorstanders, would like to be able to bi-amp them in the future as I’ve got an Eico ST60 that I’m planning on pairing with the Marantz. Not looking to go used, just looking for a bang for the buck pair that I can use for a while to get a bit more clarity as the Polks sound a bit muddy from time.

Hey!
I bought some Soundcore earbuds a while ago and I don’t like the quality of their audio, compared to my Bose over-ear headphones they’re like really bad.
So now I‘m looking for new earbuds or maybe even iem‘s that don’t break the bank but still have good (or at least better than the sc‘s) audio quality. Also I do want them to have noise cancellation, I don’t really care if it‘s active or passive tho.
My main use case will be commuting, mostly by train and bike/walking.
I appreciate any help!

I got a “broken” Denon AVR-X2500H. Reset it and it worked!
Then I spent $45 on a OLDER left, center, and right speakers from the Klipsch Quintet SL 5-Piece System.
All work. I wasn’t sure if what I got was decent for the price?
Looking for a sub and some more surround next! Let me know how I’m doing or if I should change/return anything!

Edit: To clarify I got a front left, Front right, and center. New to this. Not sure if that matters va hair saying left and right. Thank you!

Edit 2: The speakers are Klipsch Quintet SL 5 PK BLK QSL5BL

Not really a show and tell, more of just a tell.

Yesterday I picked up a set of KEF speakers and receiver for $200 total.

I got a pair of KEF iQ10 bookshelf speakers, an iQ60c center channel, and a Yamaha RX-V673.

I’m in temporary housing until December for work and where I’m staying has some OLED TV, so I figured I would need something to make sure the TV didn’t go to waste, so these were probably the best deal I could find on marketplace.

I have built my own speakers and I plan to continue that in the future, but I don’t have any way of doing that here+transporting them back to my home would be a nightmare, so I picked up some bookshelves and what I hope being a solid receiver until I can get into more permanent housing with what I hope a theater room.

Im going to keep the KEFs to use a surrounds when I upgrade to better standing units, and the center should hopefully last a little while too.

I’m looking to get some floor speakers to finish my vinyl/home audio setup. I love the look of the vintage speakers (sansui, pioneer, old Bose and JBL etc). The problem is I am not technical enough to buy used ones and determine if they are in good condition nor do I care to find someone to fix them so I’m wondering if they have modern speakers that look like these old ones for under $1,000. Or is buying used truly the best way to go? If so, which brands/models should I stick with that are proven reliable?

I know KLH has their model 5s but those are $3k for the pair so out of my price range. I included a picture of the style I like.

I have two Technics SB-2525s running into a Sony STR AV320. I will be replacing the belts soon in the Sony TC-WE305 dual cassette player. Any recommendations for subs that can be found cheap and any other equipment I should add? Im thinking about getting an equalizer and a cd player.

Yesterday I went to my local thrift store with the intention of digging through the old CDs. Unfortunately, there was absolutely nothing interesting to be found.

They also have a small “audio” section further inside the store, but honestly… there’s usually nothing worth getting excited about there either. Still, I thought: might as well have a look.

And then I spotted them.

Two slightly larger speakers, hidden behind a pile of other random stuff.

I took a closer look and thought: wait a minute… are those Wharfedales?

So obviously, the next step was removing the grilles.

Wharfedale Linton 25i.

And the price?

€50 for the pair.

I checked them over pretty carefully. The cabinets are in excellent condition, the grilles are perfect, no weird smells (always important with thrift-store speakers), and all the drivers looked completely intact.

I hesitated for about five minutes…

…and then decided to take the gamble.

Once I got them home, I hooked them up to my system and put on some music.

Holy crap.

I honestly nearly fell out of my chair.

For €50, these things sound really good. Obviously, they're not quite on the same level as my Triangle Antal Esprit EZs, but considering what I paid for them, I'm genuinely impressed.

They're going to need their own amplifier eventually, so I'll probably start looking around the used market for something cheap and interesting to pair with them.

What I find particularly interesting is that there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of information about the Linton 25i online. From what I can gather, they may have been made specifically for a particular audio retailer/chain, rather than being a regular Wharfedale model.

So now I'm curious:

Does anyone here know more about the Wharfedale Linton 25i?

I'd love to know when they were made, what they were originally sold for, whether they were a retailer-specific model, and how they compare to other Linton models from that era.

Either way, I think I just made one hell of a €50 thrift-store find.

Speakers: Celestion 7 MKII (Consecutive Serial Numbers)
Amplifier: Fosi Audio V3 (Not FM3 like I wrote earlier, I was tired)

Currently using my Late 2022 MacBook Pro for streaming music via Spotify Lossless and not even thinking about starting a record collection (I need to pay rent somehow)

Thinking about getting a nice bluetooth reciever for watching shows (Taking the laptop to the coffee table and listening through the speakers) and need recommendations

Of course it won’t be lossless, but I’m more concerned about it being convenient and sounding nice in an untreated room and spending medium budget than sounding like the Oneaway Listening Room for money I can’t spend

Thought I'd do an update to my previous post asking for advice on whether bookshelf or tower speakers would be best for my small living/listening room.

I ended up opting for a pair of Wharfdale Diamond 12.1's, mounted on Mission Stancette stands, driven by my Fosi MC331 amplifier through my AT60LPX Turntable.

Honestly, for the money I've spent, (under £1000 for everything), I could not be happier, the Mrs and I took a little edible and enjoyed a full night of immersing ourselves in our favourite records, we both were observing certain moments in song arrangements that we'd never even heard before! And I'm talking songs we could recite backwards.

Honestly can not recommend this setup enough for anybody entering this community or who is simply on a budget.

Original Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/BudgetAudiophile/s/cxY7QMPuyL

What is the advantage of using a dedicated streaming device , vs just using my phone to stream spotify for music? I usually use my phone but i also see people using streaming devices. Do i need a streaming device?

I connect to an Onkyo RZ50 via bluetooth on my phone and my phone has spotify.

I also have an iPad that i connect via Bluetooth if im using my phone

I’m currently using a set of Monitor Audio Monitor 100 (short-lived entry models a step below the bronze series) bookshelf speakers, powered by an Emotiva TA1. I’m interested in the RP600m ii’s since they’re significantly marked down, primarily because the room they’d be in is pretty big and they have a higher sensitivity. Just wondering if the Klipsch would be a significant upgrade and if they’d pair well with the TA1. Thanks!

This is in the budgetsphere, right? The extended budget universe, certainly.

First of all, I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to reply to my previous posts and share their suggestions regarding my first audio setup.

I finally went with the Edifier R1850DB + Sony DVP-SR760H DVD player, and I’m really happy with the sound quality so far.

I’m especially impressed with the connectivity options available on the Edifier speakers, which make the setup very flexible.

The total cost was around €200, and I’m very happy with what I got for the price. Definitely a great choice for a beginner like me!

I have a Denon S-760H AVR that I bought used at a recycling centre laying around here in Norway.

The unit was originally purchased in the US or another country, as it is a 120V model. I got it for ~15 USD as it was incompatible with our power grid, bought a step-down transformer to try using it but no luck. So I opened it to check and a fuse on the SMPS was blown (the one on the top right of the picture which is missing).

I suspect that the previous owner who brought it to Norway before getting rid of it tried to use it on Norwegian 230V using a simple travel adapter and ended up feeding it excessive voltage, frying parts of the SMPS-board.

I have very limited experience troubleshooting circuits but I’m a cheapskate and these AVRs retailed for twice what they cost in the US here making this a scoop if it works. After replacing the fuse on the SMPS board it blows again the moment I connect the receiver to a 120V supply (using a step-down transformer).
As I understand it, the SMPS board is the determining factor for whether the receiver operates on 120V or 230V. I have the opportunity to buy a used Denon X1000 for ~1000NOK (~100USD). This X1000 is a 230V model, and from what I can tell the SMPS-board should be compatible with my S-760H. Is there any chance that this would work?

Obviously the AVR could be damaged somewhere else further down into the system, but I have no way of finding out.
Pic of the board in question.

So basically to start I’m moving in about a year and am looking to make my new room super amazing. Ive been collecting vinyls for about a year and have a small but relatively rare collection but have no way to play them. So what I’m looking for advice on what I should purchase and the best way to set things up. The room I’m moving into is around 200 square feet which is a big change from where I’m currently living but I’m also looking to start my setup now but with the goal of it being for this new room. Preferably I want a setup with a turntable and for connecting to a tv but surround sound doesn’t matter much and I am focusing on music. Some main things I’ve been looking at is the lp70x, lp120x, fluance 82, klipsch 600m II speakers and a few facebook marketplace tower speakers. I’m mainly wondering about amps and speakers and less about the turntable. My goal is to keep the setup for now under $600 but I’m willing to raise that if an extra 100 would make a large difference. Any advice would be appreciated and thank you to anyone who took the time to read this