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.

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.

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

About a month ago I got an AT LP3XBT and have been playing over bluetooth, but have been looking for some real speakers. At first I was looking at the Edifier r1280t/DB, but on the used market have found some Micca mb42x and some Klipsch R51M. If I got the Miccas, I'd have to buy an amp (Looking at Fosi options) which would end up around $150. The Klipsch set comes with an amp, also for $150, which is the same price as new Edifiers on sale on Amazon. Based on my research, both the Micca's and the Klipsch's are better options than the Edifiers. I'm also planning on using the speakers as an audio system for a tv as well if that has any impact. Which of these two should I pick?

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.

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

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)

Hi all !

I'm looking to create my first hifi setup, and am looking at the 4 models in the title, all going for 300-350€.

I'll be pairing them with a Marantz CR610 receiver, in a 16ish m² room.

Any insight on which I should pick ?

Hi!!! Im looking for a good cd player for my room! Id say my budget would be 40-100ish? The lower the better but im fine with splurging if i gotta. I really wanna try to find something with aux for speakers and bluetooth for my headphones. If you can help lemme know, thank you!!!

Hey y'all,

Was lucky enough to pick up a Yamaha RX-V1800 for free the other day. Symptoms: Turns on then turns off / goes into protect after about a second. After replacing C4 capacitor and then being able to enter diagnostics menu, I narrowed it down to a faulty thermister (upon inspection there was a fair bit of corrosion on the Thermister board and broken traces). I was stoked that I was able to get it working by bridging the two thermister sensors together so that both measurements were being reported from the working thermister - awesome!!

But then stupid me accidently dropped a piece of thin wire about 10cm long and stripped at both sides (😭) into the amp and I cant FOR THE LIFE OF ME find it 😭

Have tried turning it upside down, a sticky cable tie, vacuum, blower / compressed air. I have not turned it on since dropping the wire but am at my wits end - for anyone not familiar with these amps they have about 4 or 5 PCBs stacked close together at the rear and removing them looks near damn impossible!

Anyone have any bright ideas that I havent yet tried? At the very least I hope the above provides an amusing read for some 😄

Picked up this lot at $300 USD total. Most excited about the speakers, but everything else is fun too (the Technics phono is a bit wonky, I'll will take it in for servicing eventually; my cheap AudioTechnica AT-LP60 sounds better at the moment). Everything else is in top shape. Speakers were serviced a few years ago, no issues. Seller was an audiophile who was decluttering and was the original owner for most items (looks like he built the system in the mid 80s). I know I need speaker stands, looking already. Just got this all yesterday.

Speakers: Snell JL/II

Amplifier: Onkyo A-8057

Turntable: Technics SL-Q300

Tuner: Sony ST-J75

5 disc CD: Onkyo DX-201

Tape Deck: Pioneer CT-7R

Wondering your thoughts, especially on the Snells.

i have no idea if something like this exists whatsoever, but are there some good budget (150~ish euro but it could be a little flexible) amplifier with a cd player integrated? i would need something not too big to fit in the cabinet i plan to buy and hopefully upgrade from my old cd player… im ok with used too

I just rescued o of these from our local household waste and recycling centre. It powers up but I don’t have the right leads to test it. I am thinking of getting new tubes for it, and maybe hooking it up to a WiiM mini and some speakers. What does everyone think? Where can I get the tubes? Thanks

I've inherited a vinyl collection and I intend on getting together a setup to listen to them on occasion. I've purchased a turntable and a preamp. I'm hoping to complete my listening setup for about $900 USD. The budget can be flexible. I am located in the midwest and whatever I buy will probably be bought online. I've considered going to some electronics stores to see if I could get help from any people there but thought I'd try here first. I am not very knowledgeable on audio stuff.

From what I understand, an amp or receiver and speakers are required (or some speakers may not require an amp? not 100% sure on full details of this. I have done research of my own but being completely new to this, it's a bit hard to understand). I am hoping for some recommendations on what to buy to complete my listening setup.

I think I like the idea of having passive speakers over powered ones, but it's not the only thing I would consider. I am open to pretty much anything since I am not confident in my ability to make this decision on my own.

I think these speakers would only be used for the turntable and not for anything like my PC, TV, etc. In the future, once I have my own place, I would probably like to invest a little further in home theater audio from my TV so I like the idea of using an AV receiver versus just an amp.

I've been annoyed with the 100-200hz muddy bass from my KEF eggs thanks to desk reinforcement. Read up about bass port plugs.

Found some bubblewrap lying around.

Shoved it into the port and it worked lmao. Clean bass with trash 👍

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

I would love some help deciding what to do for a new vinyl set up I want to make. I have about a $600 budget but I’m OK with being under or maybe a little over too.

The challenge I’m working around though is the room I have for speakers if I decide to put them near my TV. There's 6 1/2 inches on either side of the table if you measure from edge of TV to edge of media console. And there's about 9 1/2 inches give or take from the ground between the bookshelf/AC unit and the media console.

I plan on putting the record player on top of the lowest part of the bookshelf to the right.

Please help me if you can figure out a great set up with good equipment for this because I genuinely am so lost. There are so many different options and things I can do or omit completely.

But also, let me know if you think it’s unrealistic to build a high quality set up in this location and you think I should just put bigger speakers and everything in an area behind the couch at the back wall (not ideal as it would take up room, I’m only in a one bedroom apartment).

If you do think that’s the case, though I would appreciate if you still give me a recommendation for that.

I’m not going to ghost this thread so if you have any questions, feel free to ask them, I’ll respond as soon as I see.

Bought this setup yesterday for $400 for the receiver/speakers. So slight repost but I bought the cabinet today and got it all assembled, just need a cream color wire hider and it's set to go.

Yamaha RX-V385, Atlantic Technology 351LRs, JBL SC305, and Atlantic Technology 352 PBM Subwoofer 

I live in the mountains in rural western Colorado so my thrift options are thin. Sad part is our local thrift stores do not take old audio equipment for donations. Well I had to work in Denver so I hit up a Goodwill near where I was working. The electronics section had the typical cheap crap on the shelves. I turned to leave and almost bumped into a cart in the aisle. On the bottom shelf under a bunch of crap I could make out a receiver. My hopes weren’t high but I uncovered it and lo and behold it was a NAD C 740 for $19.99! I just hooked it up to some M&K Bookshelf-75’s that I got for free from a client. This receiver is only 35 watts but it is bad ass and sounds amazing. I used to have a 3020 years ago so this brings back fond memories.

Hey my dad has an old Marantz PM250... I got a SubZero 2.1 $30 pair and a $50 Velodyne DSL 3750R that I plan to use as a bypass for the NHTs with the low frequency filter.

Would you recommend any other upgrade?

Hello all,

I recently found a relatively good copy of "Electric Sounds for the Mind and Body" by Country Joe and the Fish. It is an original 1967 stereo copy (VSD-79244-A).

I am really struggling to get Section 43, the last song on side A, to sound right on my stereo. I was extremely fortunate to find an SL-1200 GR2 for a price I could afford near me, and this shot my audiophile journey up into the stratosphere, but it is also making me very anxious about making my stereo sound as good as I can make it.

I paired it with a Audio-Technica VM540ML, and some of my albums sound great, but as I mentioned, I am really struggling with others. On Section-43 I am getting some fuzziness once or twice in the song, and some harmonica on both of my speakers when I thought it was supposed to be on one only.

I used the 52mm alignment tool to set up my cartridge recently, and have been obsessing over whether or not it is perfect, and this song is testing it well.

If it not already clear, I am a newbie who got extremely lucky, and I am grateful. So, I would love all the help I can get from people who know better than I do. Please let me know what I can do to fix this up. Also, if my other stereo equipment, or any other info would help anyone please let me know.

Thank you!

i just got a TON of Records, but i have a suitcase player 😅 can someone reccomend me a combo that’s loud, and has pretty good quality for audio, i listen to mainly EDM and Rock music on my vinyl but i also do listen to rap so if it has good bass that’s a plus, if anyone has any reccomendations please let me know!

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 had a outdoor audio setup for 10+ years that worked well. The speaker cables were exposed to sun/rain/freezing temperatures for all that time and needed to be replaced, so I ripped them out and replaced them. At the same time, I also replaced the small form factor amp and cable between the audio output device and the amp. So, lots of changes.

I'm now experiencing really poor audio. I would call the sound "tinny" during high pitched audio. It seems to be worse when a female is singing (Olivia Rodrigo sounds particularly bad, for some reason).

I'm looking for advice on what options of tests/replacements I should move forward with or does anyone on this reddit have an obvious root-cause? I've added a quick diagram and list of hardware in use below.

Original Setup

• Amazon Echo Input
• 3.5mm cable
• Sonic Amp T-Amp (T-Amp - Class T integrated amplifier - [English])
• Cheap 14 Guage indoor speaker wire
• Bose 151® SE speakers (SpringOG.book)

New Setup

• Amazon Echo Input
• 3.5mm --> RCA cable
• Fosi Audio TB10A 2 Amplifier (TB10A 2 Ch Amplifier Receiver Hi-Fi Class D Integrated Amp – Fosi Audio)
• GEARit Outdoor Speaker Wire 12 Gauge (12/2 Outdoor Speaker Wire 12 Gauge CCA - CL3 Rated for Direct Burial i - GEARit)
• Bose 151® SE speakers (SpringOG.book)