Jake Knight wrote:
Speakers: Infinity Primus 150 - $180.00/pair
Stereo Receiver: Sony STR-DE185 - $150.00
CD Player: Sony CDP-XE370 - $140.00
Cables: Monster Cable's Original 15 ft. cable (for speakers) -
$80.00/2
Monster Cable's Interlink 200 RCA cable (for CD player) -
$25.00
Total: ~$600.00
Sorry bout the quotes - got her a bit late. I mean - REAL ADVICE
WANTED POST???
Receiver - stereo. Something used like an old Kenwood circa
1995 or so. Maybe $75-100. My recommedation would be to get
an old Dolby Digital 5.1 receiver from that era. Most people
are fairly throwing them out as junk because they don't do
DTS. Still, for budget 2-channel amps, they are great.
If you buy new, get a cheap DVD player. Mine is an Akai
that I got on sale for $80. It does DVDs, CDs, MP3s, and
so on - basically a computer type DVD player with a sound
board and power supply in a nice case. It's shockingly
effective for the price. I think it retailed for $120
originally.
You have the amplifier and CD player for $150-$175. Cables -
use normal 12 or 14 gauge electrical wire. If you feel like
making it astheticaly pleasing, take the two wires and slowly
wind them in a drill motor(other ends in a vise). When it is
about one turn every 4-6 inches or so, hold it there overnight.
In the morning, carefully remove it and then apply some heat
shrink tubing to it. The end result if done correctly is
cable that works and looks like designer cable for pennies a foot.
You can also use zip ties or run them under the carpet
or whatnot. If you run it in the walls, use the telephone/
cable TV system and not the A/C. Lastly - the coating on
the wires can easily be painted over. There are also baseboards
and wood trim with a channel cut in them for wires available.
Figure $25 for RCA cables and wires, at most, and tax/shipping.
The RCA cable that the person selling the CD player will give
you is good enough for a basic setup. Free. Electrical
wire can also be had nearly free. At worst, it's $18 a 500ft roll
last I bought it. Maybe $10 for the heat shrink tubing, or
just use zip ties. Me - I always just used zipcord, wire tacks,
and painted it over - run along the baseboards.
So - $200 total spent. That leaves $400-$450 for a good set
of speakers. This much allows you to actually get decent sound,
even new. But we're buying used. If you want small towers,
that translates into a $800 pair of new speakers for $400 or so.
That's excellent sound - something like a pair of Tannoy Saturn
S6L/Rs or JBL Pro monitors or Maybe something like a pair of
older KEF, Tannoy, or Klipsch towers.
$400 left over for speakers or more is your goal.
Here are a few links:
I like Audiogon.com myself. It tends to weed out the junk.
EBay - I only shop there if I can look at it locally beforehand.
Audiogon - so far - none of the EBay junk/hit and miss syndrome.
This is for speakers - Ebay seems to be a decent place for the
other stuff, though - just shop carefully and bit low - there's
always another deal tommorrow. My gripe with Ebay is that it's become
rife with retailers dumping old stock at nearly retail prices.
Finding actual used electronic equipment is a bit hard at times.
(looks in classifieds on Audiogon)
http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/auc....44442&auc&3&4&
Here's a typical auction - an old 5.1 receiver. Figure $100 or so
by the time it's over. This one I'd pass on unless you plan to do
the HT thing later, as DTS isn't really necessarry and a DD only
model will practically be given away.
Or you could go old-school:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tegory=39 789
I had one exactly like this in College. Very capable and simple design.
Basically an older Kenwood with a digital tuner. The 60W is
continuous(RMS), so it's comparable to a more modern 80-100wpc model
after they switched to peak power for wattage ratings. It's really
loud - trust me
This is the receiver to buy, IMO:
Me - I'd contact him directly as he has no bids and offer $50 including
shipping. Shipping will cost him $20, so it's a fair price. Amplifier
problem solved on a tight budget.
***
CD: CDs are trickier. Moving parts and whatnot. The smart money
is on a cheap DVD/MP3/CD player for $75-$100. Mine even has 5 channel
outputs(built in decoder). Yes, it's lame, but if you wanted
surround sound on a tight budget, it's good enough to watch movies.
Just add a couple of amplified surround speakers and enjoy.
http://www.akai.com/product_detail.a...id2=18&id3=288
My model is black - same thing, though.
The list of things it plays is impressive for the price, IMO.
http://www.akai.com/product_detail.a...id2=18&id3=289
This is better - progressive scan.
These are hard to find, but I frequent the various offshore/import
electronics stores here in L.A. $80 was a steal - lol.
So sue me - I wanted the Karaoke feature.
Something simmilar but easy to find:
Amazon.com - Toshiba SD-3950
After rebates, it's $49.99. Pregressive scan. No region-free
or Karaoke or built in DTS decoder, but it does play DVDs and
CDs and MP3s.
This and the amplifier come out to be $100 after rebates.
That leaves $500 for speakers!
http://www.storesonline.com/site/520988/product/DVD
A dual-region version of mine - perfect if you like to rent
DVDs from Japan or China. $129 - a bit expensive, but as
you can see, $50 for an old amp leaves you TONS of money
for a DVD player - either $50 and does the basics, or
fancy for around $100-$150.
The $50 would probably be best for you, though - it's
a CD and MP3CD player with DVD playback.
***
Speakers. Time to go to to Audiogon.com
$500 left to spend on speakers, used - that's basically
anything you want that would cost $1000 new.
Tannoy:
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....oni&1083291124
Offer $500 and see if he goes for it.
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....ull&1082134368
A pair of towers and a center for future use. $450 OBO.
KEF:
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....ull&1083453441
A nice tower. Or get a good pair of bookshelf speakers.
B&W
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....ull&1083379449
A nice pair of 603s.
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....oni&1082231801
A pair of little ones. Used speakers are the best deals
in audio.
Others:
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....oni&1081553877
Needs a new woofer, possibly. $500 obo. This is a very
good pair of large bookshelf speakers, btw - well worth
the money if he's somewhat local. The replacement speaker
is $40.90 at
www.madisound.com if you care.
This seems to be a deal, to me. These are very good bookshelf
speakers, and he's willing to haggle as well as include some
stands. Those 603s are also very attractive.
The buy it and forget about it choice, though, is the pair
of Tannoy S8L/Rs - well worth every penny. Gorgeous sound.