Cheap!

by joelv on Budget Minded

Description

I was a beer-budget audiophile for 30 years. I had heard lots and lots of great gear over the last 20 years in this hobby, and have owned a fair bit of it by now. 

I'm sure my goal is the same as everyone's, to have a big, lifelike, and relaxing musical experience at home. It took a while to get out of the starving-musician financial situation, so I tried every used, affordable thing I could find!

Ultimately I want a Well-Tempered Simplex turntable and some higher-efficiency speakers.

I recently tried a Pangea AC-14 power cord in my little Trends amp "for fun." I'm keeping it.

Finally, I added a little NAD phono Pre and the Zu Dl-103 cart.
While it wasn't ultimately a little dull at the very top end, the ZU cartridge was one of my favorites. I liked it even more than the Mk. II I got years later.
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Components Toggle details

    • ADC 1600
    It's 80s, it's direct-drive, it's super cheap and it's more musical and dynamic than most of the turntables I've owned.
    • Zu Dl-103 Std
    This is my first Lo MC cart - currently mounted on a low-mass arm (!) but sounds robust and tracks beautifully so far.
    • Shure m97e
    A great match for my cheap 80s 'table, it's dynamic and warm, not terribly analytical, just fun. Definitely a better cart than I'd first thought, having previously only heard it on a Technics 1200.
    • B&W CDM-2
    These lil' guys sound huge in my 11' x 11' bedroom, the best used bargain in audio, IMO.
    • NAD 304
    Good integrated doing service as a preamp.
    • Trends TA-10.1
    Best amp under $700! A recent power cable upgrade made a surprising difference too.
    • Kimber PBJ
    1/2M between preamp and amp.
    • Audioquest Ruby
    1 meter for CD player.
    • Kimber 4TC
    I have the older blue/black stuff, still my very favorite speaker cable.
    • NAD PP-2
    Purchased mainly to try low-output MCs.
    • Sony Costco DVD Player
    Bought it for "movie night" when my older one started to go. Sounded as good as my previous $700 CD player, so it stayed.

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