I just built a bedroom system at the same $1500 price point - as follows: Magnepan LRS speakers (direct from Magnepan) Sound Artist SA-200IA integrated amp (Amazon) Loxjie D30 DAC (Amazon) Blue Jeans Cable Canare 4S11speaker cables (Amazon) Worlds Best Cables Mogami 2549 / Amphenol RCAs interconnect (Amazon) My main system is built around Magnepan 3.7i speakers, so it was fun trying to put together a "budget" system that retained as much as the same sound character as possible. The SA-200IA integrated has a ton of clean power (key for the Magnepans) and is surprisingly refined - with the exception of maybe being a tad bright on the top end... That being said the AKM based D30 DAC and 2549 interconnects, along with the overall sound signature of the LRS, do a nice job of offsetting it. Overall a wonderfully balanced and enjoyable system once everything is broken in.
Gone past early days of hifi 50 years back now getting toward the sunset of my listening days - my last system! Naim and Sonus Faber will see me out.! But I love watching every one of Steve's videos. The Naim is hidden away in a designer wooden hi fi unit , the speaker cables are ducted in the walls and under the floor (they are of equal length so lots of 'wasted cable), the Sonus Fabers are simply the most beautiful pieces of furniture and my source is a Synology NAS in the loft which streams happy flac via cat5e (the whole house is hard wired - cables to every room outlet - all designed into my home that I have refurbished 100%). The final piece of the jigsaw is an Italian made Natuzzi leather corner sofa with an electric reclining seats. One electric seat reclines to watch TV and the other at 90° is for my music listening position. I think that I am at hi fi nirvana such a long way from my Garrad SP25, Amstrad IC2000 amp and a pair of homemade speakers based on a design in Hi Fi World magazine. Happy days to all us covid hostages
I bought on eBay a set of separates from Cambridge Audio for £200 (a D300 CD, T400 tuner and an A500 65 Watt per channel amp) - all new "old" stock all still packed as new held in dry storage for 8 years by the seller. I had to replace the drive belt on the CD as it was perished but everything else was perfect. I teamed this up with a pair of immaculate Mordant Short 3 way floor standing 906 speakers for £100 and the £300 (USD400) system is fantastic! You don't have to buy new if you are careful. lucky and choosey!
Bought the Tekton M-Lore based on your review a few years ago. I love them but now I want to buy some of his MOAB speakers. They are huge and they look beautiful.
My system was 190,- for the (amazon deal) Tube-Preamp, 149,- for each of my two poweramps, and about 100 for the used Turntable. Turntable i bought for 40,- Euro, and then pmped it with silver-cladded cables, new headshell, o lot of beautiful damping inside and outside too (beautiful real leather!) and new cable structure all inside.. My $12.000,- JBL 4341 clones i built myself for a friction of the prize... At the end i have a bi-amped system with tube-preamp, a high-end turntable, and 4way monitor-speakers certainly under 1500,- It looks really expensive....lol, and it sounds so too! I am Happy due to DIY, and not having the fear of learning new things now that i am retired!! The only thing is, that i must admit that my speakers are prettier on the inside! There sits lots of bracing, damping and at last it´s covered with an acoustic fabric in beautiful wine-red to protect the woofers from intruding Damping material fibers... The outside is covered in Beige /brown coloured artificial leather, and i think i will send Steve some pictures as soon as i have cleaned up the mess in my living room...lol. Now it still is covered in lot of half-done audio-projects like Active speakers, pair of DIY JBL C38´s... and so on...I have gear standing in my flat like an old reviewer...lol.. especially speakers...
I have a Cambridge Audio CXA80 running a set of KEF Q950s, with an OPPO UDP-203 used for CD playback. After about 3 Decades and various set ups, this one is far and away the most satisfying. I quite like higher listening levels, and this pairing can go as high as my ears can handle, with a complete absence of distortion or degradation, whilst still managing to be nuanced and beautifully controlled, with an excellent sound stage. I am massively impressed by these KEFs, would highly recommend.
steve, i've been following you for several months now and really enjoy your thinking, reviews and dialog with others like zero fidelity. myNADc350 ist kaput so i bought a NADc316BEEv2 to drive my infinity overture 2s and i am happy with the new preamp/amp. works well with my CD player, my 40 year old sansui 2050 table with a fine grado cartridge and my ancient yamaha tuner. but I was "blown away" when i added the Schiit Modi 3 and discovered how digital to analog could sound on a system i put together to listen to classical, jazz, big band stuff and pink floyd (i have about 500 records) . Full disclosure: I'm 72, and a part time audio junkie that started out with Pioneer and moved on to Phase Linear, SAE, technics and JBL. just sayin' thanks.
Yes, the Clarity cap upgrade is well worth the money. I've put these in line with tweeters on several crossovers and the improvement in the highs is noticeable!
Clarity caps is the make.? What difference are there to the original caps, Same value, same percentage, same type? Yes I've had a look quite expensive if you buy them from the zu polyurethane caps I would go with polystyrene caps and is a lot cheaper the value is 1uF and run a polystyrene 0.2uF 160 volt parallel cap with it should give you a better result and be cheaper plus with low values matching of tolerance is not important because it's 0.1% +/- stick the polystyrene cap in parallel with the cap you've got on even The Originals. A band on them make sure that's heading to negative it's bipolar it doesn't matter what way but negative foil to ground. That should be the same as well with the replacement caps but are they marked? Illuminate radio wave interference
@@johnsweda2999 ClarityCap is the brand and the series is MR. Hence Clarity MR. Zu Audio by default uses Erse PulseX capacitors in the DW speaker line with the upgrade option for Clarity MR capacitors. It has the same values but the quality build and smoother sound signature was worth the extra cost.
@@epi2045 that's what you paid from zu $100? is it probably cheaper to buy it from the manufacturer charcroft electronics Ltd. And they do a higher range then that as well
I bought a NAD C740 at Goodwill for 19.95 in mint condition. I have bought many pieces this way and you can build an awesome system for much less than you think. I also got a pair of La Scalas from a friend for 500 bucks! I built my own tube phono preamp for less than 250 bucks and so on. Collecting audio equip is fun and saves tons of money if you know what you are doing and be patient.
Your the best Steve! One of my all time favorite combos is a pair of heresy 1s bought used for 300 bucks and the decware el84 ufo. It is out of this world good!
These system build videos are the best thing on the net. I have some old wharfdale E50s that have given up the ghost and its time to replace them. These vids help. Because I am looking for towers in this price range.
Emotiva t1+ paired with the emotiva ta-100 integrated amp will be a chart topper in this set of equipment, all for $1100. I really feel like the ta-100 should have been included, we can't have everything though lol. All in all, great advice Steve!
Very sensible recommendations. It always makes sense to spend primarily on speakers. For amplifier and source, you can even get away with second hand units for next to nothing, if you know how to find quality (avoid hyped units). Whatever you save that way could go into buying even better speakers.
You’re right, spend your money on good speakers, efficient ones too, that way you don’t need a ton of power to play them at reference levels, even a mid grade tube amp will give you a ton of headroom.
Wait until they break in, I've had my Impact Monitors for about 8 months now and they are really stellar. Plus, Tektons have a solid build quality to them the website and reviews can't convey. Eric does a brilliant job finishing these. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy mine.
Oct 2, 2022 the Dirty Weekend starts at $1500 for black. $2k for walnut. Component upgrades can add another $500 or more. And I can’t wait to get some.
I just learned that the New York Audio Show is rescheduled again to December. I have been putting off making any audio purchases until I have an opportunity to check out a lot of equipment in one place. I hope to see Steve there.
Also i think the best affordable speakers are : Wharfedale Diamond 11 series , EVO series and Elysian series designed by Peter Comeau. They sound and look like speakers that cost 3 or 4 times more , they are unique and very good built. I HAVE SPOKEN :D
If I had $1200 just for speakers, I'd get the Elac Debut reference F5.2 towers. The cabinets are thick and heavy, the drivers have enormous magnet/motor assemblies, and they have a very modern attractive appearance
The KEF 550's have the UniQ woofer, 2 passive woofers and 1 active woofer mounted between the 2 passive radiators.I own a pair of KEF 950's. Keep the great videos coming. Cheers.
I really enjoy how your channel focuses on getting the most out of your music for your budget. Since watching your channel I’ve picked up a Chinese EL34 2*8w tube amp, some BIC speakers that were spec’d close to the RP-600Ms, and a 8” Dayton audio subwoofer. I don’t think any of the them has been reviewed on your channel but each purchase has been inspired by your videos and has been a great addition to my listening experience
I would have added a system built around Magnepan LRS. Many years ago I built my first serious budget system around the MMG and stil have them today (highly modified by now).
Although I live in Europe and those recommendation hardly apply to european market in terms of prices and support, nevertheless I like to watch Steve's opinion because his input is always welcome and give an idea about the spekaer's signature. E.g. Elac standmount and floorstander.
I built mine for less, time and patience, everything was bought off Facebook market, picked up a proceed five chanel amp and preamp for $800 this is a killer amp weighing in at about 120 lbs mirage m3si for $300 three mirage hdt I use for center and surround and a shitt dac for $25 all second hand but it sounds incredible
Steve Your the most knowledgeable person when it comes to all audio, I really enjoy your show most of all the intro surfer song . I have a pair of Elac Debut F6’s with the Kevlar speakers. I think they sound great for the genre’s I listen to rock, blues & a tad of Jazz. Also enjoy my Klipsch’s RP51’s have those in my den.
It's snowing quite a lot over here in the Netherlands too... looks nicely white, but definitely annoying when traveling! The ideal weather for staying at home and spinning some records 👍
There are some decent components on Steve's list. The Spark sounds like a particularly delicious component if one is willing to forego a remote and more features. And the Rega IO with its warranty is almost a no brainer. But I'm not totally sold on the Fluance RT-83. I'd be tempted to spend an extra $50-100 and go for either a Rega Planar 1 or a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon. I recently bought a Schiit Modi 3+ to try out and I'm impressed for what you get for a measley $100. It needs some breaking in and it can sound even better if you are willing to use a better power supply (supposedly even a generic Apple USB wall charger will improve things) and decent cables. The 3+ even includes Schiit's proprietary Unison USB implementation versus the generic off the shelf USB ones you typically find in entry level DACs.
Strong recommendation for the IOTAVX SA3 Amp/DAC. The DAC is not stellar, but it is workable. Only $399. Leaves a lot for a turntable or streamer like the Yamaha WXC-50 for ~$400.
This guy - always interesting, always giving useful advice and reviews. Every time he’s at the top of my list to share a beer and a Reuben sandwich with. That would be awesome! Keep up the great content.
Steve - always great advice - thank you! I was able to buy a new Outlaw RR2160 (3) months ago, and I am thoroughly impressed with this system. And now that I’ve trashed my older collection of speakers attempting to make them keep up with the “Outlaw”, I need some guidance buying replacement speakers. Any assist is appreciated - thanks again. Don M
The kef speakers use a horn loaded tweeter. It is the cone of the bass driver. I love concentric speakers.,tannoy, fynn audio , kef etc all sound amazing.
WOW, Steve....dude......thats a seriously tall audio stack behind you in this video.....tell all. Just the cables are a strong curiously interesting topic to look at as a viewer.....lol
Simply said; great video. Informative, practical and straight to the point and for people like me who like good sound, good looks and are not crazy to empty their wallets, at least, I'm not!
This is great. Any audiophile item you sum up in a lowest price category and lowest price makes me happy. Headphones, noise cancel or open if better. This video for Full speakers or subs like the kef that moves fast. Thankyou. My kanto yu6 got me into it knowing ur ears can say yes its acceptable starting point knowing u have heard the best engineered ones ever.
I like theTekton pleated edge paper cones, fast and light, good for low level listening levels I would guess. I believe the woofers are derived from guitar amplifier speakers. The Denon integrated has good reviews, is value for money, and would probably be my choice, although I would want to compare the sound with the Yamaha before finally deciding.
Eric from tekton tends to use a lot of off the shelf components. I have mini lores and the woofers are American made Eminence units. I think the specific model is an Eminence Alpha 8A which is from their professional audio line. The tweeter is something like a Tymphany BC25TG15. All pretty simple inexpensive components but well suited for the application.
Good speech but after year of searching I found ZETA ZERO omnidirectional (!) ribbon speakers ORBITAL360 - true ribbons, and I will never change for any other. the best in my opinion.My last & final live choice. Incredible, not possible to compare to any other to be honest... I reccomend you to listen them one day too if you talk about audio staff. . Omnidirectional ribbon idea is something incredible in sound precision meaning.... the first time i do not hear actual loudspeakers in corners of my room, I hear. "the speace if sound...." .! awesome! I love them.
I would never spend more than $500 on an amp or stereo receiver, same for bookshelves, I could double the budget for Towers and could justify 1k per pair. With today's great budget gear, there is no need to spend a fortune.
Just stating the blindingly obvious for those about to press 'Add To Cart' on the Fluance - the money you spend on that turntable will be a tiny fraction of the money you spend on vinyl over the following 12 months. Which is just as well, because 12 months will see you upgrade everything Steve has just recommended - welcome to the rabbit hole ;)
Johannes..... no judgements here... everybody's "starting" point is different, and the most important thing about being an audiophile is simply CARING about your system, and putting some thought and effort into your purchases. I would never put anyone down for a $500 system that brings them lots of joy. When considering the overall pricing scale of audio, you've got to admit that $1500 is closer to the starting point. If you don't have the $$$..... used gear is a great way to go!
Most "interested" people would think that $500 was a great starting point. For 80% of people out there it might be their ending point. But for those of us who learn to appreciate the music, we usually will go on a journey to higher ending stuff. Where that journey ends is entirely up to you. As the "Recovering Audiophile" says, "The only one who has to like the sound of your system is YOU!"... Main thing, unless you become a gearhead, is to be in love with the music... Good luck to you.
@@rosswarren436 Wow. Thank you, didnt expect such an interesting reply. I think for me the main reason why I havent upgraded any part of my current system is; i never heard a better one. None of my friends are into hifi, never seen another sound orientated system anywhere and i`ve been to none of these high-end audio events so far. So the only comparision i had for my system is car-hifi, Bluetooth speakers (yes these awfull sounding one-channel devices), 10$ Headphones and some party-club-systems that can demolish houses when cranked up but sound like ass. So obviously my well setup system, even if its 500$ (in a large room with no open walls for reflections, space between the speakers, symmetry, distance to the rear wall and to the side walls) sounds better to me than enything else. When the pandemic is over and hifi stores and High end hifi shows here in germany are open again I defenetly plan on visiting one, just to experience what I am actually missing. Best of wishes and stay safe.
@@TheMirolab Thanks for the reply. Yes i got all my gear in used condition on ebay like 2 years ago. Didnt even plan to become such an enthusiast and just wanted to be able to play those records my parents had in the basement. But fact is that the system is now occupying the space where once my PC and my TV was and i cant remember spending so much time with something ever in my life.
Well neophytes make mistakes. Back in November i did the classic mismatch of amp to speakers. A 35 watt Marantz into a 8-ohm/89 db B&W floorstanding. So my new Yamaha as 801 is coming tomorrow. In my defense I'll say that the audiostore said the original pairing would work..it didn't. At least I heard the problem-the distortion caused by insufficient power- I'll chalk that up as a valuable lesson. So now I have an extra amp..and what I'm going to do is buy some Klipsch bookshelfs and set that up downstairs. So I see how this game is played...always finding excuses-good or bad- to buy more audio stuff.
I think if you are new or seasoned audiophile you welcome these problems and enjoy remedying them. Some music enthusiasts quickly weary of this, and become annoyed to the point where they need meds. The main problem with all youtube video reviews is that you can't actually hear what anything sounds like..you have to rely on the words-often purple prose- of the reviewer. In the end I think it comes down to a roll-of-the-dice.
Thanks Steve. Would love to hear the Zu and T1s. I just got Auna floorstanders very cheap but good sound, quality comparable to the Kef Coda III that they will be rotated with 😉
The Yamaha has Bluetooth? Not sure about that. From what I can tell, there is a dongle of sorts which they no longer support and haven’t for years. If anyone can clarify...Nice systems Steve. Always enjoy these lower cost combos.
Please tell us what that triangle shaped thing is in the corner of your room/ceiling. What does it do? How does it work? Price? Links? Love the channel. These are my personal favorite.
It's ridiculous! Funny thing is....Before I even started watching his videos, the speakers that sent me on this crazt audio journey were the KEF Q500's. Then I went to the Tekton M-Lore's. Very ironic. I am now on my third pair of ZU Dirty Weekends.
Hey Goot! Down here in NC grillinand chillin in 60 degree weather. Need to come down south and get some of this tater salad, baked mac n cheese, collard greens, and chopped barbecue and pan fried cone bread! Hahahaha. Put some meat on them Yankee bones. Stay well my freind and love the show. Watch it everyday. Peace
@@mdr4670 I'm a grills on guy, but then again I listen to JBL's. My audiophile Castle Winchester's definitely sound better with grills off, but then there's the wife.
I wish KEF braced their Q series cabinets better. I found the Q900 cabinets very resonant. The Zu Omens are better built. Danny Richtie has some nice mods for the Klipsch.
I would say the project primary e turntable is better $240 ortofon om5 cartridge, have to disagree with their Steve with the schiit the ifi zen phono stage about $130 better than the schiit mani especially for moving coil. Not sure if they still make the dirty weekends Mark 1 but the mark 2 is a lot better speaker and is $900 go for the Mark 2 not Mark 1
