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Bang for buck

Funkenstein

Funkenstein

New Member
Hey AK! Been gone for awhile...

Was wondering what everyone suggests for a bang for your (mine) buck system.

It will be going in a 16'x24'x8' garage gym. Obviously used for working out so volume is good, something to fill the room with sound and motivate me.

I only need it to run off headphone jack so I can simply plug and play my phone or friends phones/mp3 players.

Here's the kicker...budget of $200! After the coin I have dropped on the gym I need to pinch my pennies.

Thanks!
 
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Scour the local CraigsList or even eBay for a decent receiver and pair of speakers.

$50-$75 for a working Pioneer, Onkyo, Kenwood etc with about 30-50 watts per channel.

That leaves about $150 for a set of Cerwin Vegas.

Or go new with a Yamaha RS 201 $150 and there are some decent Pioneer speakers available new for around $100 per pair. Can't find a post with the model number though, someone else here must know though.
 
My approach would be to get a Denon/Onkyo/Kenwood receiver from the 90s or 2000s from Craigslist or the Goodwill or maybe even from a friend and a pair of speakers from Polk... Maybe the Monitor series or an RT or RTi. Anything bigger then the smaller two models.

I have a pair of Design Acoustics and a pair of Polk RTi55s out there with a Kenwood that I paid about $5 for. Speakers were $30 for the DAs and the Polks were free with one blown tweeter. I listen to an MP3 CD about 20% of the time and a Sony Walkman MP3 player 80% of the time.
 
With a $200 budget, I'd find the cheapest receiver/integrated amp I could find at a thrift, yard sale, or Craigslist. Look for something with 80-100 WPC. You can find receivers from Technics, Radio Shack, Kenwood, JVC, or even Sony that would fit the bill. Test before buying to make certain it works OK.

Then buy the biggest pair of speakers you can find, preferably something with fifteen inch woofers. Cerwin Vega is the brand to look for, although Infinity, KLH, and Realistic also offered speakers like that. Make certain they work and that the woofer foam doesn't need replacing before buying.

It'll sound good enough for the gym and go plenty loud enough for motivation, with midbass you'll be able to feel. If you're lucky, you could come in less than budget and save the rest for something else.

If you are near Carmel, there is a KLH receiver that would fit the bill for only $25. The seller says it's only 10 WPC, but I believe that's a typo.

In Clay City, there's a guy with Mach Ones for $200 that look nice. He says firm, but they've been listed a month and you might talk him down to $175. These are the ones where the foam surrounds don't rot, so no worries there.

The Indianapolis Craiglslist isn't the best I've seen, but there are some things worth checking out.
 
Looks pretty good to me though the receiver ius bordering on what I would consider a bit too old.

What city are you in? We could have a look at your local offerings.
 
stereofanboy said:
With a $200 budget, I'd find the cheapest receiver/integrated amp I could find at a thrift, yard sale, or Craigslist. Look for something with 80-100 WPC. You can find receivers from Technics, Radio Shack, Kenwood, JVC, or even Sony that would fit the bill. Test before buying to make certain it works OK.

Then buy the biggest pair of speakers you can find, preferably something with fifteen inch woofers. Cerwin Vega is the brand to look for, although Infinity, KLH, and Realistic also offered speakers like that. Make certain they work and that the woofer foam doesn't need replacing before buying.

It'll sound good enough for the gym and go plenty loud enough for motivation, with midbass you'll be able to feel. If you're lucky, you could come in less than budget and save the rest for something else.

If you are near Carmel, there is a KLH receiver that would fit the bill for only $25. The seller says it's only 10 WPC, but I believe that's a typo.

In Clay City, there's a guy with Mach Ones for $200 that look nice. He says firm, but they've been listed a month and you might talk him down to $175. These are the ones where the foam surrounds don't rot, so no worries there.

The Indianapolis Craiglslist isn't the best I've seen, but there are some things worth checking out.
Click to expand...

Great, I just inquired on the KLH. I looked it up and it's listed on other websites as 200 watt, so it should be 100 WPC. Thanks for the searching!
 
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