Cheap audio gear. Yes? No? Sometimes?

[Noel2112]

I got an little Chinese kinter amp for less than 40 bucks that isn't half bad. Supposed to be one of those tripath class t chips, while not perfect it's not too shabby for a little cheap thing to play around with.

 

[parvo]

Nowadays, I can't afford high-end new gear except speakers. Everything else is used or vintage gear that I may have
to repair or re-cap. Usually, I get lucky finding a fair amount of quality high-end gear at a reasonable price. My Klipsch speakers are discounted new and they sound great. Yamaha and Denon are the rest to round out the rest of my gear.

 

[Hyfi]

I now live in the Entry Level High End world. In the 90s, My Hafler gear and Dynaudio speakers were in that range then.

There is not really Bargains with HE gear. You may get a better price due to a relationship or someone just trying to make a sale, but none of it is Cheap.

I have always bought what I could afford without going into debt. As my career and income changed, I have been able to buy more expensive gear.

When I look for something new, I start with a Budget, then look at features, warranty, reviews and then go and listen once I narrow it down or decide and need a sanity check.

A few months ago I set a budget for new speakers, after listening to what I thought would be it, and then hearing the next model up, I doubled my budget without incurring any debt.

Whether it is Audio Gear or anything else, I buy the best I can afford so as to use it for a long time without issues and replacement. My Dynes are 20 y/o this year and look and sound like I just removed them from the box. My 20 y/o Odyssey Stratos Plus is also the same. Both live in a secondary system but I got what I paid for and more.

 

[JoeShimandle]

Have an old Sony TV that does not have a headphone output of any kind. I use the unamplified RCA audio out to feed into an inexpensive Chinese made Blue Bird brand battery powered headphone amp. Solid metal build, dead silent amp, great sound, and long playing. Also bought a Chinese made Berennis MP3 player that also had a solid metal case, dead silent amp, great sound, easy menu, and long playing.

Both had good reviews and the looked well built from the sale site.

 

[Snowpuppy2]

Hardly anyone seems to be responding to this question properly. It’s asking if you buy cheap (meaning brand new low-cost low-end) products, not if you look for bargains by finding a receiver for $50 that once cost $2000.

I don’t buy cheap crap because it’s normally a waste of $, and rarely performs as well as something that’s well made and costs more. Of course there are exceptions, and because money doesn’t grow on trees, when I find those exceptions, as rare as they may be, I’m happy to take advantage of them. I look for bargains when I can find them. Things like monoprice speaker wire comes to mind. It’s dirt cheap compared to name brand stuff, and it does the same job. Harbor freight offers some “cheap” tools that I find work as well as the big name stuff, but I’m also not a full time mechanic or construction worker. Most of the time you get what you pay for though, so I try to avoid “cheap” things altogether, and instead look for the highest quality I can find at the best price I can afford.

The question was about audio gear though, so that’s an easy one, it’s a flat out NO. Never. I made that mistake a few times when I was younger and I’ll never waste another dollar on cheap crap again!

 

[Kaveman Karl]

I took it to mean cheap as in "crap" and not directly related to price. I've owned inexpensive goodies and overpriced garbage.

 

[rekmeyata]

I would not normally buy a cheap audio component, but everyone's idea of cheap is different. I don't have an expensive audio system, my amp/tuner, preamp, cassette deck (yes, I have one), turntable, CD player, and speakers all only cost me about $5,000 back in 1994, of course in todays dollars that's around twice that. Point is some you guys probably have $10 grand just in an amp!

So, my cheapest stuff is the turntable, I bought a Rotel RP1000 used for $40, I later found a NOS Empire cartridge for it and that cart woke up the turntable, the cart cost 4 times what I paid for the turntable. My second cheapest thing I bought was about year ago when I decided to add in a subwoofer, so, Costco had a Klipsch R-12SW on sale for $145 and it works fantastic. I also don't buy into expensive speaker cables are interconnect cables, expensive cables are a ripoff and have been proven to be ripoff by various people.

 

[sqlsavior]

Didn't vote, because the descriptions didn't jive with my motivations, but, yes, sometimes. This chi-fi amp replaced a broken PrimaLuna, and is serving admirably, better than a '90s Marantz, better than new class D Rotel, and better than the chip amps I've tried, too.

https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/1969-hood-amp-repro.794345/

I've learned not to diss Chinese stuff with BS prejudice, not that I ever did that previously...

 

[imral3]

My inexpensive, small stuffs:

 

[harman/kardon]

In 2020 I bought a Vincent SV-237MK for 2100 Euros. This crappy amp went kaputt after 20 months (at least within the 5 years warranty). Then my dealer told me that it would take a half year to get it repaired because of repair supplies issues. I hooked a Sansui 9090 instead on the Rogers LS 5/9, I bought the Sansui for 330 Euros nine years ago. The sound difference simply shocked me.

Okay this comment does not go well with the actual topic of the thread. But thanks for ranting.

However, I think that cheap (?) gear does not work for my ears because it also means cheap speakers. Tell me about cheap speakers serving the high demands of my ears. Cheap in this case may be less than 500 Euros.

 

[maxhifi]

I spent my youth trying to get the most out of cheap stuff, because I started in this hobby when I was in school and had very little money. I have fond memories of Radio Shack's speaker driver selection, building chip amps, making cabinets out of used plywood etc. But, I think at this point there's nothing too cheap which is worth the attention, except maybe the Rega Carbon/Audio Techica AT3600L. Hey maybe I should change my vote!

 

[Quadman2]

With increased knowledge comes awareness, which in turn breeds discrimination when it comes to appreciation of well performing gear.

And, the "well performing gear" costs more.

Simple as that.

OK?


Q

 

[Welshaudio]

All my gear is ex pro radio / tv station or similar and has to pass a stringent test with the exception of speakers and cable I’ve always bought new. It’s what I prefer and doesn’t cost $$$£££

 

[Snowpuppy2]

I would not normally buy a cheap audio component, but everyone's idea of cheap is different. I don't have an expensive audio system, my amp/tuner, preamp, cassette deck (yes, I have one), turntable, CD player, and speakers all only cost me about $5,000 back in 1994, of course in todays dollars that's around twice that. Point is some you guys probably have $10 grand just in an amp!

So, my cheapest stuff is the turntable, I bought a Rotel RP1000 used for $40, I later found a NOS Empire cartridge for it and that cart woke up the turntable, the cart cost 4 times what I paid for the turntable. My second cheapest thing I bought was about year ago when I decided to add in a subwoofer, so, Costco had a Klipsch R-12SW on sale for $145 and it works fantastic. I also don't buy into expensive speaker cables are interconnect cables, expensive cables are a ripoff and have been proven to be ripoff by various people.

I think we can all agree that a $5k stereo rig, whether in 1994 or 2022 dollars isn’t “cheap”! Of course, some companies give you more for your $ than others, but regardless of what components you went with, you bought quality gear. Like you said, if you spent $5k in 1994, that’s around $10k today. A Rotel TT for $40 is a great deal, and I’m sure that cart brought it to life, and was totally worth it!

It isn’t about what you paid, as much as it is about the components themselves. “Cheap” doesn’t always mean low cost, it can also mean low quality. I’m sure there’s nothing “cheap” about your system. If that Klipsch sub sounds good in your room, than that’s a steal! And as far as the speaker cables/interconnects go, I hear you man. I’ve seen the videos that show that many of the high dollar cables don’t perform any better, and some actually perform worse! Some do perform a hair better, when put on high end machines that measure everything, but it really isn’t enough to make a difference that we’d be able to hear. That said, I do have some cables that would have cost a pretty penny that I was able to pick up for dirt cheap, so I use them just because I have them. I have Audioquest HDMI’s & interconnects, Straight Wire interconnects, some custom interconnects from Blue Jeans Cables, MIT interconnects, Signal Cable power cords, and Audioquest & Kimber Kable speaker wires, all that cost me basically next to nothing at goodwill, so why not, right? Would I pay top dollar for these cables? Hell no! I would have paid thousands for these things if I bought them new, but they cost very little, so it’s fine. I probably paid less than $50 for around 20 cables, so who cares?!?

 

[Caveman Carl]

I'm trying to imagine The Who, circa 1970, performing @ "full force", for one of those so-called Tiny Desk Concerts...

I try not to.