LightninBoy
Addicted to Fun and Learning
There's been a lot of talk lately about the money we spend on our audio hobby, and I see a lot of people have bought a lot of stuff (no surprise on a forum like this). I thought it would be interesting to hear stories about stand out components you've purchased that have just knocked it out of the park in terms of utility and value. I use the word "utility" here to mean the overall picture of the function, reliability, operational ease, sound, aesthetic or however else it bring enjoyment to you.
This is completely subjective and personal. There will be no judgement here if you spent 20K on an amp and list it as your best purchase because you simply get joy every time you fire it up and see the pretty blue meters glow.
Then tell us your worst purchase.
Can't decide on one? No problem, list multiple components. Nobody's paying by the word here.
Suggested format: Component name, Cost: story of why its your best purchase.
Here's mine.
Best
1. Skullcandy Grind headphones, $50. Sound great, reasonably comfortable, and just work. I use these every single day. I've praised these in several threads so I'll won't belabor this. I'll just add that I bought 2 more when they went on sale recently - one for my son to use and one for a backup for me when my current ones wear out.
2. Tannoy TS10 Subwoofer, ~$300. Nothing special from a sound perspective, but what makes this sub standout is all the inputs and controls it has: variable crossover, variable phase, XLR inputs and outputs for integrating active speakers, etc. I really didn't realize how unique this was until I tried to help others find something similar made today. Along with some EQ, this gives me nice flat response down to 40hz in my desktop system.
3. MiniDSP Umik Measuring mic, ~$100. Could move this to the top as its precipitated the biggest improvements in all my systems. But it requires an enormous amount of personal time learning how to use it and the various hardware and software relating to measuring and applying EQ.
Worst
NAD M15 Pre/Pro, ~$800 used. This replaced my venerable Outlaw 950 pre/pro, which could have been on my best list. The M15 was from the upscale "Masters" series, but it really soured my impression of "high end" as it was just a standard pre/pro (with mediocre software) in a fancy aluminum box. After awhile the volume knob would just randomly skip all over the place, which wasn't a huge deal because the remote was used 99% of the time, but almost blew my speakers when my son (not knowing it was broken) used the volume knob and it jumped to max. I was able to mostly fix the volume knob, but the unit completely died a few months later and I couldn't bring it back to life. Sold it off for parts. Somewhere out there, my old Outlaw 950 is probably still plugging away.
This is completely subjective and personal. There will be no judgement here if you spent 20K on an amp and list it as your best purchase because you simply get joy every time you fire it up and see the pretty blue meters glow.
Then tell us your worst purchase.
Can't decide on one? No problem, list multiple components. Nobody's paying by the word here.
Suggested format: Component name, Cost: story of why its your best purchase.
Here's mine.
Best
1. Skullcandy Grind headphones, $50. Sound great, reasonably comfortable, and just work. I use these every single day. I've praised these in several threads so I'll won't belabor this. I'll just add that I bought 2 more when they went on sale recently - one for my son to use and one for a backup for me when my current ones wear out.
2. Tannoy TS10 Subwoofer, ~$300. Nothing special from a sound perspective, but what makes this sub standout is all the inputs and controls it has: variable crossover, variable phase, XLR inputs and outputs for integrating active speakers, etc. I really didn't realize how unique this was until I tried to help others find something similar made today. Along with some EQ, this gives me nice flat response down to 40hz in my desktop system.
3. MiniDSP Umik Measuring mic, ~$100. Could move this to the top as its precipitated the biggest improvements in all my systems. But it requires an enormous amount of personal time learning how to use it and the various hardware and software relating to measuring and applying EQ.
Worst
NAD M15 Pre/Pro, ~$800 used. This replaced my venerable Outlaw 950 pre/pro, which could have been on my best list. The M15 was from the upscale "Masters" series, but it really soured my impression of "high end" as it was just a standard pre/pro (with mediocre software) in a fancy aluminum box. After awhile the volume knob would just randomly skip all over the place, which wasn't a huge deal because the remote was used 99% of the time, but almost blew my speakers when my son (not knowing it was broken) used the volume knob and it jumped to max. I was able to mostly fix the volume knob, but the unit completely died a few months later and I couldn't bring it back to life. Sold it off for parts. Somewhere out there, my old Outlaw 950 is probably still plugging away.