What was your best (and worst) audio purchase for the dollar?

[Snarfie]

Best Gear: measuring mic Superlux ECM 888 38,- euro.

I'm 62 now an spent over the years regarding audio equipment some serious money that can buy you a brand new middle class car. But the best Gear in all those years was a measuring mic of 38,- euro for room correction measurments i bought about 4 years ago. It changed my horrible room acoustics in almost a nice studio controll room. More important all music was rediscoverd because i'm not only listening to music but now i experience most off the same music (the band sounds/interact like a band way more) an all it intimate details as i never did before.

Worst Gear: none


PS.
As i read the comments as best Gear lots of room correction items are mentiond like minidsp mic's etc.

 

[vibess]

Oh boy. Well I should be considered lucky. Almost all my purchases/acquisitions have been star performers! If I had to select one best audio purchase, currently it would be my Sennheiser HD700, but not too far behind are my Emotiva XPA-1 gen 2 amps and my Axiom m80 speakers. All of which I consider to be steals.
The worst audio purchase was probably in the earlier days of computer audio and it was the Cambridge Soundworks PC Works. These were spectacularly sh*t speakers with an even worse subwoofer. I remember the many hours of listening to terrible sound quality on these.

Had the same eons ago (Cambridge Soundworks PC Works ). But at the time I dont remember it being that bad, but what did i know back then.

 

[Loathecliff]

Worst:- Truvox class B transistor amp in 1968. £56 was way too much.
The matching tuner was nothing special either.
To compensate, I've hardly ever bought new since.
I wish I'd gone to household general auctions before 1968. Why didn't my dad tell me??!!
Best:-
Thorens TD160 £2, in a box with an Armstrong 600 amp, a toaster, and clothes brushes
Garrard 401 in plinth with SME 3009 £4.
Garrard 401 in plinth with SME 3012 £6.
It's a long list, but that's enough.

 

[Gekel]

I am happy with what I have. I am lucky that I found ASR while planning the replacement of my old audio gear (Yamaha DSP 2070 and Yamaha CD player, both maybe 20-25 years old).

I planned to buy the CA CXN V2 network streamer or something similar, then almost got sucked into this Allo USBBridge with the "clean USB output", a Shanti power supply, combined with audiophile USB cables (and the other blaa blaa) and external storage of music on a separated NAS , and good old Hans on YT sounded like a nice uncle who only wanted my best with the knowledge he had.

Some threads later here and I use a pi4 running Moode, standard PSU, cheap usb cables. I think I saved at least 1k Euro here compared to what I initially planned.

and the other gear I owned (and own) before that was/is nice. Beyer DT770 Pro heaphones, the Topping DX3 pro, Allo Volt D Amp / Nubert speakers, all fine.

 

[Amiram]

iFi Hip Dac the worst

Care to explain because I'm thinking of buying one

 

[A Surfer]

Best:

Creek CAS4040 - My first amp, bought in the 80s for £120. It's been dragged around to countless places Iived as a student, and various other places before I finally bought a house. It spent time in my office, years under my desk, and years in my wife's business. Now it has a new home in my shed.

Goodmans Maxim II speakers - My first speakers, just as old and had the same journey as my amp and still going strong.

Squeezebox 3 - So many years ahead of its time and totally unappreciated by Logitech, no surprise there then.

Worst:

Kimber Cable - Yeah could have been worse, I could have spent 10 times the money. I also should have know better.

View attachment 128826

I owned a same vintage Creek Audio FM Tuner, really liked it and at the same time a first generation Creek Evo integrated, also rather enjoyed it.

 

[dmac6419]

Care to explain because I'm thinking of buying one

bad battery,battery was fully charged let sit for a month or two or three,go to power it on dead,when I bought it battery issue returned in a day,new one sent same issue 5 hr battery life since i have other portable equipment didn't use it that much,FiiO X3 II sitting around for at least 2 yrs still fully charged,so my mind say why can't this iFi stay charged it's not on,this is my third one,I'll let you know if it still charged or if it's dead later this evening as I have to pull it out.

 

[solderdude]

best: KSC75 well below MSRP.
Bought a bunch of them.

 

[raindance]

I owned a same vintage Creek Audio FM Tuner, really liked it and at the same time a first generation Creek Evo integrated, also rather enjoyed it.

The early Creek stuff sounded amazingly good - harmonically rich. The best pairing I heard was with the Infinity RS5 speakers - the ones with Emit tweeters. The downside was no output protection circuitry, so the output stage would blow and let out magic smoke easily.

 

[Brianc]

BEST: Yamaha ysp900 soundbar bought used for $115. Been using it for almost ten years in two places where I can't do a multi speaker setup. Twice tried to replace it with more current soundbars in the $300 range and returned both. The adjustability of the ysp900 is hard to find at any price it seems.
Sennheiser HD555 Bought new in 2006 for $99 and sold two years ago. Superbly comfortable and very good for movies. Rreplaced the pads once. Sort of wished I'd kept them though my 650s sound better.
WORST: Meadowlark Audio Kestrel transmission-line tower speakers. Bought new in late 90s. These weren't bad speakers but they weren't worth the $1200 price (more than my car at the time was worth). They were quite ugly (see attached pic) though I wouldn't have admitted it then. I was driving them with a cheap Yamaha AV receiver, so maybe I wasn't getting the best from them. Ended up selling back to the dealer in 3 years for about $500. I've probably made worse purchases that I've forgotten because they didn't cost much, but this one I remember (and I still remember the Absolute Sound rave review that led me to them).
EDIT: Decided the Topping DX3 Pro belongs on my best list even though I've only had it for a few months. Bought almost new from a friend for $140. A hell of a deal.

 

[Amiram]

bad battery,battery was fully charged let sit for a month or two or three,go to power it on dead,when I bought it battery issue returned in a day,new one sent same issue 5 hr battery life since i have other portable equipment didn't use it that much,FiiO X3 II sitting around for at least 2 yrs still fully charged,so my mind say why can't this iFi stay charged it's not on,this is my third one,I'll let you know if it still charged or if it's dead later this evening as I have to pull it out.

Thanks for the feedback bro.. How do you like the sound compared to other portable options you have? Also please mention it's capability to run 150-300 Ohm headphones sennheiser hd6xx and hd58x.. I can live with a less battery rather than a bad sounding device..

 

[dmac6419]

Thanks for the feedback bro.. How do you like the sound compared to other portable options you have? Also please mention it's capability to run 150-300 Ohm headphones sennheiser hd6xx and hd58x.. I can live with a less battery rather than a bad sounding device..

It runs the Sennheiser fine,it sounds good,it has that deep bass and body,toppings nxdsd is more technical,just can't figure out the battery life.

 

[Amiram]

It runs the Sennheiser fine,it sounds good,it has that deep bass and body,toppings nxdsd is more technical,just can't figure out the battery life.

I'm exactly contesting just between those two which you mentioned xD Your pick for sound and capability to run decently high end headphones?? TOPPING NX4 DSD VS IFI HIP DAC?

 

[Amiram]

I'm exactly contesting just between those two which you mentioned xD Your pick for sound and capability to run decently high end headphones?? TOPPING NX4 DSD VS IFI HIP DAC?

I'm thinking of buying he4xx or the Sundara's in future... Please take that into consideration too... Thanks

 

[dmac6419]

I'm exactly contesting just between those two which you mentioned xD Your pick for sound and capability to run decently high end headphones?? TOPPING NX4 DSD VS IFI HIP DAC?

I like them both,but for different reasons if you want more bass,ifi hip dac,analytical nx4 dsd,that just my preference,I'll use different dac/amp for different genres or moods that I'm in and also I like to rotate equipment so it'll last longer.

 

[Amiram]

I like them both,but for different reasons if you want more bass,ifi hip dac,analytical nx4 dsd,that just my preference,I'll use different dac/amp for different genres or moods that I'm in and also I like to rotate equipment so it'll last longer.

Thanks for such valuable info man. I was trying to find measurements of hip dac but no luck, hence relying on user reviews.. I'm glad that you like both of them and considering that, I won't go wrong with either one.. I'm tending more towards the topping but feel like pentacon output on the hip dac seems futuristic.. May I ask what the battery life on nx4 is like? Did you face any issues with the device so far?

 

[michman66]

iFi Hip Dac the worst

Hi, mind sharing your thoughts. I was thinking about this one. Preliminary ideas.

 

[jhaider]

best: KSC75 well below MSRP.
Bought a bunch of them.

I always much preferred the thin plastic ear hooks of KSC 35. However, my position must be the minority one because the KSC 35 design is long out of production with no reissue in (known) sight.

 

[Kalessin]

My best audio purchase was my first stereo system, bought in 1979 when I was a young teen from the Tech Hifi store in Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA. Tech Hifi had huge catalogs with systems they put together, ranging from about $180 up to a staggering $10,000 in 1979 dollars. These catalogs had fantastically weird photography and lush descriptions of equipment: https://dangerousminds.net/comments/toys_for_boys_tech_hifi_catalogs_of_vintage_stereo_equipment

The system I bought included a Technics SA-101 receiver with a mighty 18 wpc, Technics SL-D20 semi-automatic direct drive turntable (still works perfectly, on loan to a nephew), EPI A70 6" 2-way speakers (working, but currently in storage). This system cost something like $249 (in 1980 dollars) not including tax, though the store threw in some speaker wire and interconnects. It lasted twelve years in constant use, up until an apartment mate blew up the receiver, luckily the speakers were undamaged.

My worst audio purchase was a pair of JBL 2800 speakers for $75 around 2004. These were 8" 2-ways with a front port, and a "pure titanium" tweeter. The tweeter was the screechiest, nastiest, most fatiguing high frequency emitter that I've ever had the misfortune to listen to. The tweeter was used in a series of JBL lower-cost models 2500, 2600, 2800, 3800, 4800, made approximately 1989-1992.

I gave the speakers away to an MIT student, and they apparently got handed along a few more times before they found their way to someone that liked them, after which they disappeared into the mists of time.

 

[solderdude]

I always much preferred the thin plastic ear hooks of KSC 35. However, my position must be the minority one because the KSC 35 design is long out of production with no reissue in (known) sight.

The advantage of the KSC75 hooks is you can bend them into shape to provide the correct amount of clamping force.
I even replaced the hooks on my KSC35 with the black ones from the KSC7X (which isn't as good as the old KSC75)
AFAIK the KSC35 is still sold new. Sounds slightly different from KSC75.
The silicone does get ugly over time.