Very very cheap system recommendations!

[tonapo]

I am looking for a very cheap starter system for one of my kids. They are buying CD's but they do not have anything to play them on. I have already, a few times, tried some of my old kit from the loft, ostensibly a Technics SL-PG390 CD player from the 90's (actually my first CD player), and some Monitor Audio Bronze 2 bookshelf speakers bought in the last five years. I got all these out of the loft, whereby they were all summarily dismissed about 6 hours later - like a dagger to my heart. The plan was to buy an old amp to go with them. That was about a year ago...

So, I am looking again after a very tiny bit of encouragement, I have a stringent list of criteria, any kit cannot look terrible, ideally it will not sound terrible. Half size preferably. It will be used in sub-prime conditions possibly terrible conditions, in a teenagers bedroom possibly on a set of drawers. A remote might be nice. Some way to attach a modern streamer down the line might be useful. Although streamer is not needed now. I am thinking I might need a CD player, amp, and speakers. I have had a look at some denon all in one systems but nothing some jumps out. It might be nice any kit can be added to in the future. I suppose one aim is for said kit to inspire a love for music and stereo. I think the music is already sorted, the stereo less so.

Ideally I can pick any kit up from ebay for buttons, buts lets say £100 for the lot! Any ideas?

 

[Hapo]

...if you do not wish to discourage him I suggest a larger budget...

 

[tonapo]

£110? Joking aside, I quite like the opportunity to start with something, and then if they want to go further its a case of saving etc.

 

[staticV3]

£100 for everything is unrealistic.

First, why was your old equipment dismissed? How can we recommend gear that won't be immediately dismissed as well?

For speakers, about the only passive bookshelf speaker close to your budget that I'd actually buy is this one:

Micca MB42X G2 Budget Speaker Review

This is a review, listening tests and detailed measurements of the Micca MB42X G2 low cost 2-way bookshelf speaker. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $100 for a pair, shipping included. I expected thin, cheap plywood construction but instead, found a robust composite enclosure that...

www.audiosciencereview.com

There are many more (and likely better) options on the DIY and Used market, but researching your local market and all the listings in it seems a bit much to ask for

 

[Redacted]

Get your old gear from the loft up and running and put the kids in the loft.

 

[tonapo]

£100 for everything is unrealistic.

First, why was your old equipment dismissed? How can we recommend gear that won't be immediately dismissed as well?

For speakers, about the only passive bookshelf speaker close to your budget that I'd actually buy is this one:

Micca MB42X G2 Budget Speaker Review

This is a review, listening tests and detailed measurements of the Micca MB42X G2 low cost 2-way bookshelf speaker. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $100 for a pair, shipping included. I expected thin, cheap plywood construction but instead, found a robust composite enclosure that...

www.audiosciencereview.com

There are many more options on the DIY and Used market though, but researching your local DIY and used market and all the listings in it seems a bit much to ask for

The old CD player was dismissed due to the look really. A fairly large black box, taking up precious space in the room. We didn’t get as far as music as I didn’t have an amp. My thinking at the time was one would compromise on the look once you heard the output, the music.

 

[tonapo]

Perhaps the key is to hide the CD player and Amp away a little (which I would need to buy), although the CD player would need to be accessible. Then I would just need to get the speakers in the main space. I could then add perhaps a smaller CD player and a smaller amp later.

 

[staticV3]

The old CD player was dismissed due to the look really. A fairly large black box, taking up precious space in the room. We didn’t get as far as music as I didn’t have an amp. My thinking at the time was one would compromise on the look once you heard the output, the music.

So the speakers were fine?

Then with a budget of £100 it would make a ton of sense to reuse them and only look for a more compact Amp with CD functionality.

 

[tonapo]

So the speakers were fine?

Then with a budget of £100 it would make a ton of sense to reuse them and only look for a more compact Amp with CD functionality.

Too large really. They were bigger than I remembered them.

 

[john61ct]

SPEAKERS are the key, spend as much on them if needed as you do on ALL the rest.

And yes 100 is just dreaming unless you luck out at estate sales, on FBM or Craig's.

CD players are cheap as chips, and likely will be used only for ripping to FLAC once the kid realizes, or the trend dies off.

A decent streamer is a must, phone as remote.

Wiim Ultra is a fine unit, more flexible than Wiim Amp Ultra if you don't have the power amp.

One day they'll want a sub, wait on that for now.

Dog forbid tgey want LPs, but Ultra has cdecent input for that if needed select the TT accordingly.

 

[tonapo]

£100 for everything is unrealistic.

First, why was your old equipment dismissed? How can we recommend gear that won't be immediately dismissed as well?

For speakers, about the only passive bookshelf speaker close to your budget that I'd actually buy is this one:

Micca MB42X G2 Budget Speaker Review

This is a review, listening tests and detailed measurements of the Micca MB42X G2 low cost 2-way bookshelf speaker. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $100 for a pair, shipping included. I expected thin, cheap plywood construction but instead, found a robust composite enclosure that...

www.audiosciencereview.com

There are many more (and likely better) options on the DIY and Used market, but researching your local market and all the listings in it seems a bit much to ask for

Thanks for the speaker recommendation. These are on my list now.

 

[staticV3]

Too large really. They were bigger than I remembered them.

Got it.

You can kill two birds with one stone, with active speakers like the Edifier MR3 or M60.

These will save both the cost and space of an external Amplifier.

 

[Paul7777x]

You are really hammered with that budget alas.

The only real way I can think of is these…

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304398881800?_skw=edifier&itmmeta=01KSW7QAGHGP1ZYDPFS8FZ23BN&hash=item46df965408%3Ag%3AojQAAOSwrzxiIht-&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAAwGfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xCGj9kn%2BLS147CWKJExKnHzAuwWwgpMMxpwfhHQELEMdgYdUAwnEUoZpz%2Bgdvou6f0F8GXYel0YcW3S5tcIy5jbmCQEh3X%2F7FgAZBgl9HmDfhuk8veR8eipVRRb64GG5K1ldFZCEA508yHJJNESqPL5i5djoUK3cfc9e9YBgQ8g2Yi0XdSvLYfvJnyjmQL8cB2a8kFAbS1GiY8OL9ROwqmWGMoh4qAbNvMPnBcfjCZWyw%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABlBMUNCo3YfPZw&keyword=edifier&sacat=0&relatedSearch=true

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/276745077439?_skw=edifier&itmmeta=01KSW7TV0FZ80R7N3MFZQRZ0V4&hash=item406f4ac2bf%3Ag%3AS8UAAOSwPWZnQF9f&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAA4GfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xCGrSmRusohQoNtPd9a2dvdu7D2%2BFx%2FYbG1z6eC%2FJ%2FeP8LpVTz%2FqgHGOhG6EgHilo8x4Qpqr1jPSYCgTeaZ07ClVLglZoYPlC4ErVZXTGJnbf3Nw720ZBneXZcMMG76Zv9KgH9qXrr6z7BuDqZ%2BptMVZdZYpnyfreTbTM0NXL4q86GtPphkf%2FJSQeVl0ROeLZW7SXykEodVkL%2B6Nf1wfdNSdYrUi9EKY5euPo4AJTG%2BNJ0jhW5NrcYrcLCp0L1igU08SQI7LRA8hPB2%2FMEL8iUZ%7Ctkp%3ABFBMurDrh89n&keyword=edifier&sacat=0&relatedSearch=true

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134080806997?_skw=edifier&epid=6054331146&itmmeta=01KSW7XF161HXK44HS5K6V63QG&hash=item1f37d6c055%3Ag%3A7yMAAOSwKzViUbVG&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAA4GfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xB2fSuDcJHKf6RuuO9iXUplaiqGJjIuZTdGQYj4iHM0Sg7SZ4lwwE2r4KJW37hbQOA1Ia4KjjE4gox%2B%2FnrL1%2BSjP%2FGd%2FA4n7SJ8leqevfDwYk9Wp66d1Tpr5vjedb%2FIzt20Yv70NgnfPzMWtKZRpLscEIp2LI5udXIz7F%2BbENWY1f4BSlibileJ%2FbwAjpGjqN9u3dcR5GK1q0emGp9iueop%2Fqd9O7LIp9Q7%2BvNjDbMklNqSCbYAWKpEelNF9XcNBdbwgTAlEw5BuifkkGfLUJTP%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR-zw9YfPZw&keyword=edifier&sacat=0&relatedSearch=true

And use the CD player they hate until a bit more budget allows a ‘prettier’ one.

 

[Paul7777x]

Got it.

You can kill two birds with one stone, with active speakers like the Edifier MR3 or M60.

These will save both the cost and space of an external Amplifier.

X-posts.

I don’t think it’s possible to get a pair of passive speakers and an amp at anything like a hundred quid so these or perhaps similar used is the way.

 

[staticV3]

@Paul7777x BTW, in your eBay links you can delete everything beginning with the '?_skw=edifier...'

Makes it a lot neater

 

[Bland_username42069]

If a technics cd player and pair of monitor speakers inst good enough I’d be telling them to buy their own gear. That’s a nice set up

 

[john61ct]

My kids get my discards, and make over $100 per shift even after school, nearly all of that available for discretionary spending

When they were younger their monthly allowances + weekly "bonus" for performance would have gotten them a long way if they were motivated

Assuming I slacked iff a bit on savings enforcement for a while ...

 

[tonapo]

Got it.

You can kill two birds with one stone, with active speakers like the Edifier MR3 or M60.

These will save both the cost and space of an external Amplifier.

Good idea! I could use the current CD player, and perhaps get a smaller one at some point in the future.

 

[tonapo]

If a technics cd player and pair of monitor speakers inst good enough I’d be telling them to buy their own gear. That’s a nice set up

There has been an element of this!

 

[Mart68]

How small is the room if a CD player is taking up too much space?

My room as a teenager was 9'x9' I managed to fit a clock radio and an Aiwa midi system in there.

I'd tell them 'It's this or nothing - beggars can't be choosers.'