Very very cheap system recommendations!

[Redacted]

Rip your kids' CDs and let them play the files off their phones/tablets/PC into some used active speakers from headphone sockets. Or dig out an old PC from the loft, and make it into a music centre (an old PC or laptop probably has a CD drive, but a USB CD drive is under £20.

 

[Bland_username42069]

You could always just buy someone’s old micro system for £30

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/206300549583

 

[DrTom]

Yeah denon micro system of some sort then the cheapest Q Acoustics bookshelves you can find.

 

[Ruediger]

Maybe something like a Yamaha CD-NT670D used as a player.

Streamer, DLNA, CD Player, has inputs, radio, display, remote, half size. First gen MusicCast should be cheap to get.

 

[Audioagnostic]

Very well possible second hand with some patience. I do live in a city so available second hand stuff is good.

For my son I bought this amp, dac streamer thing for 50 euro second hand.
I got some cheap bookshelves as a bonus with them as well.

Many comparable things exist, this was just something that was available for a low price.

I also bought Klipsch SF1 speakers for 50. Got a center with it he has no use for as well. Sensitive speakers, decent quality.
For older standmounts it is a buyers market...

CD player from the thrift store that cost 10 euro.

System sounds pretty good and if he blows the thing at a party not much is lost.

I consider this a gateway system...

 

[Marc v E]

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?

Ime if you want to get somebody exited about hifi, you need something that surprises you, engages and is better than what we hear in shops, bars, all-in-one systems. That won't happen for £100 unless you buy in ears and use your phone.

I guess I should take the £100 as a guideline to give the cheapest options that are still hifi.

Given that they care about looks, I would suggest Sonos play1 or play3 second hand. I'm not 100% sure on the inputs of that speaker but if it can take digital in I would get a Wiim streamer (or Sonos), rip the cds and teach them how to do it. Wiim probably has speakers too, but not sure if they are as cheap as Sonos second hand.

Another idea may be an avr with streamer, eq, microphone included from a few years old with your current speakers. Denon and Marantz are a solid choice. (Marantz SR6010, SR6013, Denon x3600h, x3500h, x3700h ...) Get one with a microphone that can apply eq automatically. This will make a ton of difference. Adding a sub at a later date, when funds allow, will make a massive difference again.

 

[1066]

Could they use their Xbox or PlayStation to play discs?

Surely they’d want to stream on a family streaming account so they can stay locked on their phone

 

[early rejecter]

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.

Rip your kids' CDs and let them play the files off their phones/tablets/PC

I would get a Wiim streamer (or Sonos), rip the cds and teach them how to do it.

Surely they’d want to stream on a family streaming account so they can stay locked on their phone

Always a bit baffled by these sorts of responses when there’s mention of discovering or rediscovering a love of music via physical media. We’re buying CDs and records because of the added pleasure of browsing and interacting with a physical library and getting away from phones and computers. I’m still buying CDs pretty regularly but it must be at least 10 years since I’ve ripped one — it made sense for commuting back in the days before unlimited phone data plans became commonplace.

Kids spend so much time on screens as it is; if they’re expressing interest in something outside of one I’d encourage it.

 

[DVinylfan]

Great mission..my first system (record player, amp, speakers) was bought at a household auction for well below 100.
Look around at yard/ car boot sale/ braderie and if you find a bit of kit that looks interesting do a search on ASR

 

[Hapo]

£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.

...why not gear that could be cherished for years...???...when is his hearing going to be better than it is now...???...

$349 (nice tuner)

 

[Hapo]

$279...nothing quite like it @ $300...

 

[Hapo]

Sony CS Speaker, SS-CS3M2 3-Way 4-Driver Hi-res Floorstanding Speaker (Single)$218.00​

...noted for being rugged as well as sounding good...

 

[Redacted]

Always a bit baffled by these sorts of responses when there’s mention of discovering or rediscovering a love of music via physical media. We’re buying CDs and records because of the added pleasure of browsing and interacting with a physical library and getting away from phones and computers. I’m still buying CDs pretty regularly but it must be at least 10 years since I’ve ripped one — it made sense for commuting back in the days before unlimited phone data plans became commonplace.

Kids spend so much time on screens as it is; if they’re expressing interest in something outside of one I’d encourage it.

Unless I missed something, the OP seemed to saying his kids want to be able to play music for not a lot of money. I did not read anything about some kind of communibg with physical media (at least in the first post). If I misread the intent, I'm happy to be corrected by the OP.

The media is probably just a means to end for kids and getting them enjoying the music is the main thing, I think. Herein may lie the ASR split between lovers of music, and those mostly interested in hardware and media.

 

[Hapo]

Klipsch R-100SW 10" Subwoofer $198

 

[Hapo]

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?

...is like firewood...if you are out camping and need wood for fire all night, the way to figure out how much wood you need is to gather all you think need into one pile....

...then make 10 MORE just like it... $1250 or so would make for something he would want to hear...show his friends...dive into music....

 

[Roland68]

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?

With a little patience, £100 (or slightly more) is entirely sufficient.
Look for used mini CD receivers or 2- or 3-piece mini-systems from brands such as Teac, Yamaha, Sony, Harman Kardon (be sure to check for the system cable), Sharp, etc.
You can find items like this starting at just £30–40—with or without speakers included.
Small and larger stereo speakers can also often be acquired very cheaply.
It’s also worth checking local classifieds; many people prefer not to ship items and will therefore let them go very cheaply—via local pickup only—sometimes even giving them away for free.

 

[Mart68]

Unless I missed something, the OP seemed to saying his kids want to be able to play music for not a lot of money. I did not read anything about some kind of communibg with physical media (at least in the first post

It's in the first sentence of the O/P.

 

[LTig]

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

Makes it a lot neater

You can do this almost anywhere, just delete everything starting with the question mark '?'. Also helps in keeping things private!

 

[Redacted]

It's in the first sentence of the O/P.

Yes. - "I am looking for a very cheap starter system for one of my kids.". Doesn't sound much like getting them into the joys of physical media. Might mean "please don't mess with my expensive gear"!

 

[Bland_username42069]

This bad boy for £60 - cd player and cassette deck should they fall down the Bandcamp limited to 25 tapes rabbit hole

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/178172588033