best: 80SGD (~60USD) for a single-driver bookshelf speaker. Mark Audio CHP-70 drivers, walnut-veneer enclosure from some Chinese cabinet OEM the Mark Audio distributor fitted the drivers just for testing. I firmly believe that a good single wideband driver passive is an underrated solution in the extreme budget price range (<150USD) for nearfield, where you either contend with meh passive stuff like Dayton B652 or suffer through the hiss of the active options. Something like a
Scanspeak 10F/8414G10 with bulk discounts, a well-tuned box, and that's it. Hell, or a Vifa TC9 + cheap woofer. People overrate the bass they need frequently, especially non-enthusiasts. What's commonly thought of as bass is more of midbass 100Hz-300Hz, and a good 4" single driver plays loud enough nearfield for that, without having to suffer the dreadful crossover issues plaguing something like the Dayton. I would rather lose 15-20kHz (again, overrated especially for older listeners) and have much better integration around 2-5kHz.
But I wouldn't go with Mark Audio if I were to choose again. Their Chord/Harbeth-style pseudoscientific sophistry (cone boundary effects... extreme break-in periods of hundreds of hours... handwavy materials science buzzword dropping etc etc) is not to my taste. Scanspeak and Vifa make wonderful widebanders for all price ranges and less fluff.
worst: marantz PM6004 - what a POS death trap. Technically, given to me by my uncle, but we helped him shop for it. Pot went bad, caps went bad (twice), and finally the earth is screwed up so touching the enclosure gives you a buzz or a shock depending on your luck. I had a 90s Marantz Reference that only needed one repair in triple the lifespan. Caps went bad, but was a gradual deterioriation rather than catastrophic with the 6004.