Mystic Fred... what stuff? Budget hi-fi

as for suggestions,  yes you don't have to spend thousands (pounds sterling) to get a good system -

 

if you insist on new hifi components it is still true, though buying used items will slash costs considerably.

 

Cambridge Audio do a good range of CD players, latest are the Azur 640 C Version 2  (£250) is getting good feedback, i recently had one and upgraded to a Rega Apollo (new £500 got it used for £350).

 

Rotel, Nad and Cambridge Audio  do a good range of amps such as the CA Azur 740A for £500 new, or they do a 6.1 AV reciever for £269.00, the Azur 540R Version 2 (100wpc on stereo), which i have and must say is brilliant - i also have Mission Cyrus 2 amps made in 1986 i bought for £200.

 

 KEF, Linn Kan and B&W speakers have a good reputation and can be picked up for around £200 used. I have a pair of Castle Severn 2SE speakers which were £699 new but i got on ebay for £250.

 

As for turntables, as Olivier says the Rega Planar 3 is an amazing player, mainly due to its excellent arm, the Rega RB300, can get used for around £150. i recently upgraded mine for a Roksan Xerxes turntable using a similar arm the Rega RB250, with fabulous results!

 i also have a Linn Sondek which is expensive new but can be picked up for a few hundred pounds on ebay, especially in the USA i've seen them.

 

If you buy from UK sellers obviously shipping costs are a bit of a down side and the voltage has to be adjusted down to 110v for USA, but the results will be worth it! Also the Kimber cable company is based in Utah - Carlos you may well get your cables cheaper than i can - though i recently bought a pair of used 8TC speaker cables from a guy in Canada for £160.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"BTW you don't have to spend thousands to get a good system, there are some brilliant budget equipment to be had out there, especially the British  makes, we still lead the world in inexpensive hifi equipment!"

I'd be interested in knowing what you believe some of this brilliant budget equipment is. I did my speaker experiment and the results kinda amazed me. I figured there would be changes in sound from speaker to speaker but not such drastic changes.  I'm looking for a place to post the results on the net so unbelievers can hear for themselves. I'm most likely going to be building my own equipment because of finances but I'd definatly like to see what stuff you had in mind with that statement. Thanks

I also of course would love to hear reccomendations from anyone else on budget gems of the audio  world.