Hifi on A Shoestring

[Sherwood]

A current AOS thread asks how one would spend £10k if building a system from scratch. I wonder how little one would need to spend to get a system capable of delivering a credible hifi performance. I ask because I am contemplating an increase in travelling for work and I'm reviewing my portable "hifi" kit.

Several years back I had a pretty decent travel system that fitted into a nice travel case around the size of a shoebox. It comprised a tiny Nuforce Icon digital power amp and a pair of metal enclosure KLH 610 speakers. The Icon had analogue inputs as well as usb digital facilities. I could therefore provide inputs from phone, tablet or laptop. I also used to pack a WD Media player which would play virtually any audio and visual file format, great for watching movies from a usb drive.. I still have all of the kit, except for the KLH 610 speakers. Although they were tiny, they produced a very clean dynamic sound and could play pretty loudly. Placed on a desk or close to a wall, and kept in place with some blu tac blobs, they were not noticeably bass shy, at least not excessively so. IIRC the Icon cost me less than £200 and the KLH610 speakers a mere £50 from Richer Sounds back in the 90's.

Has anyone else put together a similar kit and if so, using what components?


Geoff

[Bigman80]

Theres a lot of value in those Class T amps (Topping) £40 I think they are. A decent CD player on a budget like my Denon DCD825 cost me £16 & probably some Mission 780SE £40 and thats a very very good system for less than £100. In fact, I my just do that for my Garage

Good thread!!!

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[walpurgis]

Denon PMA 350SE is better than the Topping TP60.

[LC1979]

The current crop of D class amps are very impressive for the price. Look at SMSL too.

[Bigman80]

Denon PMA 350SE is better than the Topping TP60.
That could be true.

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[Sherwood]

I'm sure the Denon is very good but can it compete with the Icon on portability (6"x4.5"x1") with a Burr Brown DAC built in.

Any ideas on compact speakers to replace the KLH610s?

Geoff

[Truckletheuncivil]

I wouldn't fancy lugging a full size CD player amp and speakers around. Think the OP wants it to fit in a shoe box sized space. If it were me I'd stick with headphones and an smsl dad/headphone amp.

[Sherwood]

I wouldn't fancy lugging a full size CD player amp and speakers around. Think the OP wants it to fit in a shoe box sized space. If it were me I'd stick with headphones and an smsl dad/headphone amp.

That is certainly what I am looking for, though others who do not have my portability requirements are welcome to post their recommendations for hifi on a shoestring that doesn't need to be hifi in a shoebox!
:eyebrows:

[Sherwood]

.. can't live with headphones though!

Geoff

[Truckletheuncivil]

.. can't live with headphones though!

Geoff

Not my preferred option but they're required to maintain domestic harmony (rather than being told to "turn that racket down")

[hifinutt]

some of these Bluetooth speakers are pretty good . incredible bass on some of them . last summer my lads were doing the garden with me and they put one of these small boomboxs in a dustbin on its side [it was raining !] my word the neighbour from some way came out and said the bass was going through his kitchen !!

[hifinutt]

you might be interested in this thread

http://hifiwigwam.com/forum/topic/124303-build-a-system-for-less-than-%C2%A31000/#comment-2156159

[hifinutt]

this would be good too , just needs some speakers

http://petertyson.co.uk/index.php/denon-rcd-m40dab-black-open-box-ref-1575070-10546.html

[Sherwood]

this would be good too , just needs some speakers

http://petertyson.co.uk/index.php/denon-rcd-m40dab-black-open-box-ref-1575070-10546.html

Funnily, enough I bought one of these (or rather the precursor model) when I first came back to the UK a few years back and was waiting for my shipping container to arrive with my main hifi equipment. Surprising good performance for the price (I think I paid £199 at the time). Basically, a modern day take on a radiogram (less speakers of course). I spent most of the time listening to DAB radio and to mp3 files from a memory stick. Shame it didn't do FLAC files though. Was more than happy with it for the month I used it. You've reminded me that it's been in a cupboard since my main system was delivered.

Geoff

[Sherwood]

you might be interested in this thread

http://hifiwigwam.com/forum/topic/124303-build-a-system-for-less-than-%C2%A31000/#comment-2156159

Interesting but I too am a wrinkly!

:wheniwasaboy:

[Pharos]

Sometimes we have to do things on a shoestring, prior to '08 my income was £1500/annum.

I built my current HI-Fi rack from four large broom handles and MDF shelves, perhaps laughable, but functional.

[Sherwood]

Sometimes we have to do things on a shoestring, prior to '08 my income was £1500/annum.

I built my current HI-Fi rack from four large broom handles and MDF shelves, perhaps laughable, but functional.

We cut the suit according to the cloth. Mind you, this sounds like hifi on a broomstick not a shoestring!
:rolleyes:

[hifinutt]

perhaps these guys had something to do with it :lol:

http://www.witchhatservicing.co.uk/

[alphaGT]

For a "shoebox" system perhaps some powered monitors would be the way to go? Look in any Pro Audio, recording gear catalog, and they've got small powered monitors at all prices. And sizes. From 4" woofers to 8" woofers, and built in amps. Made for recording, they are supposed to have very flat response. Quality and prices vary. Then drive them with a digital front end, an iPod loaded with Flac files, CD or better quality playback. Some nice powered monitors with 6" woofers for $500 the pair, a few more hundred in a nice iPod, or just use your smart phone, super portable.

Headphones could be a real alternative, but true high end head phones are rather pricey, not "shoestring" budget devices


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[walpurgis]

If the system has to travel, what about a solar powered one? DC powered equipment fed via compact NIMH batteries, charged by a folding solar panel or two. There much DC powered gear, including obviously ICE stuff, which is necessarily compact and can be very good.

[Beobloke]

I was challenged to do this for a magazine article a few years ago. I came up with:

- Dual CS-505-3 (£32 from ebay)
- Yamaha A-300 amplifier (£12 from car boot sale)
- Wharfedale Diamonds (£5 from the dump!)

It all sounded depressingly good for £49, frankly!

[AlexM]

I was challenged to do this for a magazine article a few years ago. I came up with:

- Dual CS-505-3 (£32 from ebay)
- Yamaha A-300 amplifier (£12 from car boot sale)
- Wharfedale Diamonds (£5 from the dump!)

It all sounded depressingly good for £49, frankly!

That's a quality system for < £50. I think dumpster diving for the speakers is cheating slightly, but the Yammy and the Dual are great buys!

[Beobloke]

That's a quality system for < £50. I think dumpster diving for the speakers is cheating slightly, but the Yammy and the Dual are great buys!

No dumpster diving involved - they were sat in the 'for sale' area, waiting for me to come and rescue them!

Of course, this doesn't happen now, due to WEEE regulations. :(

[Sherwood]

If the system has to travel, what about a solar powered one? DC powered equipment fed via compact NIMH batteries, charged by a folding solar panel or two. There much DC powered gear, including obviously ICE stuff, which is necessarily compact and can be very good.

I actually ran the system I mentioned as a battery powered system when I was working in Vietnam. I was based in Cao Bang Province just a short distance from the China border. There was very rapid growth taking place but this was outstripping generating capacity so there would be frequent and long power cuts, most often at the weekend. Sometimes I would only have power for a few hours from Friday to Monday. One of my early purchases was a high capacity 12v SLA motorcycle battery and a high quality trickle charger. This allowed me to power the 12v Nuforce Icon amplifier which was highly efficient. Amazingly, Vietnam was an early adopter of 4G somobile broadband was pretty good quality: it just didn't make commercial sense to lay land lines in highly mountainous sparsely populated areas. In fact, many people had traditional looking telephones with cradle and handset but running from a sim card.

The capacity of the battery was sufficient to play music the whole weekend either from my phone or tablet, or from my mp3 portable player. In fact, I could even run my high efficiency full range driver Omega 3xr floorstanders. I guess, I could have charged the battery with some solar panels, but the battery was usually able to see out the outages with some reserve juice left over!

Geoff

[alphaGT]

A small system with a T class amp, or perhaps powered speakers, should be easy to run from one of those power inverters that plug into your cigarette lighter in the car. Or one of those pocket jump start batteries. Have you seen these? Lithium batteries that fit in your shirt pocket that can jump start a car! I've been wanting one.


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[alphaGT]

https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/antigravity-micro-start-xp-1-power-supply

Here's one I've seen demonstrated, they started a truck with it! So it should power a portable stereo for a good while.


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[Sherwood]

A small system with a T class amp, or perhaps powered speakers, should be easy to run from one of those power inverters that plug into your cigarette lighter in the car. Or one of those pocket jump start batteries. Have you seen these? Lithium batteries that fit in your shirt pocket that can jump start a car! I've been wanting one.


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I've since bought a couple of 20000mAh lithium polymer batteries (Anker). I have a USB to 12v power cable adapter that allows me to power 12v equipment from these batteries for ages.

Geoff

[alphaGT]

I've since bought a couple of 20000mAh lithium polymer batteries (Anker). I have a USB to 12v power cable adapter that allows me to power 12v equipment from these batteries for ages.

Geoff

Very cool! I recall a camping trip many years ago where we had small house speakers driven by a nice 12 volt stereo, it was capable of real bass and volume! It may not be, "Outdoorsy", but we had a great time rocking the campsite! Today's equipment is so much more economical and small in size, good sound anywhere is very possible. And affordable!


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[Sherwood]

Very cool! I recall a camping trip many years ago where we had small house speakers driven by a nice 12 volt stereo, it was capable of real bass and volume! It may not be, "Outdoorsy", but we had a great time rocking the campsite! Today's equipment is so much more economical and small in size, good sound anywhere is very possible. And affordable!


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In fact, I've used one of the Anker batteries with my Beresford Caiman SEG DAC. Although the Anker battery outputs 5v through the USB port, the cable I bought converts this to 12v. The SEG definitely sounds better on battery power but it is just a bit of a faf to keep it recharged between uses.

Geoff

[Arkless Electronics]

Very cool! I recall a camping trip many years ago where we had small house speakers driven by a nice 12 volt stereo, it was capable of real bass and volume! It may not be, "Outdoorsy", but we had a great time rocking the campsite! Today's equipment is so much more economical and small in size, good sound anywhere is very possible. And affordable!


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Many years ago when I was a "new age traveller" (we never used that term... and I guess our friends from over the pond will need to google that...) I rigged up a couple of old disco type speakers, 12" dual cone things, to an amp I built using a 12V soldering iron which gave about 40WPC from 24V from two lorry batteries. Sources were a cassette deck and FM tuner both with their PSU's bypassed to run straight from 12V. The speakers were more about quantity than quality but would certainly go loud as they were probably around 97dB/W. We rocked the forest :fingers:

On some bigger sites there would often be someone with a generator and probably a reasonable PA system but we were a small enclave "over wintering" and had nothing more than a ghetto blaster before this!

[wee tee cee]

A pair of JBL control 1 speakers and a temple audio bantum should just about fit in a shoe box-it would sound very respectable for a portable system. The Bantum works really well on batteries. One of Stans dacs would complement it niceley if you dont fancy the output from your devices headphone socket.

There is a battery powered t amp thread on here...well worth a mooch!!!

[Sherwood]

I failed to mention that I owned an iconic travel hifi kit that spawned the t-amp movement. I bought it in the Virgin Megastore in LA on an R&R break. It comprised a Fisher Price looking plastic amp about the size of two fag packets (side by side). Powered by aa batteries or an (included) 12v wall wart power supply, the item was the now famous Sonic Unity Tripath Amp. It was partnered by a pair of pyramid shaped folding cardboard speakers (the Soundpax) which when assembled were a little bigger than traffic cones. The inner side of one face of the pyramid had an nxt style resonator affixed which produced a 360 degree soundwave. I had never heard of the tripath chip at that point but the store had set up the combo as a working demo powered by some noname cd walkman. At under $50 the purchase was a no-brainer. I can sense the incredulity of those reading this post when I say that the sound quality was amazing. The amp could fit in a jacket pocket and the speakers folded into their own triangular carrying case around the size of a badminton racket. They were surprisingly robust and travelled with me around the world fitting neatly into the top of a Samsonite shell case. They came to a tragic end though. I returned home to my apartment in Dhaka one evening to find that the air con has malfunctioned and the Soundpax lay in a poole of water, gradually collapsing into a papier mache mush! RIP Soundpax.

if anyone comes across a pair on ebay or elsewhere then snap them up.

Geoff

[AlfaGTV]

Whats a shoestrings worth?
I hooked up my Yamaha NS-1000M's (€250) with my Xindak V15, EL34 PP, (€150) and a Pioneer PD-D6J SACD (€60) while a friend was visiting. We used home cooked cables for speakers and power and some very reasonably priced interconnects.
Both of us were just baffled, why do we even spend more? :)

Same amp is doing service at my nephews, with a couple of Jamo Concert 8's and another find, a Linn Sondek LP12 (Valhalla/Ittok II)
The Sondek is usually not found so cheaply but i could put in the PinkTriangle Little Pink Thing instead for a complete vinyl playback system for about €500-€550.
(An old Lehmann Audio Black Cube does RIAA duties)

[Michael loves music]

Denon PMA 350SE is better than the Topping TP60.
It is indeed Geoff I have 2 one in lounge and bedroom the difference with my old Nad amps was like night and day very musical indeed

[danilo]

Denon PMA 350SE is better than the Topping TP60.
And it Should be!
Given that as Tripath .. Dissolved.. over 11 years ago.
Any and All tripath chips (which Were surprisingly decent sounding) are Low Grade fakes.. some missing Half of the Tripath dies.

[paulf-2007]

Theres a lot of value in those Class T amps (Topping) £40 I think they are. A decent CD player on a budget like my Denon DCD825 cost me £16 & probably some Mission 780SE £40 and thats a very very good system for less than £100. In fact, I my just do that for my Garage

Good thread!!!

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalki have a Sony receiver, cassette deck and a pair of audax drivers currently without boxes in my garage and don't actually think about the sound quality when I'm working on something. I have thought I might make some bass reflex boxes for the drivers and maybe combine them with some aurum cantus G2 ribbons I have spare. I understand what people mean when they say they just enjoy the music when they are doing something else with music more in the background

[Bigman80]

i have a Sony receiver, cassette deck and a pair of audax drivers currently without boxes in my garage and don't actually think about the sound quality when I'm working on something. I have thought I might make some bass reflex boxes for the drivers and maybe combine them with some aurum cantus G2 ribbons I have spare. I understand what people mean when they say they just enjoy the music when they are doing something else with music more in the background
I have a Technics system in the garage with my old Celestion DL6 speakers. I have electrical flex cable as speaker cable and tbh its great lol

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[Barry]

I have a Technics system in the garage with my old Celestion DL6 speakers. I have electrical flex cable as speaker cable and tbh its great :lol:

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That's good to hear - one wonders how people managed in the '60s; not being able to spend hundreds of pounds on cables?