Giant Killers

[Stranraer]

Evening all. Just wasting my evening with a bit of Sparklehorse and hifi Googling and came across an old thread where folk were raving about the quality of Polk LSi 15 speakers and how, under a different name and higher price, they would be considered truly Hifi.
Anyone got other examples of severely underrated / overlooked equipment, particularly from the less than cool manufacturers ?

[rigger67]

My Nobsound NS-08P Bluetooth pre-amp, which I bought for the princely sum of £55 from Lawrence001 of this very manor.

I love it.
It's got enough inputs of various different types - five in total - and the bluetooth work flawlessly, meaning I can stream from anything that will connect.
The tone controls are excellent too and really make a difference, when you need to brighten or beef something up, or just reduce a touch of boom, depending on the source, the song and the volume.

Most of the rest of my kit is decades old but this little unit ties it all together and I couldn't be happier.

https://i.postimg.cc/cJrT9kTH/74d00c258353d3b463be886610aab03f.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/FFjpBLbj/180c616db0c4765353649f96e563c0ab.jpg

[Macca]

Couple of speakers I would nominate:

JPW P3 / AP3
Wharfedale Diamond IV

I'd take either over many of the much more expensive speakers I've encountered over the years.

[Alex_UK]

I would definitely agree on the Diamond IV, although almost all of the Diamonds over the years have been good. Due to a move around in the house (my son has just got a new drum kit) my Spendors have temporarily been replaced with Wharfedale Super Diamonds - the “posh” version of the original Diamonds and I’d forgotten how good they sound.

I’d also have to mention the RAM 150 speakers, a definite giant killer, although looking at eBay prices, not the bargain they once were (£250-£350 - I think I paid less than £50 for my pair 10 years or so ago.)

[AJSki2fly]

If you are into listening the FM radio as appose to digital then the Hitachi FT5500 mk2 Tuner is a must have if you can find one. They were highly rated back in the day giving excellent SQ and very good at latching on to signal.

I think they were originally around £200 new, they can be found for £40 to £60, usually the back up battery has failed, this is easily fixed, just purchase a replacement coin and attach it with some careful soldering, I did mine and my friends.

[Macca]

I would definitely agree on the Diamond IV, although almost all of the Diamonds over the years have been good. Due to a move around in the house (my son has just got a new drum kit) my Spendors have temporarily been replaced with Wharfedale Super Diamonds - the “posh” version of the original Diamonds and I’d forgotten how good they sound.

I’d also have to mention the RAM 150 speakers, a definite giant killer, although looking at eBay prices, not the bargain they once were (£250-£350 - I think I paid less than £50 for my pair 10 years or so ago.)

Yeah RAM are still more than decent even at that money.

[rigger67]

I had a pair of JPW P1s nearly 40 years ago.
I loved them.
Don't know why I "upgraded" ..

[Wakefield Turntables]

There is actually a Giant Killer type thread kicking around on the forum with several pages of recommendations.

[Barry]

For me it was the Grado FTE+1. It only cost around £15 at the time, and it was a "giant killer", receiving rave reviews at the time.

I bought one to find out if what the reviewers were saying was true. For a fixed coil cartridge it was very good indeed (I'll ignore the Deccas for the moment: they are a law unto themselves), but I was loyal to moving coil cartridges, so found it a good home.

[Stranraer]

Anyone heard of Tyler Accoustics speakers ?
There's some crazy good reviews and forum feedback going back ten years or so.
They seem to still be out there but with a relatively low price point compared to where they were a decade ago.

[Lawrence001]

My Nobsound NS-08P Bluetooth pre-amp, which I bought for the princely sum of £55 from Lawrence001 of this very manor.

I love it.
It's got enough inputs of various different types - five in total - and the bluetooth work flawlessly, meaning I can stream from anything that will connect.
The tone controls are excellent too and really make a difference, when you need to brighten or beef something up, or just reduce a touch of boom, depending on the source, the song and the volume.

Most of the rest of my kit is decades old but this little unit ties it all together and I couldn't be happier.

https://i.postimg.cc/cJrT9kTH/74d00c258353d3b463be886610aab03f.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/FFjpBLbj/180c616db0c4765353649f96e563c0ab.jpgGlad you're happy with it Paul. I actually bought it from @jandl100 I think so I don't want to take all the credit for finding it [emoji23]

[Macca]

going to chuck a spanner in the works here and say with very few exceptions the real giant killer is to buy what used to be very expensive but is still heavily engineered equipment on the second-hand market for a fraction of what it would cost if still made today.

If you really want maximum sound quality for the spend, that's the way to go, at least for non-digital equipment.

I've had a few bits of kit here over the years that were surprisingly good considering their low retail price, but that's all it amounted to. In absolute terms they were still way down the scale.

[Pigmy Pony]

This was a "giant killer" alright.

https://liquidaudio.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/img_8916.jpg.webp

I paid £139 for mine back in 1984. Only thing I could fault was that like the one pictured, all the paint fell off the knobs.

Hifi press at the time were calling it the hot hatch of amplifiers, most of the performance of high end stuff, but a fraction of the price. But that £139 in today's money would go a long way, and it'd be interesting to see how equivalent-priced kit compares...

[Macca]

About £470 in today's money. Would get you summat like a Marantz PM600 these days:

https://i.ibb.co/L9mPgjR/marantz.jpg (https://ibb.co/vLpBdyq)

Don't know if it's better or if the paint will stay on it, but it looks okay.

[Pigmy Pony]

Well you're certainly getting more for your £470 there, at least in terms of features.

So my question is: if that Cyrus 1, with its attendant feature set, build quality, component quality and measured SQ was being made and sold today, would the sellers be getting £470 for one? Not sure about that. I think this applies to other iconic pieces of kit, which while being head and shoulders above their contemporaries might not stack up so well against similarly-price stuff today. Things have moved on, consumers expect (and get) more for their money nowadays in terms of SQ and (hopefully) reliability.

Although I reckon they mostly look way cooler, no denying that :)

[SansuiSushi]

A few TOTL AV recievers from 97-2000are nice, I can recommend Yamaha DSP-A1, there's a few Denons AVC/AVP too.
Musical Fidelity Reference 3 bookshelves have really nice image and mid/treble, paid very little for mine.

Technics SU-V series aren't bad either :)

Adding Proton gear, made in the NAD factory, I have the AA1150 myself.

Spent about 4 years gouging through eBay, tried lots and lots of amps.

[Macca]

A few TOTL AV recievers from 97-2000are nice, I can recommend Yamaha DSP-A1, there's a few Denons AVC/AVP too.
Musical Fidelity Reference 3 bookshelves have really nice image and mid/treble, paid very little for mine.

Technics SU-V series aren't bad either :)

Adding Proton gear, made in the NAD factory, I have the AA1150 myself.

Spent about 4 years gouging through eBay, tried lots and lots of amps.

With you on the DSP-A1 I've been looking round for one of those, coincidentally.

I agree Proton was good for the money too.

[Stranraer]

with very few exceptions the real giant killer is to buy what used to be very expensive but is still heavily engineered equipment on the second-hand market for a fraction of what it would cost if still made today.
Totally with you on that, Macca.
I was sweating bricks when I handed over a large sum of cash to a complete stranger for a several year old Mark Levinson CD player, and couldn't relax listening to it for at least a month until I was sure it was in good health.
It's been an absolute steal in hindsight. I don't know how much an equivalent player would cost today and hoping I don't have to investigate any time soon.
A good few fascinating items on this thread. Thanks for the input, folks.
Can I just add Accoustic Energy 109s to the list. An absolute blast of a listen.
If anyone fancies rocking out to a hooligan of a speaker there's a pair on e-bay for SIXTY quid.

[Colin2040]

Just noticed this. I picked up a pair of mint JPS ap3 with original stands, using them with AN classic kit 1 . They are incredibly good considering they cost less than one set of the cables on the amp. Definitely keepers

[Colin2040]

31409


Only photo on my iPad but they are seriously mint.

[Macca]

Just noticed this. I picked up a pair of mint JPS ap3 with original stands, using them with AN classic kit 1 . They are incredibly good considering they cost less than one set of the cables on the amp. Definitely keepers

About 20 years ago now a friend asked me to go with her to Richer Sound to buy a stereo. Despite being an heiress she didn't want to spend much so we picked the second from bottom Cambridge amp and a CD4SE CD player.

The salesman was enthusiastic and recommended the Mordaunt-Short MS25i speakers which were then a flavour of the month. They are okay but they are tiny so I looked around the showroom for something a bit larger.

On a top shelf right up against the ceiling were some JPW AP3 with no grilles and a little corner damage to one with a £90 sticker on them. Asked my friend if she minded those problems and she says 'Not if they are good.'

So I ask the dealer to get them down. He's not having it, reckons they are old tat. But we insisted so he gets them and says 'The Mordaunt Short are way better, I will hook it all up and show you.'

So he hooks it all up and we listen to the MS T25i first, and it's sounding fine. He's looking pretty confident as he hooks up the JPW.

Well there was just no comparison, and my friend exclaimed as much. This youth was scratching his head but to his credit said. 'Yes, I admit these are a lot better. I never heard them before.'

When we got back and set up the system in her quite small living room it sounded even better. I thought it sounded better than what I had at the time, truth be told. Despite a disparity in cost of about times twenty!

The amp and CD player long since died but she still using the JPWs.

[Ali Tait]

Totally with you on that, Macca.
I was sweating bricks when I handed over a large sum of cash to a complete stranger for a several year old Mark Levinson CD player, and couldn't relax listening to it for at least a month until I was sure it was in good health.
It's been an absolute steal in hindsight. I don't know how much an equivalent player would cost today and hoping I don't have to investigate any time soon.
A good few fascinating items on this thread. Thanks for the input, folks.
Can I just add Accoustic Energy 109s to the list. An absolute blast of a listen.
If anyone fancies rocking out to a hooligan of a speaker there's a pair on e-bay for SIXTY quid.

Agreed on the 109's, one of the best value secondhand speakers out there.

[Stranraer]

Agreed on the 109's, one of the best value secondhand speakers out there.

Subtle they ain't, but for AC/DC, Buzzcocks and bangin' techno they're right up for it.

[guy]

I find it hard to believe how little Rega Ela’s go for:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=rega+ela&_sacat=0&_odkw=ela&_osacat=0

[shane]

Agreed about the Wharfedale Diamonds. I bought a pair of 11.1s as a temporary stopgap after moving house a couple of years ago and haven’t found a convincing reason to replace them. Their transparency is astonishing for the price.

[Alex_UK]

Another awesome speaker I bought in the ‘90’s and still have is the KEF Coda 9 - flimsy as hell and not especially good looking but really musical and just sound right to me. Should be able to get a good pair for 75 quid.