Who's up for a "Cheap as Chips" Challenge?

[Dingdong]

It has a sticker on the boards inside saying '82. Maybe I'm wrong. But I can't say as I give a fuck, or two fucks come to think of it.

[Jac Hawk]

Up to now i've got a few things bought from ebay that may or may not go into my cheap as chips system, unlike Mark i think i'll stear away from vinyl, first of all to get a half decent TT arm and cart wouldn't leave much for speakers and amp, and second i don't own any vinyl anymore.

At the moment i've got a pair of Castle Durhams £15 ebay which have the unusual 15mm cone tweeters on them, i like the sound they make a lot, my only critisism would be that they need to be near a rear wall to get the bass going. A Trio KA-80 amp £26 ebay which i've had a quick listen to and i'm impressed with, and a Yamaha DVD-S2500 SACD/DVD-A player £40 ebay that basically knocks the socks off my Pioneer CD player.

Visually the Amp and DVD player are mint, and i've just finished sorting the speaker cabs, now i'm not suggesting this will be the system i go with, but £100 isn't a lot of money, i've spent more than double that recapping my Pioneer A400 so unless i get something really cheap i can't see any way to do a parts upgrade within the budget, so it's down to getting gear which is either A1 or only needing chear repair, my other problem is that up north car boot sales tend to have total crap for sale as far as hifi is concerned, and most of the best deals on ebay are down south and collection only.

[Dingdong]

Jac, I got lucky with my system. I got all of the components from One guy off ebay for £50. If he'd advertised them properly they would have gone for way more. Same with the rack I got for a fiver. The speaker cables I had at Scalford were from my cupboard of crap, as they were a million times better than the stuff it came with, and I didn't have time to find a bargain cable.
The bloke I bought the system off also sold me a Creek T40 tuner for a tenner that I then swapped with Vinylspinner for the B&W DM2a's.(hopefully within the rules).
For my existing cheap system I've got £45 for cable and tweaks.
For the new system I'm £16.50 out of pocket after buying the amp and speakers. I'm keeping my out for less than £20 turntables as I'll have to fork out a lot for a cartridge as I wouldn't trust some second hand of the internet one.

[Jac Hawk]

I'm keeping my out for less than £20 turntables as I'll have to fork out a lot for a cartridge as I wouldn't trust some second hand of the internet one.

Good luck with that, in my opinion a TT is just too expensive, considering the other components you need.

[Dingdong]

I've got my eye on a couple of DD's up north at the moment. Might be an excuse to go and visit my parents. I reckon I can get a cartridge and a replacement needle just within budget. Only looking at direct drive tt's as getting a new belt would blow the budget.

[Dingdong]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Pioneer-stereo...item230eac2ded

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/record-player-...item3a63d1b332

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Complete-separ...item27b940f0b9


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Stack-Hi-Fi-Sy...item2c5b39210b


Might be worth a look.

[Dingdong]

Today I have won on that well known auction site 2 Garrard turntables. One for 99p and one for £9.99. Both within 30 minutes drive. Bit of work to be done on them. At the most I am now £26.49 out of pocket for a turntable amp and speakers. I'm crossing my fingers that one of the cartridges is ok and that I can find a new stylus for it and leave myself 50 quid for cables, stands and fettling.

[Reid Malenfant]

Better get some decent rules drawn up for this soon Alex

My system is on the way to coming together Just sourced my old Audax 5.5" bass mid drivers & a car power amplifier & active crossover i built years ago for a grand total of diddly squat I just payed out a massive £13.98 for a brand new pair of Audax tweeters on fleabay, pity the delivery was free or they'd have been cheaper

So that gives me 4 power amplifiers with built in heatsinks, an active crossover, 4 x 5.5" Audax drivers & tweeters. Looks like i'm going MTM & active...

Just need to find a transformer & capacitors, rectifier etc to power the things from the mains rather than an SMPS from 12V DC which is what i built for the car amp Looks like i just need a source & some MDF, glue, screws etc

[Dingdong]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

I've just connected up my Leak amp to the system I had at Scalford. It completely kicks the Arcam Alpha's arse when it comes to sound. In cosmetics it lags behind a bit.
Off to pick up my 2 Garrards shortly.

The other day I rather stupidly bid on a Sound Organisation rack before realising where it was. Looks like I'm off for a day out in Dorset.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

[spendorman]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

I've just connected up my Leak amp to the system I had at Scalford. It completely kicks the Arcam Alpha's arse when it comes to sound. In cosmetics it lags behind a bit.
Off to pick up my 2 Garrards shortly.

The other day I rather stupidly bid on a Sound Organisation rack before realising where it was. Looks like I'm off for a day out in Dorset.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Was there anything wrong with the Leak?