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.

[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.