I might be tooting my own horn, but certainly, without question, mine
It took a LOT of sweat equity, but in truth it's $1500+, and over $2,000 with the MacMini and hard-drive which is basically my media playback device and streamlines this process..
All of these are "as received" shipped to me prices.. Not posting all this to make you feel bad about your budget or to anyone else for spending so much, but to prove that incredible sound does not need to cost a ridiculous sum. I've heard 20k-100k systems in a local group I'm a part of.. I am the "black sheep" of the group because I am viewed as a cheapskate, they wouldn't care to admit that my system sounds all that great as a result as they have to justify what they've spent on their systems in order to wrap their heads around it.. but I feel my system easily rivals theirs and in many ways outclasses them, especially in replicating acoustic instruments and vocals... I have a small room and dynamics are not as big of an issue, admittedly all of theirs have better dynamics. I do, however, have other speakers that would blow all theirs away in terms of dynamics, just not warranted where I currently live.
My system is as follows:
Gear:
Yamaha YP-D6 with Signet TK3Ea Cart. ($120)
Teralink X2 with ext. PS, USB>SPDIF converter, ($75)
Nakamichi CA-5 pre, ($280)
Pioneer ELITE DV-S9 ($277.77), it has more than $800 worth of mod work and I happened to stumble on it, on the bay just recently
ClassDaudio SDS-224 kit amp, ($350)
Sherwood "HSU" SWH-672 subwoofer ($47.77),bought brand new on closeout
Audio Nirvana Classic 8" drivers in custom BLH cabinets (~$350) (paid $400 for a "package deal" for the cabinets along with oethich came with drivers installed, the drivers were $200 with my 20% dealer pricing)
Cabling,
PYST 1m USB ($24)
Custom Coax ($60) Trust me this was a hard thing to wrap my head around, but the differences are staggering and totally unexpected for a digital cable.
Custom RCA's ($70) total for all 3 pairs custom built for their part in the chain ie. impedance/capacitance matching
Power cords ($40) total, including a super nice Monster Power cable, which started this whole hi-end power cord debate, it just happens to work for me for it's length.
Speaker wire is "Ceiling" wire I bought from an AKer probably ($20) in total
4 Smores (basically rubber bricks which I use for isolating certain gear or getting the height right) ($4)
8 rubber cups for rising gear a bit for heat concerns, got 'em at the dollar store for ($2)
Paid ($6.50) for the cabinet as I got two of them at Goodwill for $13 for the pair, and they are glorious real hardwood and custom built with smoked glass, I love them!
($4) for cinder block speaker "stands" bought at Home Depot.
Furman Power strip was ($29) on Amazon, but I've had it for 7-8 years now
Outlet "industrial grade" Leviton, ($6) at Home Depot (at least as good as any "audiophile" outlet.
Room "tune" treatments on stand mounts ($75), if my memory serves on price, but it may have been $125? These make a HUGE differences as you can move them and place them in the room wherever you wish without having to hang on the wall etc.
Foam acoustic treatments diy'd on boards ($20)
Carpet pads on wood frames, diy'd ($30)
Not necessary of course, but I do also use a
MacMini was ($400) in total with the monitor
It's sitting on a desk I got for free.
3TB HD, ($117) on Amazon closeout
I also mention ALL of this to give you the full scope of what's all involved in building a system. It's not just the electronics and speakers, everything factors in.
