[pjanda1]

New to HiFi?  Listening to big box store mid-fi?  Bored with your current system?  With a little thought, good sound doesn't have to cost $30,000 (like the average Stereophile Magazine reader's system).  You can get luscious, toe-tapping, lost-in-the-music-for-hours good sound for 100 times less money.  Spend the rest of CDs.  Or food, drink and travel.  I can't sell you most of this system, just the speakers.  And if you want to give me $5 for this sanity check, I won't turn it down.  And when I say less than $300, I mean that it is possible even when you include shipping and tax!

We'll start with the Source*.  For less than $20 you can have a machine that plays round shiny discs really well.  Look for a used Toshiba SD-3950.  It was all the rage a few years back; I even remember a Stereophile review.  The last three on ebay sold for less than $10 each.  They sound great.  The 1st Generation PS1 is a possible alternative.  I don't like the user interface (big silly cable, no graphic display).  There are later versions of the Toshiba (starting with the 3960) and some Samsung equivalents.  Generally, they sound good.  And the Samsung's look shiny, if that's your thing.  Check your local craigslist and hawk shops if you don't like Ebay.

After the source, Amplification.  There is really only one choice for a great ultra-budget amp: Class-T.  Parts Express has resurrected the infamous original Sonic Impact.  I compared one of the originals to a tube pre and Linn power amp.  It gave up very, very little.  It also destroyed my vintage Marantz Integrated.  Don't even think about a 30 year old hunk of dried out capacitors.  The Little T-amp sounds high end, while most of them barely work.  You Want This  Here's the thing though.  You need efficient speakers to get much out of those 6 watts.  And you need really good speakers to appreciate how much the T-amp does right.

Now, finally, something I can sell you.  Speakers!  A single 8" driver in an OB won't be everything for everybody.  But what they do well, they do better than most >$10,000 speakers.  I won't talk your ear of here, so check out my site.  Here is the project.  Yup, you'll have to build them yourself.  But it ain't hard.  I promise it'll be worth it.  Keep in mind, there are many paths to cheap components that sound alright.  Speakers are the most important part of an audio system.  Wild Burro Audio Labs makes good sound possible at a previously unheard-of price.

Cables: They do make a difference.  Even in an ultra budget system.  Don't get Monster or Monster-alikes.  They sound bad.  Go to Home Depot and get some plenum rated Cat5 network cable.  If you need 10ft speaker cables, get 10 ft.  Be sure you get plenum rated, as it has excellent sounding teflon insulation.  PVC is yucky.  Strip it apart.  Use one twisted pair for each speaker.  The last length I bought had three pairs of nice teflon and one pair of questionable wire.  Throw that one away.  If you can solder, use the other pair to make yourself a nice 1/8" stereo to RCA interconnect.  We're looking for cheap and simple.  Get this for $2.29 with your T-amp.  I guarantee it will sound better than a chunky looking cable. 

Now, there are many upgrade paths for this system.  You can get a better sounding CD player for $40.  You could get tubes for as little as $100.  You could build a nice interconnect for $15.  But those are all discussions for another day!

pj
www.wildburroaudio.com


*Sure, you can use your Ipod.  I, personally, am not thrilled with the sound of a stock Ipod.  Maybe you've got a good sound card on your PC.  I'm not counting on it.  And MP3's sound bad.  Sorry. 

[JerryM]

Cool! 

I may put this together just to show my little brother how really crappy his overpriced iPod based, Bose sound system really sounds! Thanks for setting the ol' wheels spinning!

Have fun,
Jerry

[hoxuanduc]

Absolutely, PJ!

It's never been so affordable to get good sound until now, with class-T and a little DIY!

While we're at it, the Behringer $30 USB DAC and the free Foobar 2000 are excellent to get into computer music.  And don't forget Michael Mardis' mod for the T-amp to bring out the bass.


Duc

[pjanda1]

The comparison to one of those little Ipod dock systems is interesting.  It proves that in audio, the devil is in the details and execution.  If you think about it, the system I outlined above is very similar in nature: an amp that's an integrated circuit and single speakers that cover most of the audible range.  However, there are only a couple of amplifier chips that sound really good (there are plenty of good opamps, IMHO).  And most of the wideband drivers in the world sound bad.  Not only that, but most are subject to awful enclosure designs (many times for small size).  A well executed driver in a well thought out enclosure may be nearly the same thing in nature, but give entirely different results.    Similarly, there are plenty of cheap DVD players in the world.  But a few sound good. 

The crazy thing about audio is that if you make some compromises (especially in terms of system size, aesthetics) and do some research and prioritizatization, you can find bliss for very little $$.  There are some decent $4 bottles of wine, but I don't think they compare in any way to a good $50 bottle.  A well thought out, ultra-cheap audio system can do things that please me more than most ultra high end systems (though I've really only heard giga-buck systems in shops).

pj
www.wildburroaudio.com
 

[planet10]

...plenum rated Cat5 network cable.  If you need 10ft speaker cables, get 10 ft.  Be sure you get plenum rated, as it has excellent sounding teflon insulation.  PVC is yucky.  Strip it apart.  Use one twisted pair for each speaker. 

If you want to be real picky, you either need to get 20 ft and use the same colour for both sides or untwist the cables down to single wires and measure those. In a CAT5 cable each pair has a different twist, so if you use 2 different colours as twisted pairs the cable length and characteristics will be slightly different.

At least around here, plenum grade is getting more expensive or just hard to get as they dropped the law that mandated plenum grade inside walls. PVC isn't that bad in a pinch.

dave

PS: i'm going down after this post to measure the 4 Wild Burros i have, split them into 2 pair, install 1 pair in my OBs and start to experiment with the other pair to get them to kill bigger giants.

[pjanda1]

In my experience, the most important cable issue is to avoid high capacitance speaker cables with the T-amp.  It just plain hates high capacitance.  So, don't be tempted to parallel pairs of Cat5.  One pair of 24g 'll do fine.  It also works real well with the little spring terminals on the T-amp.

I was surprised to see that my Home Depot has Plenum rated Cat5 by the foot.  I asked for 10 ft.  The guy checked in the scraps bin, pulled out a roll of 40-50 ft. and sold it to me for the same price as 10.

Dave, am I mis-rememberin', or do you like to raise the inductance by untwisting and using a spaced pair?  Packing tape works real well for that.

pj
www.wildburroaudio.com

[planet10]

do you like to raise the inductance by untwisting and using a spaced pair?  Packing tape works real well for that.

I believe that will be the case. With a T-amp it might be enuff to help further kill the switching noise. My main cables are 2 separated strands encased in packing tape

dave

[poseidonsvoice]

PJ,

I looked at your website. I think its pretty cool. Damn cheap as well. And you're right, most people would probably purchase your open baffle drivers thinking it is great for a 'second' system. But who knows...it might become your primary system. The frequency response plot isn't perfect, but I've seen, far, far worse. And...if you put some effort into some nice room treatments, like some diffusers behind the dipoles and some absorbers at the 1st reflection points, you might get much better sound than you ever imagined...on the cheap.

I might order a pair for well....just fun.

Anand.

P.S. Can you post some more measurements? I.e. impedance, phase plots, even your own personal in room measurements perhaps...

P.P.S. Is this a custom build from Eminence?

[pjanda1]

Anand,

You've probably seen far less honest FR graphs too.  I've got some impedance graphs somewhere on this computer.  I'll dig when I get the chance.  I think the Betsy's would be a great primary system, depending on your listening habits.  For big bass or high levels, no, but for an ultra revealing, musical and fun near-field system, absolutely.  I promised some "tweaks" and your room treatment mention reminded me of something.

OB's need room, as they've got as much sound coming out the back as the front.  Many folks don't have dedicated listening rooms, and often not every member of a household is enamored with speakers out in the room.  Betsy OB's are easy to drag around, and for casual listening, you can back them up pretty close to the wall.  But, that will work better with some treatment behind them.  My corners are filled with BIB's, but for those with a little room, how about a pair of bass traps?  Real bass traps take some effort, and fiberglass is no fun to work with.  Check out John Risch's Super Quick and Dirty design.  They aren't perfect for this use, as they will reflect treble, but at least they aren't flat like the back wall!  The SQD's actually might cost more than his better, more involved designs, so check those out too!

pj
 

[pjanda1]

I came across one of the aforementioned Toshiba DVD players today.  I picked up a SD-4800 for $20, which I think is a multichannel version from the SD-3950 era (2002).  It sound really nice.  In some ways, it is more similar to the old Philips machine (CDP-630) than the new (963SA), in that it is very musical but lacks some bass in comparison.  It could also be that the 963SA has too much bass.

No matter what, the fancy SACD player is in the past for the Burro Lab.  I shipped it away this afternoon.  I'll be using the Toshiba for now until I have time to get a 1541 based machine into better shape.  (I recently grabbed a Rotel 955AX with a PS repair gone awry). 

That is all off topic though.  The point is: you can get a great sounding disc player for $20!!

pj

[pjanda1]

I finally found a cheap, working Playstation 1 (the SCPH-1001 with the RCA ouputs)!  Now, the battle of the highly regarded, >$50 CD players is on (between the Tosh, the PS 1, and my old Philips).  For now, I'll also keep them stock or compare only free mods.  It gets too complicated to compare every popular, let along possible, mod to everyone.  I've done a little listening.  I've got a favorite.  I'm going to do some more listening and post a bigger writeup on the Wild Burro Blog.  They're all good.  They do sound quite different from one another.  There are plenty of paths to good cheap sound!  (Though I am partial to the Burro path).

pj