Good Stuff Cheap


I thought maybe a thread like this may be useful. How about a listing of equipment that's cheap and performs WAY beyond expectations. To qualify, the item must be under $500 (new or used)for an electronic component and under $100 for wire. Try to include comparisons to other equipment.

I'll start off with the Musical Fidelity X-Can Version 2.0. Not as a headphone amp but as a pre-amp! I was noticing that some headphone amps can double as a pre-amp and the X-Can sounded pretty good thru my cans so I went to Radio Shack, got an adapter and ran the headphone output into the rest of my system.

Oh my! Detail, warmth, dynamics and musicallity like you read about. All for $250....NEW! Replacing the standard wall wart with the MF outboard power supply ($195)tightened things up even further. Looks funky with the "alien rectal probe" coming out the front, cables attached. It only has one input, but man does it sound good! As good as my Transcendance & Rogue 66.
1953

Showing 3 responses by kublakhan

prs123 i agree with dekay - nice post. i have to disagree with the morrison elad recommendation though. i had one and didn't like it at all. i did an a/b with several preamps in its price range (used) and it was the loser just about every time. most notably it got stomped by an arc sp7 (ss full service preamp from the early 80s) although tied the overrated arc sp9 mkII. the morrison also has only two inputs. mine was numbered 350 or so and it was made about 5 months ago...so there aren't that many around. i've been seeing an unusual number of these for sale lately everyhwere i look on; audioshopper, audioreview, global audio mart... i can only assume the owners came to the same conclusion as i did. dont believe the posts at audioreview. i believe there is a reason for the exaggerated stats that i wont get into here.

speaking of the arc sp7 i think this is a great bargin (although hard to find). i sold mine for $250. stupid.

i also recommend www.space-tech-lab.com for amazing bargains on tube preamps. at home i did an a/b with their lowest end model ($300) and the morrison and it wasn't a contest - all 5 picked the space-tech.
forgot to add acoustats on the menu. model 3s go for $400-$1000 used and are astonishing. they're big and extremely hard to ship so people sell them to locals for cheap.
prs good point about the acoustats which i should have mentioned. dont buy them if you listen to rock...you'll hate them. female vocals and small ensembles are definitely their strong point - but they're an 'oh my god' in that arena.