Best value-proposition audio purchases

[Puma Cat]

Flipping Mike's fun and enjoyable "Dumbest audio purchase" thread on its head...lets hear about what were your best value audio purchases.

Just so we can keep things down-to-earth with respect to the stratospheric pricing so prevalent nowadays in Audiophile-La-La-Land, the upper price limit is an orginal MSRP of ≤$1000.

So...it's all about the Value Proposition in this thread.

This simple formula may help: Value=Quality*/Price

Okay...I'lll kick it off (not listed in any order) with products I actually own:

1) Original Schiit Loki DSD-only DAC. The Loki was a DSD-only DAC that was launched during the "rush to DSD" that was so prevalent in the 2010/2011 time-frame. It was launched to determine if there actually was any practically significant reason for Schiit to provide DSD support in their DACs (answer: NO). Priced at $179, this little DAC provides superb audio performance; actually its performance for the money is pretty amazing. Still have mine.

2) Shunyata Research Venom 3 power cable. Originally released around 2010 or so at the outrageous price of $89, the Venom 3 punched above its weight class. Like WAY above. In my system. it notably outperformed an $800 PC I bought w/ silver conductors from another well-respected manufacturer. In a power cord shootout published in TAS in Q4, 2010, when several other PC manufacturers submitted multi-$K "statement" PCs, Shunyata submitted...the Venom 3! True to form, it was fully competitive with other entrants priced at multiples of its price.

3) Shunyata Research Venom interconnects: This "entry-level" interconnect is beautifully designed, constructed, & finished. Priced at $350/1M, it is fully competive sonically with ICs costing $1000/M. It's also exceptionally quiet.

4) Sonore microRendu Priced at ~$429, this little, credit card-sized Roon-ready network bridge changed the digital streaming landscape, and raised the bar for other manufacturers. Editor Chris Conaker at review site Computer Audiophile called it at the time, "the best bang-for-the-buck" he'd ever installed in his system. Fully agree; this little guy transformed my digital front-end. Outstanding performance for money.

5) Uptone Audio LPS-1.2 This extremely high-quality linear power supply funcions as a "ultra-cap" and boasts an absolutely ridiculous 60 FARADs of capacitance (as opposed the μFarad scale typically used for power supply caps), and functions at 5, 7, 9, and 12 volts output at 1.1 amps. It's "moat-based" circuit topology is a "never-connected-to-the-AC-mains" design much like the Rega, Michell and Linn TT power supplies, which means all the noise, hash, RF, and...AM Radio that is on your power lines will not "cross the moat" to grunge up the device being powered. The LPS-1.2 also will not pass low- and high-impedance AC leakage current onto the DC from the power supply's output to devices (this is a big deal). Great for powering network bridges, streamers, fiber media convertors, ethernet switches, and USB regenerators, etc.

6) Shunyata Research Ethernet cables All of 'em. They're all under a grand. If your budget permits, put Sigma on everything that requires an Ethernet cable. If you have budget constraints, the Alpha, at $600 provides superior performance to Ethernet cables costing over 4K USD or Euro. The Venom, at $300, outperforms Ethernet cables costing >$1000.

7) Audioquest DragonFly DAC: Great for when you need a great-sounding DAC for use with your mobile devices or your laptop while on the road. Bunch of my friends use 'em for listening to quality music while at the office or lab. Uses Gordon Rankin's proprietary Streamlength technology.

8) Astell & Kern DAPs:
Wifi-capable for A&K OS updates and connecting to networks for streaming from Tidal, Qobuz, etc, the A&K DAPs are exceptionally well-made, versatile, and sound really, really good. Did I say they sound good? They do. Closeout models (AK100 II, AK120, AK300, etc. are still available for purchase). My AK100 II sounds better than the head unit in my car. Goes anywhere, sounds GREAT.

9) Shunyata Research Alpha USB cable (1.5M): What else could I say I haven't said already? Staggering performance for the money. Just cray-cray. Component-level "upgrade". Just get it.

10) Sonore OpticalModule: An audiophile-quality fiber media convertor with very good clocks and audiophile-grade power supply. Brings a significant improvement to digital streaming configurations for that use, or want to use, optical fiber in their configurations. Use it with a good linear power supply, and you're good to go for runs of fiber.

*—Quality: Performance, functionality, features, quality attributes, etc. Whatever is important for YOU.

[Puma Cat]

Oh, wait, forgot about another one:

The Pioneer SP-BS-22-LR: $129/pr. With arguably the worst name ever given to a speaker, this incredible small bookshelf speaker sounds so good for the money, its just stupid. Just ask Dan, he wrote one of his great reviews about them some years back. One of the single-greatest value-propositions in all of audio. Designed by veritable loudspeaker genius, Andrew Jones.

[Cohibaman]

Easy, $39.00! ZeroDust stylus cleaner.

https://www.amazon.com/ONZOW-ZERODUS.../dp/B00ERPWAK2

[MarSanz]

Originally Posted by Cohibaman

Easy, $39.00! ZeroDust stylus cleaner.

https://www.amazon.com/ONZOW-ZERODUS.../dp/B00ERPWAK2

Ditto! Simple and effective.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by Cohibaman

Easy, $39.00! ZeroDust stylus cleaner.

https://www.amazon.com/ONZOW-ZERODUS.../dp/B00ERPWAK2

[nicoff]

Originally Posted by Cohibaman

Easy, $39.00! ZeroDust stylus cleaner.

https://www.amazon.com/ONZOW-ZERODUS.../dp/B00ERPWAK2

That's the kind of value proposition that I was hoping to see here! I just ordered it!
Thanks!!! [emoji119][emoji119]

[nicoff]

I am not sure if this counts, but BY FAR the best value in my system is a set of repurposed wooden amp stands that I got for free when I bought a set of mono amps years ago (the folk I bought the amps from called me later to tell me he will give them to me for free if I pay shipping!), my luck!

The amps stands can be loaded with sand to make them really heavy. They sit very close to the floor which means a very low center of gravity.

Btw, I never heard any benefit when using the the stands with the amps (the amps were being used for my surround speakers). Maybe that’s why he gave them to me for free!

Then recently I was looking for ways to provide better support for my main speakers (they were a bit wobbly to the touch because the speakers are on a carpeted room). The speaker manufacturer recommended spikes. Spiking the carpet was a no-go with my wife.

So I thought, why not repurpose those amp stands and set my speakers atop them? Then I could spike the speakers to the amp stands and nobody will care.

I went ahead with my “experiment” and lo and behold, it works beautifully. The system improvements are such that I can say that this is the best AND cheapest improvement I have made in my system in a LONG while (well since buying new speakers but that does not count for this thread).

If you have wood floors or carpeted floor and are hesitating spiking them, I suggest you try something like this. It worked for me.

[jameslrock]

Great Thread. I like!

[Weirdcuba]

Anything from herbies.

[Cohibaman]

Originally Posted by Weirdcuba

Anything from herbies.

I assume you mean Herbie’s Audio Lab; not the head shop.

https://herbiesaudiolab.com