The Joy of Entry Level

[ylee]

Our kids have shown a love for music, with singing and dancing whenever I listen to my system in my stereo room. My wife thus asked me to put a couple more systems in the house so they can listen in our basement as well as the main level of our home.

I of course need little encouragement to spend more on hi-fi, so for the basement system where our au pairs can use it for their own enjoyment as well I set a relatively low budget and ordered an Audioengine B1 bluetooth aptX receiver, a NAD C 316 BEE integrated amp, and a pair of Andrew Jones-designed ELAC Debut B6 bookshelf speakers. All are to be mounted on a wall to keep the components out of my younger children's reach. I had a spare pair of Transparent Premium RCA interconnects and cut a pair of Monster Cable 16 gauge speaker wires with spades on one end and banana plugs on the other. I've always been a fan of NAD in terms of their bang for the buck value proposition, and Andrew Jones has had his hand on some great speaker designs ranging in price from $200 to $84,000 over the last 33 years (KEF, TAD, Pioneer, and now ELAC).

Upon setting it up, I was surprised at how satisfying this $1100 combo (price includes the Transparent RCA interconnects) sounds. While it has nowhere near the resolution and deep bass as my main system, the budget bundle has sweet midrange and treble. I use the Tidal app on my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and transmit my playlist via Bluetooth aptX to the Audioengine B1. This supposedly yields CD quality data transmission, and as far as my ears tell me this seems to be true. Anyone in the home with Bluetooth on their mobile device can connect to the Audioengine and play music in a matter of seconds.

I'll probably set a bigger budget for the main level in the house with similar ease-of-use in mind. The system will be higher in the mid-fi range.

[Still-One]

I don't disagree that we can all get a lot of enjoyment out of a $1100 system. In the end it is the artist and their performance. that really matters.

[2fastdriving]

Originally Posted by Still-One

I don't disagree that we can all get a lot of enjoyment out of a $1100 system. In the end it is the artist and their performance. that really matters.

I was just explaining this to a non-audiophile today...how we start out with it being about the music and end up with crazy expensive gear. Next thing you know is, you are more excited about the gear than the music. Sometimes we need a reality check.

I agree that you can get lots of enjoyment out of a well matched budget system.

[vegaracer1]

I agree, the surprise of a old Kenwood receiver playing a old Jbl 3 way. Can be very nice.
On the flip side sometimes the experience can be painful.I picked up a cheap sub 100 turntable so my wife can rip her albums to mp3. The sound is shrill at best.😫

[doggiehowser]

Bluetooth even AptX is still lossy.

Try a Chromecast Audio. That should be Lossless. I might have sprung for the NAD C338 with the internal DAC and Google wifi streaming built in. The C338 isn't the traditional NAD Class AB but the Hypex modules are quite good.

[Ricpan]

I use an Amazon Dot hooked up to my main system with Prime Unlimited Music for less then $5 a month. Its nice to preview music before purchase on an album or when i'm lazy and just ask Alexa to play whatever is on my mine. It works very good with no delay and sounds very good.

[phishphan]

So you’re saying I shouldn’t have bought a Esoteric Grandioso K1? [emoji15]

[For The Love of Music]

It's all about the music, always a believer in this; it doesn't change the melody only the clarity no matter the $