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.