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It was cheap set-up from the '80s, and I hear it's still working!
Rich from Chicago wants to know about our readers' generosity: What's the best system that you've ever <I>given</I> away or sold dirt-cheap to a friend?
I gave a Muse Model 150 Amplifier, Muse Model 3 Preamplifier, Denon DP-62 Turntable with Denon DL-103D Cartridge, Rotel MM/MC phono preamp, and ADS L-1230 speakers to an audiophile buddy, who had to sell all of his gear after losing his job and needing to raise money. I don't mean to brag, but that system sounds incredible and he's tweaked it to wring the nth degree of performance out of it.
An Aiwa mini-system with a CD player and dual cassette deck, back in the early '90s. Even now I'm more into music than audio, which could be why I have fond memories of the speakers on that Aiwa system, though admittedly they're nothing compared to the mid-fi gear I've owned in the meantime.
My first system, which I saved up for when I was a teenager. Loved that system: Pioneer receiver, Kenwood turntable, Teac tape deck, and Ohm speakers. It played loud. It had bass. I think that's all I really wanted at the time, though I remember disliking many cartridges (ADC, Empire, Stanton and a few more) until I found a Shure V15 Type III which I thought was quite good. Gave it to a relative. I put the system together in 1977, and, amazingly, the receiver and tape deck continued in use until this year. My relative decided to chuck it all, and I must admit a certain sadness that it wasn't offered back to me. At least I still have the record Shure offered to buyers of the Type III.
Not so much a give-away as it was a hand-me-down: When I bought my Vandersteen 2CEs, I gave my daughter my four The New Advent Loudspeakers that I had listened to for 30 years, plus a Sony 5.1 receiver I didn't need anymore.