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Used Acoustats on E-Bay!

Antique Sound Labs Wave amplifiers. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but for $99 each....

Rogers LS3/5a loudspeakers. The real ones.

For 2.5 years I've been enjoying a great bargain component. It's a kit: the S-5 Electronics tube amp from Arizona Hi-Fi. It's a single source stereo amp producing 8Wpc of push-pull for less than $300. I'd say, considering the price and the sound, it is one of the best components I've ever had.

Musical Fidelity X-10 tube buffer.

Adcom amp and straight line controller. Bought both used and have used both for 12 years. Made $10 on the line controller and lost $75 on the amp. Not bad.

I have a pair of Sony MDR-V600 headphones I paid $5 for new. They sound better than my old Sennheisers.The store was going out of business and no one caught these sitting there. But, I have to admit, I have one of those Toshiba DVD, CD, MP3 players (AMEX points) and all I ever play on it is DVDs through a Sony receiver into some home-built two-way speakers for our sun-room home theater. I never thought to hook it up to the main system. That is why you have a good website. Your readers aren't afraid to try anything.

Q-Tips. They're great for cleaning connections and ears!

Marsh P2000 preamp.

Used gear is the best of all bargains, especially any solid state, no moving parts, component.

My ears.

The NAD L40

The Tivoli iPal is a great little portable radio and it connects to my iPod. We took this on our last vacation and it was a lot of fun. Highly recommended.

I've got two (at least). Jolida SJ-202a integrated amplifier (retubed with ElectroHarmonix) and the Bel Canto DAC-2. The DAC-2 makes great music with a modest transport, but really shines when you upgrade.

Any passive preamp. Why push the delicate audio signal through more electronics?

The EPOS ELS-3 mini-monitor. All the rave reviews are true. Incredible mid range and surprising bass performance rival speakers at several times the price. A real bargain at only $300.

X-10v3. Best $400 I've spent.

NAD stuff has been the best bargain items for me over the years. I had an old NAD preamp that served me well for 12 years, before I decided to get NAD's latest version with the toroidal transformer inside. I know people think the NAD stuff is cheap, but, hey if you take good care of it, it will last you as long as some of the megabuck stuff.

The Polk LSi line of loudspeakers. My wife and I enjoy the smooth, easy sound of products made by Sonus-Faber, Vienna Acoustics, and Vandersteen. On a whim, we auditioned the Polk LSi9 and were stunned by the performance. We had been discussing which of the three aforementioned brands we should purchase. Then, after listening to the Polks, we ended up with the Polk LSi25, which we found superior overall, despite the far lower cost. We always look forward to playing LPs, CDs, and DVDs through these exceptional loudspeakers.

My Linn Ikemi has been the best "bargain and/or value". I consider a bargain to be a value whereas the consumer gets at least what if not more than he paid for.

My Squeezebox2 by far. An audio revolution for $250.

A pair of mintish Marantz 9s at a garage sale in '75. I paid $50 for the pair and still prize them to this day.

Frankly, as it turns out, I would have to say my old Luxman CD and cassette players. After nearly 14 years, they both work wonderfully having only been in the shop once. I also bought a discontinued Headroom Maxed-Out headphone amplifier off eBay for much less than the original price.

Why agonize over bargain components? The best bargains out there are used equipment. Just wait a year, and you'll find top of the line equipment at significant discounts. IMO, you're a fool for buying anything new these days.

I purchased a Newtonia Solis integrated amp for $300 and change. Sure it's obscure, but its performance is outstanding.

The combination of the Musical Fidelity X10v3 and the X-PSUv3. Connect them between your CD output and your preamp, sit back, and smile broadly.

Paradigm Atom speakers.

Grado SR 60 Headphones They take a $200 to $500 gadget, the iPod, and for $60 make it into a device competitive with a fine, if not world-class, system. And the latter won't fit in your pocket.

My old Kevek ES-8 speakers. i paid $800 for them back in 1987, and they gave me blessed music for 16 years. They helped convince some friends of mine they could do better than the mass market stuff.

It's always best to avoid using oxymorons.