Budget Component Reviews

Sort By: Post DateTitle Publish Date
Budget Component ReviewsIntegrated Amp ReviewsHistorical
Naim NAIT integrated amplifier
Robert Harley, Sam Tellig  |  Aug 08, 1995  |  First Published: Aug 08, 1985  | 
The $395 NAIT, rated at 20Wpc, is a good-sounding little amp. It's very open and spacious-sounding, but, like the $250 Rotel RA-820BX, sometimes sounds a little hard in the upper registers.
Continue Reading »
Stand Loudspeaker ReviewsJ. Gordon HoltBudget Component Reviews
Siefert Maxim III loudspeaker
J. Gordon Holt, Thomas J. Norton  |  Sep 18, 2012  |  First Published: Jul 01, 1985  | 
While it is not quite accurate to say that $500/pair loudspeakers are a dime a dozen, they are by no means unusual. And since this is a price area where major design compromises are mandatory (footnote 1), the sound of such loudspeakers tends to vary all over the map, from pretty good to godawful—depending on what performance areas the designer chose to compromise and by how much.

I approached this latest half-grander with little enthusiasm, despite Siefert's persuasive literature, I have, after all, been reading such self-congratulatory hype abiout new products for longer than most Stereophile readers have been counting birthdays. This, I must admit, was ho-humsville.

Continue Reading »
Budget Component ReviewsSolid State Preamp Reviews
Superphon Revelation preamplifier
Sam Tellig, Anthony H. Cordesman  |  Sep 08, 2016  |  First Published: Mar 01, 1985  | 
Superphon's Revelation Basic preamplifier is made by Stan Warren, formerly the "S" of PS Audio, so it should come as no surprise that the Revelation Basic and the PS Audio Source sound much alike. The Revelation Basic sells for $399, assembled (no kit available). Like the Source, the Revelation has an outboard AC power transformer to minimize hum problems. But unlike the Source, the Revelation has dual volume controls (a pain) and lacks moving-coil capability.
Continue Reading »
Stand Loudspeaker ReviewsBudget Component Reviews
Boston Acoustics A40 loudspeaker
Sam Tellig, Alvin Gold  |  May 14, 2013  |  First Published: Jan 01, 1985  | 
The Boston Acoustics A40 loudspeaker ($150/pair) has become "legendary" (ie, it's stayed around for a while), probably because a pair of them images as well as Rogers LS3/5As. Unfortunately, it is no match for the LS3/5A in terms of smooth midrange response. Of course, at $150/pair, it shouldn't be.

I was originally going to do a review comparing the Spectrum 108A ($200/pair) and the Boston Acoustics A40. On first listen, I was mightily impressed by the A40. But after Stereophile's Larry Archibald schlepped me out a pair of the 108As, I didn't much want to listen to the A40s.

Continue Reading »
Budget Component ReviewsStand Loudspeaker Reviews
Phase Technology PC-60 loudspeaker
Dick Olsher  |  May 09, 2014  |  First Published: Aug 01, 1984  | 
It has been my experience that $400 or thereabouts is about the least one can pay for a pair of speakers with the expectation of audiophile-calibre sound.
Continue Reading »
Stand Loudspeaker ReviewsBudget Component Reviews
Fourier 6 loudspeaker
Larry Greenhill, Dick Olsher  |  Jun 17, 2008  |  First Published: Mar 18, 1984  | 
The Fourier 6 has the special ability to generate large coherent sonic fields, from a box small enough to slip into an ordinary shopping bag. At $499/pair, the 6 competes directly with another remarkable-imaging, compact American speaker, the Spica TC-50 ($420/pair).
Continue Reading »
Budget Component ReviewsHistoricalStand Loudspeaker Reviews
Spica TC-50 loudspeaker
Anthony H. Cordesman, Various  |  Mar 11, 1998  |  First Published: Feb 11, 1984  | 
High-quality, low-cost loudspeaker systems are not an everyday blessing. The Rogers LS3/5a has survived for more than a decade precisely because so few US manufacturers sought musical accuracy as distinguished from high output and powerful bass. The economics of loudspeaker manufacture also don't lend themselves to economy. The cost of woodwork is driving the price of speakers up almost as fast as the cost of sheet-metal work is escalating the price of electronics.
Continue Reading »
Budget Component ReviewsTurntable Reviews
Rega Planar 3 turntable
Sam Tellig, Various  |  Sep 04, 2008  |  First Published: Jan 04, 1984  | 
Among British turntables, there is the Rega Planar 3, which sells here for $550 (approximately double the UK price). I've owned a Rega for three years and know it well.
Continue Reading »
Budget Component ReviewsStand Loudspeaker Reviews
Spica SC-50i loudspeaker
Larry Archibald  |  Jun 11, 2021  |  First Published: Sep 01, 1982  | 
This is a speaker we've been fairly intimate with over quite a period of time. Designed by John Bau, the SC-50i started out three years ago as an inexpensive speaker system ($330/pair) not sold through dealers.

One of the factors allowing it to cost so little was the clever adaptation of cardboard tubes, normally used as forms for pouring concrete pillars, for use as speaker enclosures. They have a number of advantages, other than low cost: their circular form helps eliminate resonance of the back wave within the enclosure; the material is rigid because of its shape, and is non-resonant due to its construction.

Continue Reading »
Budget Component ReviewsHistoricalJ. Gordon HoltStand Loudspeaker Reviews
BBC LS3/5a loudspeaker
J. Gordon Holt, Various  |  Mar 17, 1977  |  First Published: Mar 01, 1977  | 
These diminutive little sleepers have been available in the US for quite some time but have attracted little attention because (1) they have never really been promoted and (2) they are just too small to look as if they could be worth $430 a pair.
Continue Reading »
Budget Component ReviewsJ. Gordon HoltStand Loudspeaker Reviews
Dynaco A-25 loudspeaker
J. Gordon Holt  |  Apr 13, 2017  |  First Published: Dec 01, 1969  | 
Everyone knows that a lot of serious music listeners—that is, those who listen to music instead of using it as a conversational background—have neither the space nor the money for a pair of typical floor-standing speakers, and must make do with bookshelf-type systems that are actually small enough to put in a bookshelf. But while the typical audio perfectionist will freely admit that there is a place in the audio sun for these dinky little speakers, he cannot really take them seriously, particularly when they're priced significantly under $100 each.
Continue Reading »
More Power
 |  Jan 13, 2015  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  | 
Continue Reading »

Pages

X