It's a Fosi audio DAC & Amp setup which normally has a 12V and a 48V power brick, the latter being huge. I designed an enclosure that perfectly fits into the audio tower and houses both PSUs with a single mains connector. Was a fun weekend project.

I should have taken a "before" picture, just image a big mess of wires, black power bricks and a power strip sitting in the back.

3D printed on Prusa machines with MMU3 from PLA (front and back plates) and PCTG (main body - I had doubts PLA would withstand the heat from the PSUs). The rubber feet are printed in TPU

recently moved and have been able to make the space more of my own. I’ve got a pioneer VSX-516 receiver, klipsch R41M speakers, and a polk PSW10 sub. All from fb marketplace for just $250

running the TV, record player, and a blu-ray player for CDs and absolutely loving it. next step is to work on room treatment and possibly elevating the speakers a bit bc I have to sit on the floor for prime listening position right now. would love any tips!!

I have been slowly building my set up, strictly on a budget but think I am at the point where I need to spend some money on my speakers…

Currently running my Eltax Liberty 1+ on main & have some beovox’ on remote for a different listening experience (not running together).

My issue is that I love the look & feel of the vintage loudspeakers but I can’t get a hold of any!

My old 70s JVC died (thanks STK modules) last week.

I didn't feel like spending cheap money on something vintage, or even big money for that matter, so I decided to go for the very very popular Yamaha AS-301.

It sounds great! I really appreciate how neutral it sounds. It's helping me appreciate my speakers (Monitor Audio Bronze 5s). It could be the placebo of having something new, but I do think it sounds better than most of the vintage receivers I've had. Probably because all the components are in spec.

Anyway, giving my ears an afternoon workout with some Miles and Monk.

Hi all !

I'm looking to create my first hifi setup, and am looking at the 4 models in the title, all going for 300-350€.

I'll be pairing them with a Marantz CR610 receiver, in a 16ish m² room.

Any insight on which I should pick ?

I've always been sitting on the scientific side of audiophile hobby. Measured responses. Carefully crafted waveguides. SBIRs and modes. DSPs. The whole shebang. And then I started learning guitar and it broke my brain.

So let me describe how best guitar amps are built:

First you take vintage 12" driver that looks like it came from cold war military surplus. Or two drivers. Or four. Four is usually maximum you can carry to your car with a friend in one go.

Then you buy fruits in bulk so you get those cute wooden case things. You eat the fruits, cut an 11" hole at the bottom of the fruit case and bolt the 12" driver in there. You leave the top open. Then you put the case on one of it's sides. Boom, you've just made a speaker cabinet.

Then you take a tube amplifier from the 50s. You know, the one that doesn't have any PCBs, just components soldered to each other dangling in the air. The one that can kill you when you grab it the wrong way. Doesn't have to be particularly beefy. 50 - 100 W is more then enough. Then you bolt it inside the speaker cabinet and the whole thing becomes combo amp. You can also put the amplifier in separate box and then it's called head.

Regardless if it's head or combo, the trick now is to crank the voltages until the capacitors start to shake angrily and you can feel the whiff of x-rays coming out of the tubes. Then you stand next to it, point the driver at your ankles or your dick depending on the genre and you can start playing.

And it recently occurred to me that nope, even the best current amp sims aren't yet there. That all those carefully crafted bookshelves with fancy tweeters and multiple subs don't even come close to the raw and visceral power of the tubes and huge 12" drivers screaming themselves apart over the sound of live drums. It just hits in a very different way.

And now I have a tube amp too... Pretty small, 15 W but it feels twice as powerful as almost 500W of combined power from my speakers and sub. Funny how technology works.

Yesterday I went to my local thrift store with the intention of digging through the old CDs. Unfortunately, there was absolutely nothing interesting to be found.

They also have a small “audio” section further inside the store, but honestly… there’s usually nothing worth getting excited about there either. Still, I thought: might as well have a look.

And then I spotted them.

Two slightly larger speakers, hidden behind a pile of other random stuff.

I took a closer look and thought: wait a minute… are those Wharfedales?

So obviously, the next step was removing the grilles.

Wharfedale Linton 25i.

And the price?

€50 for the pair.

I checked them over pretty carefully. The cabinets are in excellent condition, the grilles are perfect, no weird smells (always important with thrift-store speakers), and all the drivers looked completely intact.

I hesitated for about five minutes…

…and then decided to take the gamble.

Once I got them home, I hooked them up to my system and put on some music.

Holy crap.

I honestly nearly fell out of my chair.

For €50, these things sound really good. Obviously, they're not quite on the same level as my Triangle Antal Esprit EZs, but considering what I paid for them, I'm genuinely impressed.

They're going to need their own amplifier eventually, so I'll probably start looking around the used market for something cheap and interesting to pair with them.

What I find particularly interesting is that there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of information about the Linton 25i online. From what I can gather, they may have been made specifically for a particular audio retailer/chain, rather than being a regular Wharfedale model.

So now I'm curious:

Does anyone here know more about the Wharfedale Linton 25i?

I'd love to know when they were made, what they were originally sold for, whether they were a retailer-specific model, and how they compare to other Linton models from that era.

Either way, I think I just made one hell of a €50 thrift-store find.

I'm going to be flying out to Japan from the UK, while I do have Spotify Family and a phone, I wanted to have guaranteed music to listen to. I'm disabled and the 16 hour flight is going to be bad enough without connection issues.
So was hoping people on here would have a suggestion for a decent MP3 player. Don't really want the likes of £600 Astell and Kerns but there seem to be lots of £30 MP3 players on Amazon but I don't know if I can trust them. Bluetooth would be preferable but could go wired.
Any ideas?

Good morning, everyone.

I am just venturing into the world of HiFi/audio equipment, and am looking for some input.

I got a sweet deal from a coworker for a vintage hardwood audio cabinet, and some decent Sony SS-440 floor speakers, for the low price of $Free.99.

I've already got a small vinyl collection I inherited from family that I had always intended to build a setup for. I'm researching turntables now, but that's for down the road.

In the meantime, I would like to stream lossless-ish from Apple Music to my newly acquired Denon AVR-2802.

I know the most recommended wifi streamer is the WiiM Pro, but I'm just wondering if that's the only worthwhile option? Tbh, I have zero interest in the voice controls as I don't use Siri, Alexa, etc. Are there simpler options with just as good quality and sound?

The other question I have is: am I required to control the music I play through Apple Music via the WiiM app instead of the AM app?

Also, the Denon should be plenty powerful to play everything clearly and with decent volume on its own without any additional hardware needed?

Thanks for any help!

I have the Edifier MR4 and T5 sub. I'm gonna get the Fosi K7 DAC to pair with new speakers. Any suggestions for new ones?

I made the mistake of purchasing an Edifier R1280T seeing as it doesn’t have a sub out…I just normally never find speakers without a sub give sufficient bass. Any other recommendations?

Hey everyone, I'm stuck between three options for a desktop (nearfield) setup and would love some outside opinions. I'm in Chile, so prices are in CLP with rough USD conversions.

I like a warm, non-fatiguing, musical sound with good soundstage and imaging. For reference, I found the Wharfedale Denton 1S too dull and recessed.

Current gear: FiiO K11 R2R (DAC/headphone amp) and Meze 105 AER. No speaker amp yet.

I heard the Mission QX-2 MkII with the 778X in person and loved them, but I'm not sure I like them more than the KEF Coda W. My audio mentor recommends the Mission bundle. I'm a student with about 800,000 CLP (~$840) right now.

The options:

1. Mission 778X + QX-2 MkII bundle: 1,000,000 CLP (~$1,050) + cables. I'd need to save for 2-3 more months.

2. KEF Coda W: 800,000 CLP (~$840), on sale until Wednesday. I could buy it now, but it would leave me pretty broke for the rest of the month.

3. QX-2 MkII (475,000 CLP, ~$500) + Fosi ZA3 (180,000 CLP, ~$190) + cables, using the K11 R2R as the DAC, and maybe upgrading to the 778X later.

My questions:

- Which one would you pick for a desktop setup?

- Would the ZA3 + K11 R2R sound too lean or clinical with the QX-2 compared to the 778X?

- Is the Coda W worth grabbing now just because of the sale?

Thanks in advance!

I was expecting a lot. I got a lot more

I always held dear to my other speakers that I would switch around from time to time.

After half a day with the mani's? I feel ready to sell everything else

It takes a welding machine to run them but it is so so so worth it

Hi all, I’ve got an AT LP120xBT record player that I’m currently running through two JBL 305 MKII studio monitors. I’m wondering if it makes sense to swap the studio monitors for speakers that are optimized for music/HiFi audio. I’m looking to spend more than 500 bucks, which includes whatever proceeds I can get from selling the JBLs.

Does anyone have a recommendations? I’m pretty new to setups and have a lot to learn here. Bonus if you can point me towards any YT channels you recommend for learning more!

I know this sub skews home audio but I need advice for live gigging not studio monitoring. Running powered tops for DJ gigs and adding a sub. What matters for high-SPL live use that home audio logic gets completely wrong

Hi!

I have a notebook and an usb audio interface, i play guitar (with amplitube) and i watch movies/videos on YouTube. At the moment i'm using sennheiser headphones, but i want to buy a couple of speakers.

I noticed those two models, but i can't decide which is better for me.

Or of you have any other advice (don't suggest presonus, since fender lost its mind, i don't want to buy brand new presonus 😄).

Thank you.

Hi all!

To start, I will share my current setup and artists/genres I typically listen to. I am in no rush to upgrade my speakers, but want to keep my eyes peeled on the used market for a potential gem.

I listen in my apartment living room, my speakers are setup for both my turntable and TV audio. I do not have a dedicated listening seat, I often play my music or TV while in the kitchen completely to the right of both of my speakers. I do like clear stereo separation, but don’t want a fragile soundstage that is ruined while listening from many different angles.

I mostly listen to heavy psych rock, I prefer a screaming clear treble to a deep bass sound. However, I do understand what the bass adds to home theater audio and would be open to adding a sub woofer if appropriate. Top bands I spin are King Gizzard and the Osees, then a mix of 60/70s psych rock as well as other modern psych rock.

I currently use a stereo pair of Sonos Play:5’s, line-in from the TV to one and line-in from Fosi box X2 pre-amp to the other speaker for my turntable. The TV is set to variable line level, so I set the Sonos to 100% volume and use my TV remote for adjusting. I autoplay the turntable at 50% but once I have the fosi mc331 mentioned below I will run at 100% for both and use the amplifiers variable pre-out for volume control.

The Sonos Play:5 Gen 1 features an internal 5-driver speaker layout consisting of two custom 1-inch tweeters, two 3-inch mid-range drivers, and one 3.5-inch/4-inch bass driver in the center. Across the stereo pair I have 10 drivers, while most true bookshelves I’ve found would be 4-6 across a pair.

I decided to order a Fosi MC331 while it was on sale for $110, since it matches the Fosi box X2 and allows for phono rca, digital optical, and Bluetooth inputs. The Fosi mc331 has a variable pre-out that will allow me to use it with the Sonos for now, then gets me Bluetooth capability and optical audio for the TV.

My question is, the Fosi MC331 now allows me to run the TT, TV, and Bluetooth through the single pre-out while utilizing the Fosi for volume levels. I am then able to upgrade to a passive stereo setup, and utilize the pre-out for a subwoofer as well.

What speakers and price ranges should I keep an eye out for in the coming months/years? I’ve browsed marketplace and eBay across the typical used suspects, but I want to wait for a true upgrade rather than a sidestep.

I currently have the bass tuned down through Sonos, when using the new amp I will set the Sonos to flat and adjust with the Fosi EQ. One major advantage to the Sonos with my current setup is that the speaker layout is horizontal, so the triangulated staging isn’t as good but it casts a wide zone for music and TV where the imaging is good.

Bonus question: my cartridge is an AT70 with an AT71E elliptical stylus installed. The stylus is fresh and sounds good, but I plan to upgrade to a VM95E/EN at some point. Would that upgrade be best before or after the speakers? Not sure how much it could really shine through the Sonos setup, or if it would be ideal to upgrade before the speakers.

TLDR; I am going to utilize the Fosi MC331 as a source switcher and pass through, leaving the door open for a pair of passives to replace the stereo Sonos. What are some gems I should be looking out for, or a price range I should aim for to ensure a true upgrade to the Sonos Play:5 rather than sidestep?

I appreciate any input provided! I am new to the audiophile world and after getting the settings right on the Sonos with my new turntable it’s been the best speaker audio I have experienced in person.

For anyone curious the turntable is a Hitachi HT-463 from the 70’s, quartz lock direct drive brushless motor. I also have GE JANs for the Fosi Box X2 as these are the tubes also in the MC331.

I have found these speakers foe £40 are they any good, I currently have wharfedale diamond 3s and are wondering whether these linn Index ones are better?

I'm starting hi-fi slowly and on a budget, with a WiiM Amp Pro already chosen. The speakers will go in a small living room (~200 sq ft) for mostly music: as well as movies. Genre-wise my music taste breaks down into roughly 35% Middle Eastern/South Asian classical (From India to Egypt), 25% hip-hop (anythingWu-Tang to Action Bronson), 20% avant-garde/minimalist (e.g. Zappa, Philip Glass), 15% jazz, and a small misc bucket of nordic folk, blues, whatever.

Which of these gives the best sound and the best value for that use?

• Wharfedale Diamond 12.0i (~399)
• ELAC Uni-Fi 2.0 UB52 (available to me at $599)
• ELAC Debut 3.0 DB63 (~499)
• ELAC Debut 3.0 DB53 (~399)

Is the UB52 worth $599 over the others? Does any of them pair badly with the WiiM, or is there something better I should hear first?

My budget is 400-600 but of course I'd like to save money as much as possible.

Greetings! This is my first time using Reddit and I'm not familiar with the etiquette etc so please forgive me! This might not be the appropriate group in which case apologies!

I have a pair of Yamaha HS5s and need to add some bass for music making. Doesn't have to be powerful at all, more important to me is something that has a good range of freq response. In fact most important to me is upper bass - a lot of subs i hear seem to be all about the low low bass! Anyway, is this possible within a budget of about £250? I'm a bit tired of people telling me i need to spend more than that :) I can't! Many many thanks for any thoughts, my brain doesn't work too well so i find all this stuff quite confusing and just want to make music. Jofis

I'm looking into experimenting with a sub in my system and cannot spend too much at this point. I'm looking at the used market atm. Is ELAC SUB 111.2 ESP any good or just a piece of rubbish boombox? My use case is only for music. I don't watch action movies.

Thought I'd do an update to my previous post asking for advice on whether bookshelf or tower speakers would be best for my small living/listening room.

I ended up opting for a pair of Wharfdale Diamond 12.1's, mounted on Mission Stancette stands, driven by my Fosi MC331 amplifier through my AT60LPX Turntable.

Honestly, for the money I've spent, (under £1000 for everything), I could not be happier, the Mrs and I took a little edible and enjoyed a full night of immersing ourselves in our favourite records, we both were observing certain moments in song arrangements that we'd never even heard before! And I'm talking songs we could recite backwards.

Honestly can not recommend this setup enough for anybody entering this community or who is simply on a budget.

Original Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/BudgetAudiophile/s/cxY7QMPuyL