Anyone remember Fulton Gold cables? By today’s standard, dirt cheap. But those particular cables, which I purchased on a whim many moons ago for lunch money, changed everything I thought I knew about the impact of cables on SQ.
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Most recent best value purchase was my P15 Fall Special…most
impactful !! 
There are numerous other high value purchases in my system
Basically how my system was acquired…significant discount offers…
Best wishes everyone
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I bought a used Audience Front Row HP 20 amp power cable for less than half it’s original price.
That, I thought was a great “bargain value”.
I powered my P20 with it. Wow wow wow.
So I slowly bought a full loom of Front Row cables.
Looking back, that power cable might not be described as a bargain, but rather as a gateway drug.
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I just remembered one I can call bargain. Iconoclasts UPOCC Gen.2 XLR made shocking improvement in my system. I bought a second pair after considering AQ Firebird XLR.
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I think you can add the Grimm MU1 to your list.
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As weird as it may be, Jcat USB XE has to be up there for me.
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This may not sound like a bargain but I got my Dutch&Dutch 8cs for $10k brand new. List was $12.5k at the time. They’re now $14950/pair.
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P20 with 20amp upgraded cable for $5500 delivered… if you can consider 5500 a bargain.
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I am very intrigued by the Dutch set up
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CJ tube preamp for $1100
CJ tube amp for $2000
Infinity Modulus speakers for $3000
SVS subs, $1000 each
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Sorry, bargain… what? Audiophile bargain?! On this forum!
I probably have trouble translating this word in Italian.
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I think Ted’s DS MK 1 tweaking suggestions in Modding Dircststream DAC were an absolute bargain considering the minor costs involved and how it sounds like a new DAC. Plus keeps the old design relevant until new ones finally get to a real product state.
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I think the biggest bargain in my fifty years of audio purchases would be the set of KEF R500 speakers I bought on sale a few years ago at the end of the model run. They sound ridiculously good for $1900.00. When Doug Schneider reviewed them for Soundstage I wondered if his praise was a bit hyperbolistic. After owning them, I’d say his review was spot on accurate.
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I can’t disagree with @RonP - most of my money goes into records. Bang for buck its those versus maybe a guitar or two.
But sticking with audio-gear it has to be the reason I joined these forums - my PS Audio gear (M700s, BHK Pre, and the stellar phono). And I might not have chosen it if it weren’t for PS Audio’s trade-in and trial programs. I wanted to upgrade from my 20+ year old Musical Fidelity gear but I’m not as flush with money as some others - so being able to start a trade-in based on original MSRP of my gear made it an easy proposition. Especially since I did it during covid lock-down and didn’t want to go through the process of selling gear or traveling to various stores (only one in my area, would have to go a couple hundred miles to get a variety of choices).
So really, thanks PS Audio.
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I bought my Focal Aria 948"s for $2600 shipped, new. They were at that time selling for $5000 for the pair and have since gone up in price. I had read somewhere online about a website, Greentoe, where you submitted your offer for gear and they would shop it around with their vendors. Some guy was going on about how he submitted a ridiculous offer for an LED TV. I figured what the heck have I got to lose? I was looking for new speakers and the better half I had agreed on $2000 for a budget. I was resigned to the fact that I’d have to settles for a low-mid range priced pair of Klipsch or Polks, something of that caliber. I had been reading reviews in various Hi-fi mags and blogs, etc. The Focal’s really caught my attention. Low and behold they were offering a pair on Greentoe. I offered a little over half the MSRP figuring there was no way in heck they’d agree to it. To my surprise, two hours later one of their vendor’s agreed to my offer. I’ve been completely happy with them.
That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
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I bought LP12 turntable and am happy with the purchase.
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Amity HPA-10 headphones amp for AKG K1000 balanced headphones! Built to order in Heilbronn, Germanny! After many many years,I still enjoy the sound and feel no need to upgrade!
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It seems nice too. I stopped feeding it with the Pink Faun and I don’t miss it. I may put Euphony Stylus V4 on the PF for giggles. I like the Euphony OS a lot. And for now I have space in the rack.
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Philharmonic BMR in Salk boxes for around $1750 new. Second would be the recently purchased gently used GCD for $1000. I am more impressed with that pre/DAC than I’d expected.
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You’ve piqued my interest on greentone, do you have a url? A quick google and the best I could find was an electrician…
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