Post Your Best Budget Speaker Finds Here

[Gmoney]

Picked up a pair of Polk RTi-a5’s for 300 new

 

[Gmoney]

 

[SuperValue]

Congrats! Pics please or it didn't happen.

Not a great picture, this is before I got my TV stand too. Those main's are my Onix Strata Mini. And the Athena center is in that box over to the right. The rack has a Yamaha 663 receiver, APC S15, and Emotiva LPA-1 amp. Proud to say the Emo and APC are Audioholics approved gear

Honestly, not sure what to do with the Athenas. They are absolutely lovely sounding, just that the Strata Minis are superior to my ear and they do measure very well. Just that.. i dunno.. hard to pass up a deal like that!!

 

[afterlife2]

Not a great picture, this is before I got my TV stand too. Those main's are my Onix Strata Mini. And the Athena center is in that box over to the right. The rack has a Yamaha 663 receiver, APC S15, and Emotiva LPA-1 amp. Proud to say the Emo and APC are Audioholics approved gear

Honestly, not sure what to do with the Athenas. They are absolutely lovely sounding, just that the Strata Minis are superior to my ear and they do measure very well. Just that.. i dunno.. hard to pass up a deal like that!!

View attachment 33566

Whoa looking amazing there. I've been lucky this year getting second hand gear. Enjoy!

 

[SuperValue]

Whoa looking amazing there. I've been lucky this year getting second hand gear. Enjoy!

Thanks! All my gear is usually 2nd hand.

The Onix strata minis were fair priced at about half MSRP. But the APC S15 I got off Ebay from a seller that didn't know what to do with it so it was $145 shipped! You get the H15 usually used for that price!

This is the one with the sine wave UPS built into it and its a hefty 65lb with its 4 UPS batteries inside wired in series.

 

[afterlife2]

Picked up a pair of Polk RTi-a5’s for 300 new
View attachment 33562

Looking good G!

 

[Gmoney]

Looking good G!

Thanks bro! You have been picking up some cool deals yourself. Do enjoy reading you post and Threads Bro! I moved to a small apartment last September, so I really couldn’t do a tower much bigger. Almost went with some bookshelf’s, I was on Amazon and these where going for $149.00 each new. I’m really Impressed with the build the midrange is really nice. I did open one up just to do a look see and again was impressed they are window braced from top to bottom something I wasn’t expecting to see. Polk used a Different type of material on the drivers for the a5’s than what they used on the a7’s and a9’s. Anyways for 300 bucks I feel made a really good buy.

 

[afterlife2]

Thanks bro! You have been picking up some cool deals yourself. Do enjoy reading you post and Threads Bro! I moved to a small apartment last September, so I really couldn’t do a tower much bigger. All most went with some bookshelf’s, I was on Amazon and these where going for $149.00 each new. I’m really Impressed with the build the midrange is really nice. I did open one up just to do a look see and again was impressed they are window braced from top to bottom something I wasn’t expecting to see. Polk used a Different type of material on the drivers for the a5’s than what they used on the a7’s and a9’s. Anyways for 300 bucks I feel made a really good buy.

And we share a common like of carpets by the speakers and of course sneakers and gear. in all seriousness it's been a tough decade for me so I'm grateful for all my recent finds. Who know maybe later in the year I may go 4K, but for now 1080p is good enough. Enjoy your Audio/Video ride!

 

[CoryW]

So I created a challenge on our latest YouTube stream tonight when reviewing budget $200/pair tower speakers. We want to see the deals you've gotten on inexpensive but good speakers. They can be new, used, second-hand, closeouts, etc. Please include photos, descriptions, price and how they sound. I will feature the most notable post from this thread in a future Youtube Livestream. thanks guys.

I was very fortunate to have acquired a pair of RBH T1 at their garage sale for $1,900. I had three aging SI-770/R ($125 per), so six reference drivers moved over, and with the purchase of two more reference 6.5. Along with three of the Scan Speak reference tweeters, I now have T1/R for about $2100.
I owned two RBH 1010sen passive subs ($400). I hit the RBH garage sale and brought home four 10” reference woofers home. I now have them all mated with the hardware kits that I pieced together, also found at their garage sale. I put all of the excellent RBH 6.5” drivers back in to my three 770 cabinets to complete my 5.1. I also picked up my second RBH SA-400 sub amp to power the reference sub bases.

I’m not sure what the new purchase prices would be for what amounts to a T2/R pair and three sv-661, but I killed it.

Major kudos to the excellent RBH staff for allowing me access to dig through lots of boxes for what I needed. They have even more beautiful stuff in their garage sale now. I’ve seen their back room full of stuff yet to be delivered to the sale. Run, don’t walk.

 

[felipe]

Here are some pics of my new “no cost” ELACs

 

[davidscott]

Picked up a pair of Polk RTi-a5’s for 300 new
View attachment 33562

Very nice

 

[wje2]

I've been enjoying my JBL 530s for the past month+ of use. But, came across a pair of Paradigm Premier 200B speakers last week for $225. They were being sold by a guy who was clearing out the place of an audiophile who had 30 pair of speakers in his apartment. Given, the crowded field of $1,000 a pair speakers, I don't think I would have paid much attention towards these speakers, but at $225 a pair? They have me impressed for the price, but will swap back to the JBL 530s again to see which I prefer more. #LoveBargains

 

[KenM10759]

Those are really nice speakers!

 

[wje2]

Not a great picture, this is before I got my TV stand too. Those main's are my Onix Strata Mini. And the Athena center is in that box over to the right. The rack has a Yamaha 663 receiver, APC S15, and Emotiva LPA-1 amp. Proud to say the Emo and APC are Audioholics approved gear

Honestly, not sure what to do with the Athenas. They are absolutely lovely sounding, just that the Strata Minis are superior to my ear and they do measure very well. Just that.. i dunno.. hard to pass up a deal like that!!

I had a pair of the Strata Minis a few years back, but sold them to go for the Focal 1027BE speakers. I bought my Strata Minis locally for about $350. The provided amplifiers had a bit of hum, so I retrofitted them with Parts Express 300W BASH amps and had to retrofit them with a bit of MDF to correct the size opening. I was 100% happy with the replacement amps. I should have kept the Strata Minis, but ended up selling them for about $400.

 

[vader540is]

Infinity RS 5000 on Craigslist $40

 

[wje2]

Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in. Found a pair of B&W DM602 speakers in mint condition, with the grills, etc. for $100 (pair). I was reading through some older reviews of these speakers and while some reviews were favorable, others not so much. Some commented on the boomy bass, not so good imaging, extended high frequencies that could lead to listener fatigue, etc. Though, of the 4 pair of speakers I have the moment, the JBL 630, Elac Debut B6.2, Paradigm Premier 200B and the B&Ws, I'm finding the B&Ws are still a pretty good sounding speaker for 15+ years old at this point. I've read of some potential crossover upgrades by switching out 2 caps where B&W originally utilized electrolytic caps and utilizing newer, polypropylene caps could clean up the sound a little. Certainly, I can say for certain from my speaker journey over the last several decades - just because a speaker costs more, it doesn't always mean it's a better speaker or a better sounding speaker.

 

[KenM10759]

Over a year ago I bought a pair of those for $90 from my dealer as I was putting together a little system for a friend in need. Not bad at all, especially at that price. You did fine!

 

[jwdhelaman]

My speakers have been acquired in various ways. I purchased 2 JBL L-110 speakers in 1980. They have had very little use due to my job. I was hardly ever home. They are used for the R/L Surround. I bought 2 Flipsch Forte II speakers from an insurance salvage sale about 10 years ago cost $50 for both of them. I recently bought 2 Klipsch R-51M speakers during their annual sale. The are for my rear surround channels. I bought the JBL Northridge E Series E250P Subwoofer at another insurance sale for $50. I bought a Polk Audio RM6750 Subwoofer from Amazon. We have a building in our back yard that I have been relegated to for my theater. I have the Optoma UHD60 4K UHD projector and a pull down screen. I have been very lucky. I just got the 4K UHD movie, Midway. I have 4 Polk Audio in the wall speakers for "Presence" or "Immersive" sounds. When the planes are moving around, you can imagine yourself in the cockpit. It is great. I just got 1917, which I am anxious to see.

 

[jwdhelaman]

I tried to download my pictures, but each time I try, it says that my file is too large. I will see if I can reduce the files so that you can see my speakers. My Klipsch Forte II cost $50 for them both, my JBL E250P cost $50, my JBL L-110 cost $260 each (in 1980), my Klipsch R-51M cost about $200, my Polk Audio Subwoofer cost $100 and my 4 Polk Audio in-wall speakers cost about $600 for a total of $1,520. If I had paid retail for the Klipsch Forte II and for the JBL Northridge E Series E250P Subwoofer, my cost would be over $2,000. I have 86 4K UHD HDR Blu-ray movies, 146 Blu-ray Movies, and about 200 regular DVDs, for a total of about 432 movies, let alone live concerts of Peter, Paul and Mary, Neil Diamond, The Moody Blues, and the Texas Tenors. Of all the "DVDs", I have only seen about half. There are too many "honey dos" I'm a Star Trek and Star Wars movie buff. I can't wait for the latest which is supposed to have been made with the best 4K UHD and Dolby Vision movie that has ever been made, especially since this is the last one. I know that Indiana Jones is being made as we speak and a movie that I have long-waited for... Top Gun "II".

 

[afterlife2]

Anyone get anything lately?