Under-rated Gear

[kratu]

Which are the systems: speakers, amplifiers or sources that you came across which are highly under-rated and modest in price, but they punch well above its weight.

In other words gear which is not given due credit or passed on because of its price tag, but is an undervalued gem.

Most of vintage finds in a beaten down condition might qualify. It would be nice to see or hear about happy stories and experiences.

For example, someone I know was quite impressed with a Ahuja 12” wide band drivers

 

[mbhangui]

New age Class D amps
Dacs (toppings, SMSL), streamers made in China (eversolo, wiim, Fiio, etc)
Devices from Allo, but now that allo is defunct and doesn't look like Rabas will do anything new.

 

[rwnano]

Harman kardon avrs are excellent heavy high current capacity beasts for music.
Very musical.
Vintage speakers are good to look for and lower costs.
Ketan sethis 4D amplifier is really good for subwoofers.

 

[square_wave]

Quick silver audio amplifiers are very good. Very high value for what you pay.
If you pair quad solidstate amplifiers wisely, they sound very good. May not be the highest in terms of resolution but they make music.
There are many expensive but not well known audio brands that are outstanding but I guess you were looking for value in terms of what you pay.

 

[DB1989]

Which are the systems: speakers, amplifiers or sources that you came across which are highly under-rated and modest in price, but they punch well above its weight.

In other words gear which is not given due credit or passed on because of its price tag, but is an undervalued gem.

Most of vintage finds in a beaten down condition might qualify. It would be nice to see or hear about happy stories and experiences.

For example, someone I know was quite impressed with a Ahuja 12” wide band drivers

Insofar as gear still available for sale in a brand new condition is concerned, I would consider the Dynaudio Excite X14 one such speaker.

Got it a couple of years back to sample the Dynaudio sound and it happened to be quite the find. The mids are a stand out but more importantly, it makes sweet music. Pair it with a Willsenton R8 and you have a synergistic match made in heaven - i have witnessed many a seasoned audiophile and noob alike be stumped by the presentation.

 

[jaiwant_alex]

Chromecast Audio - Optical out , 24/96 capable, Wifi connectivity , all priced (originally) at USD 35
Can't think of anything else which gives you more bang for the buck

 

[yogibear]

Proton amplifiers
NEC CD player 903
Kenwood L-09 M
Kyocera CD Players

 

[reignofchaos]

EBI audio Classy Tonearm - available here:

https://www.ebi-audio.com/product-page/carbonclassytonearmebi-audio

This is definitely better - more resolving, lower noise floor, more dynamic than my Thomas Schick tonearm.

For the price it sells at for a made in India product, it is an absolutely steal. A similar arm from a European manufacturer will be at least 4x.

Also recommended for rebuilding expensive MC carts. They rebuilt my Lyra with the original stylus for under 30k.

 

[zeta148]

Shanti LPS

 

[edjamesx]

OKNYO AVRS .. they are very good in-deed. But they are always under rated in comparison with DENON /MARANTZ AVRs.

 

[reignofchaos]

Shanti LPS

Not the quietest but good for the money you pay!

New age Class D amps
Dacs (toppings, SMSL), streamers made in China (eversolo, wiim, Fiio, etc)
Devices from Allo, but now that allo is defunct and doesn't look like Rabas will do anything new.

Barring Allo, rest are not underrated at all. I'd rather say they are overrated for what they do.

 

[ajuvignesh]

1)Minidsp/ Minidsp shd studio.
SHD studio has a streamer and Dirac live built-in and four outs. Excellent to set up the stereo with two subwoofers using minidsp as the crossover. I don't see people going for it; hence, it is heavily underrated.
2) Second is Class A amps (like Sugden A21 SE). They sound sweet. However, it is underrated because the output is only fewer watts. But its high current nature can make most of the speakers sing.
3) SMSL D300. It uses an ROHM chip (which costs $100 to buy in bulk) and can give you the taste of a well-executed R2R design that is sometimes even smoother than some of the R2R designs. All these for 35k. It is underrated and gone forever.
4) Pioneer fs 52. it is one of the most underrated speakers which was available for so cheap back then. You would need a good amp to make it sing.

 

[square_wave]

A full acoustic portrait system. Source, amp and speakers with the wires they recommend makes them super special and very musical.

 

[square_wave]

EBI audio Classy Tonearm - available here:

https://www.ebi-audio.com/product-page/carbonclassytonearmebi-audio

This is definitely better - more resolving, lower noise floor, more dynamic than my Thomas Schick tonearm.

For the price it sells at for a made in India product, it is an absolutely steal. A similar arm from a European manufacturer will be at least 4x.

Also recommended for rebuilding expensive MC carts. They rebuilt my Lyra with the original stylus for under 30k.

Beating a Thomas Schick arm is quite something! Happy to see a home grown brand taking on the big boys and winning!

 

[Bhaskar Jyoti Talapatra]

Wiim , wiim pro both are affordable and good products. Philips GA242 TT is another product which doesn't break one's bank . Besides this Norge amp satisfies many customers .

 

[DB1989]

Wiim , wiim pro both are affordable and good products. Philips GA242 TT is another product which doesn't break one's bank . Besides this Norge amp satisfies many customers .

All and sundry have the wiim and wiim pro and everybody's gaga over them too so i don't think they fit the bill of under rated and overlooked which is the purpose of this thread - flagging gear that are hidden gems .

 

[reignofchaos]

Beating a Thomas Schick arm is quite something! Happy to see a home grown brand taking on the big boys and winning!

Well all I can say is that this tonearm will do great and not feel out of place in 15-20k usd turntables. Absolutely superb! Huge congratulations to Tariq of EBI audio for building this wonderful world class piece of equipment.

 

[Analogous]

Is “under rated” linked to “value for money”?

 

[kratu]

Is “under rated” linked to “value for money”?

As far as this thread is concerned, yes. In general it doesn't need to correlate. I actually wanted the titled to be "Under-rated and undervalued". As in the first post "... gear which is not given due credit or passed on because of its price tag, but is an undervalued gem".

 

[sbg]

my thinking is, if any product is "Under-rated and undervalued" then there is a possibility of price correction. I may put it as "Under-rated but Optimally Priced" .