Under-rated Gear
- Thread starter kratu
- Start date
I feel all gear that is going to make it to the list here will be highly regarded in the circles, so I will stick to what I feel is a great value for money as a stand alone product and when pitted against competition. Also in my opinion versatility is a huge part of value.
My 5 undervalued/extremely versatile - "value" being subjective.
1 - Audiolab 6000a Amplifier. Phenomenal sound. About 65K INR new and used around 40K. A very well rounded - almost perfect integrated amp. Comes with Subwoofer integration & a dedicated HT & pre-amp mode. So you can use it somewhere. In fact I believe it is a better value than more expensive AL offerings as they all sound fairly similar & there is absolutely nothing I have tried that can push the 6000a to it's limits. So why pay the premium?
2 - O&B power amps. Hard to beat value. 3 channel power amp, fully customised - chassis, ports, additional accessory ports, cables, comes with XLR ins & a bunch more customisations - well under 1L with copious amounts of power on tap & built like a tank. Pretty much life-long Support & they sound pretty good too.
3 - RME ADI 2 DAC FS - what can it not do - Preamp + Fully Balanced DAC + DSP + EQ + a decent enough HP amp all in one for <1L. Software updates & support are phenomenal. Features can be fully customised or controlled via a phone/tablet & PC.
4 - iPad Mini 6/2021 as a streamer - This is going to be a bit of a "controversial" choice maybe. A used iPad mini is around 20-25K - what you get is a streamer with - USB C, Native support for almost all streaming apps under the sun, spotify/tidal connect + apple airplay, bit perfect audio - upto a reasonable standard, a beautiful 8 inch multitouch screen, onboard memory/storage, incredibly robust software & UI, offline playback, software support for atleast 5 years, usage for easily 10. Incredibly snappy - super secure.
In the recent months, whenever I have helped someone setup a stereo/media setup - who are already in the apple eco-system, this is it. ***Also when you are not using it as a streamer - well it is a full fledged tablet.
5 - Marantz cinema 70 - fairly upgrade proof - Around 70K for a 7.2 AVR with all bells & whistles + & this is big - a full 7.2 AV Processor.
a. you can have a 7.2 setup that can drive most budget setups out there.
b. if you upgrade your speakers, you can just get a power amp for the front LCR or 5 channels.
c. You can have active speakers /studio monitors for all or the front 3.
d. You can have smaller 7.2 setup like small wall mounted speakers or something & have a dedicated 2 channel active setup or 2 channel power amp attached to the Zone 2 Pre-outs for stereo.
I mean this is incredibly versatile for the price. A lot of people do not go for this thinking - 50W per channel realistically 30W per channel; in my opinion & experience you can do a lot with 30WPC and if you push your front 3 as active/external powered, well....
My 5 undervalued/extremely versatile - "value" being subjective.
1 - Audiolab 6000a Amplifier. Phenomenal sound. About 65K INR new and used around 40K. A very well rounded - almost perfect integrated amp. Comes with Subwoofer integration & a dedicated HT & pre-amp mode. So you can use it somewhere. In fact I believe it is a better value than more expensive AL offerings as they all sound fairly similar & there is absolutely nothing I have tried that can push the 6000a to it's limits. So why pay the premium?
2 - O&B power amps. Hard to beat value. 3 channel power amp, fully customised - chassis, ports, additional accessory ports, cables, comes with XLR ins & a bunch more customisations - well under 1L with copious amounts of power on tap & built like a tank. Pretty much life-long Support & they sound pretty good too.
3 - RME ADI 2 DAC FS - what can it not do - Preamp + Fully Balanced DAC + DSP + EQ + a decent enough HP amp all in one for <1L. Software updates & support are phenomenal. Features can be fully customised or controlled via a phone/tablet & PC.
4 - iPad Mini 6/2021 as a streamer - This is going to be a bit of a "controversial" choice maybe. A used iPad mini is around 20-25K - what you get is a streamer with - USB C, Native support for almost all streaming apps under the sun, spotify/tidal connect + apple airplay, bit perfect audio - upto a reasonable standard, a beautiful 8 inch multitouch screen, onboard memory/storage, incredibly robust software & UI, offline playback, software support for atleast 5 years, usage for easily 10. Incredibly snappy - super secure.
In the recent months, whenever I have helped someone setup a stereo/media setup - who are already in the apple eco-system, this is it. ***Also when you are not using it as a streamer - well it is a full fledged tablet.
5 - Marantz cinema 70 - fairly upgrade proof - Around 70K for a 7.2 AVR with all bells & whistles + & this is big - a full 7.2 AV Processor.
a. you can have a 7.2 setup that can drive most budget setups out there.
b. if you upgrade your speakers, you can just get a power amp for the front LCR or 5 channels.
c. You can have active speakers /studio monitors for all or the front 3.
d. You can have smaller 7.2 setup like small wall mounted speakers or something & have a dedicated 2 channel active setup or 2 channel power amp attached to the Zone 2 Pre-outs for stereo.
I mean this is incredibly versatile for the price. A lot of people do not go for this thinking - 50W per channel realistically 30W per channel; in my opinion & experience you can do a lot with 30WPC and if you push your front 3 as active/external powered, well....
Last edited:
ajuvignesh
Well-Known Member
Another underrated amp is rega Brio. Just 50 watts but punchy and sounds similar to class A amps.
Not only that the Brio is a superb amp, it has a very good phono as well. Superb analog starter kit.
square_wave
Well-Known Member
Russell K loudspeakers from the UK. Most people don’t know this brand. Outstanding speakers. Not very costly compared to most well known hiend hifi brands. Bit costly compared to mainstream brands though.
square_wave
Well-Known Member
Another one.
ohmspeaker.com
Been making speakers since 1972. They have cult following across the world. Very affordable too. Quite under rated for what they do.
Speakers
The Ohm Online store features speakers for music and home theater, including our legendary Walsh driver technology. Speakers available include talls, shorts, wall, bookshelf, center channel, satellites, and sub-woofers.
ohmspeaker.com
Been making speakers since 1972. They have cult following across the world. Very affordable too. Quite under rated for what they do.
Owned a pair of walsh, in the mid90's. Loved them dearly - were replaced by a dcm time frame 8.0, but I always missed the spacious sound, ever since.Another one.
Speakers
The Ohm Online store features speakers for music and home theater, including our legendary Walsh driver technology. Speakers available include talls, shorts, wall, bookshelf, center channel, satellites, and sub-woofers.
Been making speakers since 1972. They have cult following across the world. Very affordable too. Quite under rated for what they do.
Cheers,
Sid
Purchase the Audiolab 6000A Integrated Amplifier at a special offer price.
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