Audiophile, Budgetphile, and Dontgiveaphile thread.

[jp1]

I'm in the process of cleaning up my listening area. I don't have anything that special... Don't know much about specs... But I've got some old vintage equipment with clean needles and good enough sound. My real reason for jumping into this thread is the general lack of pictures. I keep popping in hoping to see set ups in action. Since I'm building my own space I'd love to see what other people do with theirs.

So... Come on folks. We are a community that likes to share! Where are the pictures?

If I ever finish my shelving unit, I'll definitely be adding one for everyone to see.

That's a fair criticism. Honestly, I need to get my spot fixed up a bit before I'm ready to post pics. I've got my Sansui floor standing speakers pulling duty as stands at the moment, for example. I'll get something up sooner or later, as I'm slowly pulling it all together as I find stuff (like proper stands/mounts) on the cheap. I could post pics of my speakers on their own, but what would be the fun in that? I'm down for seeing some setups too though, especially some 2 channel stuff with LP players and such.

[jp1]

Just picked up a set of these:

http://www.cnet.com/news/teac-ls-h265-t ... hat-could/

Brand new for $46 shipped, which is way under retail, even the current sale price at amazon doesn't compare and they are well reviewed.

There is still a set available from the same guy here: UPDATED LINK available again.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TEAC-AMERICA-IN ... 1e93e5eb53

If anyone is interested. I don't endorse the seller, never used him before, but his feedback is excellent, so I gave it a shot.

For anyone that doesn't know about PSB (which he compares them to in the review) they make great speakers and the Alphas that he said these are slightly better than are a great sounding set of speakers, even at $250. So, if you have any faith in his reviews that speaks highly of the Teac.

EDIT: Specs are wrong on ebay as well. From Teac's website...

http://www.teac.com/product/ls-h265/specifications/

[jp1]

Those teacs ^ are really great. I am kicking myself for letting like six pairs pass me by and not jumping on another set or two. They are well worth the $199 retail price tag, at $80 from Amazon (right now) they are a steal, at $46 they were giving them away.

The review on them is pretty spot on. Check out my impressions if you're interested. @Ziggy, these are the small speakers to get dude, especially if you can find them at the ebay price.

First, the fit and finish is way outside their price range, they have a high gloss piano type finish that internet pics just don't do justice. The grills are acoustically transparent, which I find rare these days, and include a nice little brushed nickel "Teac" badge on them. Online they look cheap to me, in person not even close. They look like $500 speakers, easy.

More important is the sound, and they have it in spades. A speaker this small should not throw a sound stage this big or image this well, they are incredibly delicate while being slightly forward (by this I mean just a touch treble heavy) but not fatiguing and with great detail. They are smooth when they need to be and aggressive when the music calls for it. The bass is not really apparent below 80hz IMHO, but that's what your sub is for.

I didn't expect it, but they are quite revealing speakers, crap in = crap out, so they aren't for pandora unless you have some sort of restoration eq on your AV equipment. Even with the correction, lossless stuff and more importantly well mastered stuff is what shines here. Instrumentals and heavy vocals have subtle nuances you will find in much more expensive speakers, and you can easily place each voice and instrument within the sound stage, no wall of sound, another very hard trait to get in cheap speakers. The only weak spot is unfortunately due to their diminutive size, they just don't have the depth and richness in the midrange that a larger speaker does. If you aren't accustom to having a mid woofer larger than 6" this probably wouldn't even be noticeable but in A-B comparison with my Boston CR-85s it is night and day, they immediately feel "thin".

The "thin" sound takes very little away from these little gems. Especially in a smaller room, in fact they would be better suited for a room around 12' or less in any dimension. In my large open living room they were still great, but can't keep up with the Bostons despite having better sound in almost every way.

I own some very well reviewed budget, and somewhat expensive (by most people's standard) speakers. None of them can be set in a room with less than 5 minutes of concern with placement and close your eyes and not be able to pinpoint them at all. In fact it almost sounds like the band is in the room with you.

If you don't care to read the long version, I'll just say they are awesome. If you need some smaller bookshelf speakers, you should check into them.

[jp1]

Last self bump on the thread (until someone talks to me). The seller of those Teacs (yep, those again) is going to be listing at least seven more pairs 1 set at a time. He is awesome to work with, responds to emails immediately, is selling at rock bottom prices, he gave me a heads up on them so I could grab my requested amount, even hooked me up for ordering several pairs!

So, I do endorse the seller, and the speakers kick ass. Just don't feed them too much power, they are 50 watt speakers...Teac website is wrong on that. If you need speakers at all...buy these.

Ebay seller is samson387 and he has awesome deals on Tascam stuff too from time to time. If you are looking for an AVR watch for the Tascam he lists, not a lot of people know that they make nice stuff.

EDIT: A pair is up now...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TEAC-AMERICA-IN ... 3ceb200fe2

[fastbilly1]

Ill keep an eye on his store. I always like finding new audio dealers and I have needed a non pro one for a while. Unique Squared is my go to for pro audio if I need it fast - he is based in Atlanta about a mile from my parents.

[jp1]

Ill keep an eye on his store. I always like finding new audio dealers and I have needed a non pro one for a while. Unique Squared is my go to for pro audio if I need it fast - he is based in Atlanta about a mile from my parents.

Check out the specs on the Tascam AVRs he sold recently vs. their price. Not to mention they look awesome. I'm sure if you are into pro audio and everything in between then you know that Tascam is Teacs upper end and is similar to what Panasonic did with Technics. Some pro installers use the Tascam stuff, it isn't usually in your local best buy though. Anyway, the seller told me he is a nation wide liquidator, which is why he has so much stuff for so far below retail and why it is located all over the place, Texas, Georgia, New York, Kentucky, etc...

I don't want to go into details about why I vouched for him specifically, because out in the open for everyone it might lead to him being taken advantage of, but anyone who is skeptical or curious about purchasing from him can PM me for further details. If you guys ever hear a pair of these Teacs, I'm telling you, you will be kicking yourself for missing out on them for so cheap. I bought three sets.

[fastbilly1]

I have used Tascam recorders on and off for the last decade. They are simply the best. I honestly never looked into the rest of their audio line. Now I have my homework infront of me, thanks jp1.

[jp1]

I have used Tascam recorders on and off for the last decade. They are simply the best. I honestly never looked into the rest of their audio line. Now I have my homework infront of me, thanks jp1.

Let me know if you come across anything interesting. I really wish I had seen those 5.2 AVRs before I purchased my Denon, they went for $75 new, that is ridiculously low.

[Ziggy]

Wait... What? Tascam has AVRs? Like Fast, I'm gonna have to look into that.

My first recording device was a Tascam 4-track tape recorder. What a pain in the ass something like that would be to use today, but boy I had some fun with it back when. I currently have a Tascam USB interface (2 channels) and I love it, but I want/need to upgrade to something that can do more tracks (at least 8 ).

[TSTR]

I think everyone's first recording device was a Tascam 4-track. If not, it should have been.