New Lows for Entry-Level Hi-Fi
I bought my first audio system when I was 17.
It cost me $1200. That was in 1981, and my inflation calculator tells me that today that
system would cost more than $2800. Obviously, that was a lot of money for a kid to blow on
a stereo, and you’d think that teens would have an even harder time buying an
equivalent system today -- after all, wages haven’t increased at the same rate as
consumer goods. But in fact, the opposite is true -- today, good-quality, entry-level
equipment is far more affordable than it was 25 years ago.
For as long as I’ve been an audiophile, it hasn’t
been inflation that has applied to entry-level hi-fi, but deflation. I can buy a much
better system today for $1200 than the one I had in 1981. Furthermore, whereas $1200
seemed to be a price point to entry to decent gear back then (I bought an NAD integrated
amp, two-way bookshelf PSB speakers, and a B&O turntable), today the amount you need
to spend for a good starter system is far, far lower. In fact, depending on how you
mix’n’match your components, it might be as low as $600 -- even in today’s
much cheaper dollars.
For example, this month we review the Trends Audio TA-10.1
integrated amplifier ($129.95 USD) and the Oppo DV-970HD "universal" player
($149). Combine those components with Athena Technologies’ AS-B1.2 speakers
($180/pair), which I mentioned in March in "What We’d Buy: Speakers
Under $300," throw in another $150 for stands and cables, and for just over $600
you’d have a pretty decent setup comprising nothing but GoodSound! Great Buy!
gear. Furthermore, this combo would more than likely sound quite a bit better than the
system I bought in 1981.
Granted, the Trends TA-10.1 delivers only 10Wpc into 8 ohms
(or 15Wpc into 4 ohms), so you won’t be able to play it very loud; and it has only
one set of inputs, so you’ll be pretty limited as to what you can hook up to it --
but it’s at least enough to get you started. Besides, no one says you have to stick
with the same components forever. I used that system I bought in 1981 for about six years,
and upgraded when I started to earn more money.
So can you. For example, in time you can consider switching
to a more powerful and feature-rich integrated amp -- something like NAD’s C325BEE
($399), which we’ll review soon. At the same time, you can look at the option of
adding a subwoofer to extend the lows -- Athena makes some great, inexpensive subs, as do
many other companies. And even if you buy both, you still won’t be paying as
much as I did for my original system more than 25 years ago.
The thing to remember is that, unlike food and cars and
houses, the price of great entry-level audio equipment hasn’t gotten more expensive
-- it’s only gotten cheaper as the gear itself has gotten better. Don’t you wish
everything worked that way?
…Doug Schneider
E-mail comments to the editor@goodsound.com.
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