My Boom Box - It's a Memorex

From Goodwill it came and to Goodwill it went.  I decided to retire my little work stereo.  It was a JVC mini system with an AM/FM receiver, CD player, and cassette deck.  The CD player was flaky and the reception inside an office building was just o.k.  I didn't have any speakers hooked up to it.  It all went back to Goodwill.  All except the AM loop antenna.  I kept that for my stereo at home.

JVC Mini Stereo

Instead, I am using a Memorex Boom Box at work.  It is one compact package and it has an AM/FM receiver, CD player, and cassette deck.  As a boom box, this Memorex is a little tame.  However, it works well and, through ear buds, it sounds just as good as the mini system it replaced.  We've had it for many years and seldom used it.  At the office, I'm hoping the bright color and awkward shape will make it difficult for anyone to walk away with it.  I'm glad that this Memorex finally has a nitch after many years!

Memorex Boom Box

 Of course, boom boxes evolve over time and the one we have is no longer sold. But, several current boom boxes look similar and the latest Memorex even includes a jack for external inputs (like MP3 players).

Thrift Store Music - My Cheesiest Music Finds

Buying music at the thrift store can be an interesting experience. There are bins of music CD's mixed up with old computer software. There may be a shelf of vinyl and a small number of cassette tapes. Every once in awhile a batch of 8 tracks will come in.

You have to dig through quite a bit of unwanted material to find the real gems. For example, everyone donates their grandparents Lawrence Welk albums. If you are looking for The Best of Lawrence Welk, it's probably there!

 You'll also find plenty of orchestral renditions of movie and television themes. They are always a bit cheesy, but I always fall for them. For example, I recently picked up a CD of James Bond movie themes and a CD of science fiction movie themes.  The Bond CD was cool to listen to for about ten minutes on my morning commute. Then my mind was overwhelmed by two thoughts:

1. These aren't the real movie soundtrack themes. 
2. My Toyota Highlander is nothing like an Aston Martin.

I wish I would have found a CD like this one with many of the real James Bond themes:



Of course, the cheesiness of the Bond movie themes paled in comparison to the Science Fiction movie theme CD. That CD had the theme to Raiders of the Lost Ark by an orchestra and all the rest of the Sci Fi movie themes were interpreted on a music synthesizer. If you can imagine the "Friends" episode where Ross finds his keyboard, you are on the right track. They even added a disco beat to some of the music.  If you'd like to check it out, you can get it for only 1 penny (plus shipping) from an Amazon seller.


There is a reason some music gets donated to the thrift store. But, with tapes being only 55 cents, it's hard to resist picking up affordable music from major artists. I recently picked Sting's album,Ten Summoner's Tales on cassette. It was a good listen and well worth two quarters and a nickel. It is quite a bit better than a orchestral rendition of various James Bond themes and you don't have to wear a Darth Vader mask to listen to it.

New Stereo for Less Than $200?

Can you buy a stereo for less than $200?  Would you like a totally new stereo for less than $200?  Amazingly, you can build a component stereo system for less than $200.  First, check out the Insignia brand at Best Buy.  It's the Best Buy House Brand.  This week their Insignia 5-disc CD Changer is on sale for an amazing $49.99.  It may be a tad slow in responding to remote commands, but for less than $50 it can take its time.  It's a nice basic CD changer and it sounds good.  I've reviewed it here - Stereo Component Review:  Insignia 5-Disc CD Changer

The Insignia 200W 2.0 Channel Stereo Receiver is only $129.99 at Best Buy.  It is a basic 2-channel receiver with few frills.  However, there are sellers on Amazon.com that have these basic Stereo Receivers used ("Like New") for as low as $85 including shipping.  If you are patient, it will also probably go on sale at Best Buy.

Alternatively, you could pair the Insignia CD changer with an inexpensive Pyle PT260A stereo receiver and you would be in the stereo business.  The Pyle stereo receiver costs well less than $100 and it can provide up to 50 watts per speaker at 8 ohms impedance.


So, yes, you can get a basic stereo together for less than $200.  Of course, you may have to hit Goodwill for some speakers! However, Amazon could come to the rescue again with some basic 50 Watt Monoprice Bookshelf Speakers like these for $30! They would be a perfect match for that Pyle receiver.

Our grand total for this system without shipping or wires would be about $160. $160 for a complete entry level stereo would work. Now, it won't make you an audiophile or convey any bragging right. But, it would get you started. Then, you could slowly evolve your system into something awesome as funding permits! Good luck!

My Newest Component - The Insignia 5-Disc CD and MP3 Disc Changer

One of the first additions I made to my low budget stereo was a brand new CD changer. The twenty year old Sony unit that I originally bought at a thrift store was making horrible noises. It was going to damage some of our CD collection eventually. It had to be replaced.  I had to place something new in our tower of power.

 
I surfed the internet and found all kinds of low cost CD players on Amazon. They had great deals on Sony disc changers and TEAC single CD players. But, I'm a retro guy.  I had to do things backwards.  While I shopped on Amazon, I actually bought from a brick-and-mortar Best Buy store!

At $80, the 5-disc changer was too good of a deal to pass up.  Tonight, I saw this CD Changer advertised at BestBuy online for just under $50.  At that price, run don't walk to your nearest Best Buy.  FIrst, you can read my review of this dirt cheap CD and MP3 disc changer here:

 Stereo Component Review:  Insignia 5-Disc CD Changer

When I was surfing Amazon, I thought this CD player would also have been great option:

Walking Away from Dirt Cheap Speaker Deals

When you frequent thrift stores, you'll often run into lots of good deals on old speakers.  When speakers cost you less than $50 for a pair, it can be easy to buy more than you need.  You can also end up buying stereo speakers that are wildly inappropriate for your space.

For example, a few weeks ago, I encountered a pair of pristine Sony ss-U421AV floor standing speakers.  These were beautiful floor standing speakers that could accept up to 250 watts of peak power.  They would have been thunderous.  I was really tempted to snatch them up.  But, my wife and I live in an apartment.  They would have been a completely preposterous addition to our space.  If we ever cranked the volume above 3, we would have probably generated a noise complaint.

Sony ss-U421AV Floor Stander Speakers

When we got home, I still thought about them and wondered if I had made a mistake.  I thought about showing back up at the thrift store and snatching them up as soon as they opened.  I visited the forum at audiokarma.org and enquired about those speakers.  Someone replied that they would pass because they didn't think much of Sony speakers they had previously owned.  The words of caution were just enough to restrain me from rushing out to make an ill-considered impulse buy.  I was able to walk away.

In our small space, we really don't need thunderous speakers.  We should probably stick to something small and space appropriate --


If I ended this post here, it would be a story of prudence, self-restraint, and thoughtful analysis.  Of course, that would be the safe and prudent course.  But, if you are into stereos, sometimes, you've just got to rock!  Two weeks later, we encountered a pair of Cerwin-Vega VS-100 floor standing speakers on another Goodwill run and I snatched them up for $40.  They sound great . . . even at with the volume cranked up to 1.5 in our small apartment!

My vintage Cerwin-Vega speakers have 10-inch drivers and can handle up to 125 watts.  They can also generate powerful base frequencies down to 37 hertz.  The second speaker in this pair will eventually need to have the driver refoamed, but they still sound great.  However, out of consideration for our neighbors, that prudent part of me still runs vintage 50 watt Sony SS-D201 3-way bookshelf speakers most of the time.  These speakers are about 18-inches tall and cost me only $10.91 at another Goodwill thrift store.

 

I guess you can walk away from cheap speaker deals.  But, if this story has a moral, that moral would be that sometimes you can't walk far!

Is the GPX Home Music System the Ultimate Low Cost Dorm Room Stereo?

It's back to school time! If you are looking for a low cost stereo for a dorm room, walk right on by the brand names like Sony, Pioneer, Yamaha, and Onkyo.  If you want a good little system for playing music in a dorm room, check out the humble GPX HM3817DTBLK Vertical Home Music System with CD Player (Black)

The GPX Home Music System has a regular audio input for MP3 players or Tablet computers and it has an RCA stereo input for a conventional stereo sound source like a turntable.  I have one and it is great for music in a small space like a bedroom.  Since it is a very inexpensive unit, you don't have to worry about losing a valuable investment due to theft or clumsy drunken roommates.  



This little stereo can fill a dorm room with sound, but it isn't really capable of disturbing the neighbors. Here is a complete review that I previously published on Yahoo Contributors Network:

Compact Stereo Review: GPX Home Music System with CD Player

An Inexpensive Stereo that May Be Perfect for Dorm Rooms, Offices, Bedrooms, and Other Small Spaces

If you are looking for an inexpensive stereo that can fit in a small space (like a bedroom, dorm room or office) and that can play well with MP3 players, tablets, computers, and other gadgets, the surprisingly inexpensive GPX Home Music System with CD player might be a good choice.

Once upon a time, I owned the perfect stereo. It had waist high speakers that pumped out at least 100 watts of power per channel. It was a Technics system with individual components I chose by hand including a receiver, dual tape deck, and five disc CD player. I watched the sales at and it was beautiful. But, since I lived in an apartment in a densely populated urban area, I could never crank the volume above two or three. While I may one day recreate my stereo of early nineties glory, on a day-to-day basis, my actual music needs are far more modest. I don't need to blast my neighbors into fits of fuious indignation. Instead, I need to play my CD's, plug in my tablet and stream a podcast, or simply watch videos on my laptop with decent sound. I don't need to fill a home with sound. I need to fill a bedroom or a home office. That's where a compact stereo can really be useful. I recently found an inexpensive little stereo that fits my needs. It is the GPX Home Music System with CD Player.

This little stereo only costs about $45, but it can play music from every device we own. It has ports to accept conventional RCA plugs from another stereo component such as a turntable or DVD player. If I don't have a device connected to that port, I can connect something via a line-in from the earphone jack of a modern portable device like an MP3 player or tablet computer. The GPX system also has a built in CD player and AM/FM radio. It can be used as an alarm clock. It can even be mounted on the wall. It has two detachable speakers. The system has a stereo headphone jack. It has preset equalizer settings for rock, pop, jazz, and classical. It even has a remote. From a usability perspective, the GPX Home Music System is easy to set up and use.

In my testing, the GPX Home Music System worked well in a small space. The unit's CD player and AM/FM radio receiver functioned just fine. The sound was adequate, but not booming. This is not a powerful stereo at all. The back of the unit claims a 14 watt power supply. But, not all that power is making it to the speakers. The sound would be about what you'd expect from a set of pretty decent $20 computer speakers or a small boom box. With no dedicated sub-woofer, there was no thumping to disturb our neighbors. However, for a small space, that can be a good thing. The lack of booming bass might make this speaker the perfect choice for parents who want to get their kid a stereo without feeling the effects throughout their entire home. I felt the sound quality of the GPX system was also somewhat limited by the plastic speaker enclosures. The "tweeters" on the speakers are just cheesy non-functional pieces of plastic decor. That being said, the sound was clear and pleasant enough. For a small space, the sound quality was good, but not excellent. You won't find audiophile quality at a $45 price point.

However, there is a chance that you can tweak the cheap little system yourself to improve it a bit. One Amazon reviewer reported good results by swapping the speakers for a better pair from his local thrift store. That sounds like a potentially outstanding idea as speakers from bookshelf stereos can often be found at my local thrift shops. However, the challenge would be to find speakers that have a single male plug for each speaker like the GPX speakers.

Overall, I was very pleased by the GPX Home Music System. It met my basic expectations. I liked being able to hook up my Nook Color and stream music from AccuRadio. While it may not be a powerful stereo, this GPX unit has the priceless ability to accept input from many different devices. In this world that makes this "Home Music System" an incredibly useful little system.

Dirt Cheap Cassette Decks - To Tape or Not To Tape

When I built my thrift store stereo, I added a cassette deck.  I reasoned that the cassette deck only cost me $15 and it would allow us to play the couple dozen music cassettes that we still own.  A couple of mini systems in my inventory have cassette decks as well.  Since I sometimes find music cassettes for only 55 cents at one of my local thrift stores, I figures that a cassette deck would keep an entire music avenue open for me. If I really want to be hip, I can also try cassette-only indie music labels.  There are quite a few reasons to keep the cassette format alive.  You can read more here -

Music Cassette Tapes Are Coming Back

However, there is one significant drawback to cassettes.  I just remembered it recently when I popped a new to me Duran Duran  Seven & The Ragged Tiger tape into the old JVC mini stereo on my desk at work. Tapes are a fragile media for recording music.  When old tapes and old cassette decks meet, you can get distorted sound or a messy jumble of tapes.  In the case of my Duran Duran tape, I just got horribly distorted warbled music.  I was only out a whopping 55 cents, but you've got to consider the psychic trauma!

Ultimately, if you are trying to minimize the cost and size of your system, it's easy to ditch the cassette deck.  But, if you want to plunk down a couple of quarters and take a chance on an old cassette tape, an old tape deck doesn't cost much!  Even this new one is pretty cheap:

Expanding Your Dirt Cheap Stereo

Once you've started built your dirt cheap stereo, you will want to improve it.  While the core of your system may be a $20 amplifier and AM/FM tuner, you may want to add a CD player or a turntable.  You may want to keep an eye out for a premium stereo receiver.  But, while you are on the prowl for even more amazing bargains or while you are saving up your nickels and dimes, you will be able to listen to music on your entry-level basic system.

It won't take too long for your humble stereo to grow into the ultimate Tower of Power!

Expanded Thrift Store Stereo

To read more about sensible ways to improve and expand your thrift store stereo find, read my article:

How to Expand Your Dirt Cheap Stereo

The Perils of Becoming an Audiophile

On a recent visit to Barnes & Noble, I made the mistake of picking up a magazine dedicated to serious audiophiles.  The technology on display was amazing.  The stereos were sleek and sophisticated.  The speakers were simply incredible.  Then I came across an advertisement for stereo cable.  It was almost $2000 per meter of cable.  Wow!

To me, a premium cable is a $4 Monster cable from a thrift store.  Most of my cables are entry-level premium cables that I got for $1.01 to $2.92 at Goodwill.  I also have one cable that I paid $12 or $14 for a Best Buy.  To my untrained ear, my stereo sounds great.  And, my ear can remain untrained if training my ear leads down the path to $2000 stereo cables.  It just goes to show that there is no limit to what some wealthy audiophiles will spend.  The rest of us can only hope that the technology trickles down to mainstream consumer systems at attainable price points.

I don't want my humble system to sound crappy, but I'm also not going to venture far from waters inhabited by mainstream consumers.  The stereo, speaker, and consumer electronics companies can meet me at the shallow end of the pool with systems that cost less than $1000 new for a complete stereo.  They also need to convince me that I need anything more than my current late 80s/early 90s vintage system that cost less than $200 total.

Building A Component Stereo On A Shoestring Budget

Can you put together a pretty decent stereo on a shoestring budget?  Absolutely.  It's simply a test of your research and shopping skill.  At your local thrift shop, you can probably find stereo speakers for less than $20 and stereo receivers for less than $40.  If you are able to test them in the store and confirm that they work, you may find yourself quite a bargain.

A $40 Thrift Store Stereo by Technics!

 If you prefer new equipment and shop well, you can find a new stereo receiver for $110 or less and a CD player for less than $100.  You should be able to find decent speakers for less than $50 a pair.  The deals are out there on websites like Amazon.com, Sears.com, and Walmart.com.  Even the Best Buy ad in your local Sunday paper can reveal some awesome deals.



Of course, you won't receive any accolades on audiophile web forums and you won't see your system written up in audiophile magazines.  Perhaps they don't want to acknowledge that you don't have to build a $100,000 stereo and put it in a dedicated listening room?  Perhaps the knowledge that you are happy with $10 speakers might make them question their own stereo investments?  Perhaps they hold back on their judgement out of consideration for your budgetary constraints?  Ultimately, your shoestring system is about you enjoying your music collection at a price you can afford.  Even a humble $80 Technical Pro RX37URI Stereo Receiver With USB And SD Card Inputs can get you started listening to music. It is the music and your enjoyment that counts!

When I was young and dumb, I probably blew $1000 on my first stereo.  Now, that I'm getting back into stereos, I'm far more cautious.  My initial build out of  a dirt cheap thrift store stereo was only about $40.  Of course, my $40 stereo was only a starting point for more serious expansions and expansions.  It's a platform for new beginnings.  It's also a chance to hear music on decent speakers.