Today, I put the finishing touches on my super-cheap stereo. First, I moved my stereo to a dedicated shelving unit. We originally bought a really nice stereo cabinet for $599 and had it delivered from one of the major furniture chains. Unfortunately, it arrived with some significant scratches and dings. With steam coming from our ears, we had them take the expensive unit away. It didn't look much better than assemble-it-yourself furniture from Target. We weren't impressed by the value for the money and we certainly don't need any more bills.
Instead, we opted to use an unfinished utility shelving unit ("Gorm") that we bought a couple
of years ago from Ikea. Friday night, I went out and bought a couple extra shelves for it to space the components a little better. The "Gorm" was originally $39.99 and the two shelves were $15 total. Since the shelving unit is made of fairlly soft pine, I was able to tack the antennas into the back beams of the unit where they can't be seen. Overall, we feel that the unfinished wood helps give the room a lighter, airier, feel.
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| Gorm Shelving Unit as a Stereo Cabinet |
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00058519/
I'm also done agonizing over speakers. We initially didn't want to have more than 2 speakers so I opted to stick with the big Cerwin-Vega VS-100 floor standing speakers. They were thrift store specials, but they sound good and they have presence in spades!
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| Cerwin-Vega VS-100 |
We also agreed to get
Pyle Home PCB3BK 3-Inch 100-Watt Mini Cube Bookshelf Speakers - Pair (Black)
. These 3-inch cube speakers are inexpensive and very small. They wouldn't be audiophiles speakers at all. But, we figured we could listen to music at low volumes in the evenings without worrying about disturbing the neighbors.
However, on Saturday night, I came across a pair of small KLH rear surround speakers for $5.95 at Goodwill. They are very small and I can put them on the shelving unit and use them to help hide stray wires. They are
apparently 60 watt speakers with the typical lack of bass found in most bookshelf units. We're going to give them a try before ordering anything new.
I also added an headphone extension and an RCA Y-cable so that I can use my tablet (Barnes & Noble Nook) to stream music. The amplifier, tuner, and tape deck are all from Goodwill. The
Insignia - 5-Disc CD Changer
was on sale from Best Buy. Overall, the system looks good, sounds good, and didn't cost much.
