Cheap Headphones Review: Live. Love. Music. Vanquish Stereo Headphones

One great source of dirt cheap audio gear like earbuds, headphones, and mini speakers is the 5 Below store.  Each location is jam packed with fun products that cost less than $5.  On one visit, I made an impulse purchase of a set of  Vanquish Stereo Headphones for $5.  These headphones are marketed under the "Live. Love. Music." brand name.

Vanquish Headphones from 5 Below

Construction.  The headphones are made from plastic.  The plastic seems to be softer than the hard plastics used in more expensive headphones.  The earcups and connecting arch are covered with fake leather.  However, these earphones have held up fairly well.  I've fallen asleep on them and treated them fairly roughly without any problems.

Specs from box for Vanquish headphones

Sound.  The sound from these headphones is acceptable.  The dynamic range for these headphones is 20hz to 20khz.  They have 40 millimeter drivers.  In terms of specs, they seem to be decent.  However, these headphones don't seem to be quite a loud as entry-level name brand headphones.  This might make them a good choice for children and teens.

Imitation Leather on Ear Cups

Overall, these earphones are worth the $5 price tag.  But, if you are serious about sound quality, you can do better with just a little more money.

Audio Review: Grundig 960 Classic AM/FM/SW Radio

One of the nicest looking pieces of audio gear in our humble abode is a Grundig 960 Classic Radio.  It's reproduction of their classic antique Grundig 960 using modern components.  It's a retro radio with an RCA input to allow modern inputs to be used.  The reviews on Amazon for this radio are mixed so let me share my impressions and experience.

Style.  The Grundig 960 is rather large for a radio.  It has analog dials that are reminiscent of a 1960's car radio.  It has a sturdy wooden chassis and internal speakers that fire to the sides.  Since the dials didn't have markings, I initially had trouble making sure they were centered when adjusting left-right balance.  To fix this I added a small arrow shaped sticker to each dial.

Sound.  I found the sound quite good for a radio.  It could provide sound in stereo. To me, it sounded better than most comparably sized boomboxes but it wasn't as good as a far more expensive Bose Wave Radio.

Reception.  Living in a large city, I had no trouble pulling in FM radio stations. While some reviewers have said that the radio could drift, in my experience, the FM stations held just fine.  I have not honestly tried the Shortwave reception.   However, I think that the long lost the manual said there was an internal antenna for AM/FM and that shortwave might require a long external wire antenna to work well.

Specifications.  These are the specifications for the radio according to the back panel.  I do not believe that the speakers are 12 watts, but they are strong enough to sound quite good within a bedroom or office.

Overall.  This had been a nice radio for me.  It looks nice in a bedroom setting and it sounds good.  Reviews on Amazon for this set were mixed, but I found it to be a nice radio.  Of course, I paid about $50 for this radio at a thrift store.

Realistic Minimus Speakers - Perfect Pair for a Mini Amp

If you are putting together a cheap stereo experiment for a bedroom or office, inexpensive Realistic Minimus speakers may be your cheapest choice.  I've read glowing posts from audiophiles about vintage Realistic Minimus 7 speakers.

From time to time, I come across various Minimus speakers at thrift stores and they are very inexpensive.  For example, I found these little Minimus 21 speakers at a local thrift store for $6.26 a pair. 

However, these are only 10-watt speakers.  However, when paired with a stereo mini amplifier, they could be perfect for a desktop or bedroom system.

Something like this Lepai Mini Amplifier might be perfect!  With luck the resulting stereo could even be built for less than $50!