Cheapo Hi-Fi challenge: week 3

This week hasn't seen much activity for the Hi-Fi challenge. A new acquisition is winging its way to me, but it hasn't yet arrived. Unfortunately this new item is being delivered via Royal Fail (sorry Mail), so even if it does manage to get here, it will probably be in pieces.

One change I have made this week is to the RCA cables being used to cobble the separates together. When I first set the system up I used whatever I could find in the loft. However, the cables I used weren't of the best quality and some even had bent plugs. Therefore I resolved to purchase something better.

I decided that the budget could stretch to some Primewire HQ Platinum cables. At £5 they fit the bill perfectly; they are both 'budget' and of good quality. These cables are undoubtedly a step up from the rubbish I had been using and have impressed me so much that I have bought more for my system upstairs. I also have some in reserve for when new separates arrive.

Cheapo HiFi Part 3: CD player overload

The third week of the "Cheapo HiFi Challenge" sees me hoarding CD players. I was always going to need another CD player as my computer is not kept in the same room in which I am setting up my new separates system. So, during the week I placed a few bids on devices that took my fancy and let eBay do the rest. Next thing I know I am the proud owner of a Technics SL-PG390 and a Sony CDP-491.

Technics have arrived

Now the Technics machine remains in the 'cheapo' bracket having cost me just £15. It has an optical output so is ideal to live in the upstairs set up with my computer. It works well enough and isn't in bad shape cosmetically.

At this point I must confess a predilection for retro Technics gear. I spent a large part of my school days in 1985 (and '86 and '87) leafing through Technics catalogues thinking: 'if only'. Whilst this particular machine is from much later than 1985, it still has that magical Technics badge that the 12 year me can't resist. Of course I am now toying with the idea of building a Technics system to compliment my SL-1200 MKII and new CD player. We shall see how that plan develops.

Anyway, back to the old Sony stack. I had decided to break the bank on a CD player with a remote control. Messing about with the remote-less CDP-XE370 was becoming a bit of a chore and when the CDP-491 (complete with instructions and remote control) came along, my head was turned. The 491 is a much older machine (circa 1990) than the CDP-XE370 (circa 2001) but it is higher spec (it must be, it has more buttons for heaven's sake). It seems a remote and instructions raises the price on eBay quite considerably and I ended up paying almost £40 for this one.

The new CD with remote

However, the majority of the extra functionality contained within the CDP-491 does not have much to offer in the modern era. This is because there are a large number of functions dedicated to recording CD to tape. Like the Technics machine, the new Sony has a 'Peak Search' function to scan the CD for the highest peaks on the disc to allow the user to set the levels on their cassette recorder. This machine can also fade tracks in and out and build a programme to fit a specified time. I would have killed for these options back in 1990 (particularly the fade options) but in 2018 they are pretty much redundant. For now that is...mix tape anyone?

Cheapo Hi-Fi Part 2

So, part 2 of my cheapo HI-Fi challenge sees me actually generating sound. Having overhauled my old Jamo speakers I decided the first step to my new separates system had to be the amplifier. My approach was to leave a series of relatively low bids against amps on eBay and see if any were successful. As the days went by the 'outbid' notifications multiplied and my chances of landing an amp in the first week began to look remote.

Happily however, nobody seemed to interested in a bashed up Sony amp beyond £25 (can't think why). Two days after the auction ended I received the unit and fired it up for the first time. I took my £10 Sony CD player, hooked them all up and to my surprise, everything worked.

Now the TA-F161 isn't going to win any awards and was decidedly budget even when it was new (circa 1995). The sound is indistinct and no matter how you coax the eq it sounds a bit woolly. But it was £25. On the plus side it has a phono stage (as yet untested) and actually produces sound (something of a novelty on eBay where half the listings seem to be 'for spares only'). Or rather it did work.

Something about the base of the amplifier didn't quite look right in the stack (note the front left foot isn't visible on the picture). This isn't because of the angle of the photograph, it's because the foot is pushed up into the body of the amp. At some stage this unit has received a massive bash to the base that rendered it useless. It seems it has then been 'recycled' (i.e. repaired badly) by a company and sold on. I say badly repaired because there has been no attempt to pull out the dents to the base of the amplifier.

As I manipulated the foot in an attempt to pull out the dent, the unit powered down and could not be resurrected. Now one good aspect to the previous botched repair was that half of the screws holding the amp together were missing. Thus opening it up was achieved quite quickly. Once inside it became obvious that the previous 'trauma' to this unit resulted in the PSU being damaged. As I was pulling the dents out of the case I was moving the PSU and disconnecting it from the circuit board. With the connection re-established we had power and sound once again. This amp will just have to stay bashed and a bit wobbly on it's feet.

So for £35 we have a CD player, amplifier and speakers. However, with only £65 budget remaining and turntables currently fetching top prices, the bigger challenges look set to come.