Part 2: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jdeSYLuGrbrPY4U.html

This is why I love your videos, you always take other considerations into account. A bunch of audiophiles on the internet get mad when you don't want to spend $3,000 on a record player.

I"m a collector in the sense that I'm constantly working with what I have until something better comes along. Much the story of my pc gaming history, and more relevantly, my audio equipment. We were buying wood from someone who was currently moving out, and the seller just gave away a Denon AVR-2105. I'm sure they had no use for it, but it sits on my desk and gets cranked up nearly every day.

There are a lot of young people out there like myself that are fascinated by analog audio, but will end up buying something like a crosley cruiser and getting a bad experience. It’s so much better to have a real old hifi system and it can even be cheaper if you’re lucky. Good content to put out there!

I can confirm that the hifi fever is highly contagious. I got an entire system (speakers, receiver, tape deck, CD player, turntable) handed down to me after my grandfather passed away (it was his setup btw) and all work just fine, and I only got it this summer. But I already want to upgrade my receiver mainly because it’s too low profile and not very exciting. I gotta have something with more knobs and switched, damnit! I’m so glad I got into this, though. It’s a super fun hobby that you don’t need to spend too much money on in the beginning. Glad you did this video, too. Hope it got even more people into retro hifis

My journey into real Hi-Fi began with speakers. A salesman at a local high-end audio shop suggested listening to several different models in my budget over a few weeks, and if I found I kept coming back to a particular set, that was probably the one I should get. 25 years later, I still have and love those Spendor Preludes, which I hooked up to my cheap stereo. Over the next few years, I upgraded the rest of the system around them. It's now Conrad Johnson, Rega, California Audio Labs and Marantz. But NOTHING ever made the startling difference those speakers did. Bottom line - I think of the speakers as the foundation of the system. Most electronics work pretty well, but you will always regret bad speakers.

I love how in detail you went to explain all the positives and negatives of the different versions and options you have available. Someone is gonna make a sweet setup and have you to thank for it. Can't wait to see the rest.

I have my old Kenwood component stereo I bought in 1993. I have it inside a solid wood cabinet with glass doors. The cabinet matches the wood on our floor in the Living room. Two years ago around Christmas time I put a fan and vent grill inside the cabinet that has a temp sensor, so when it gets above 80F the fan turns on and cools the amp. I love it. I bought the fan as a kit on eBay. It plugs into a power jack on the back of the amp, so when I turn the amp on the temp control system turns on too. It was a fun little project and it turned out great. Love the video.

And what happened next? Well on ebay they say.. That the price of the SA-K5L grew three sizes that day.

The elephant in the room here is... where does the tree end and the shirt begin? 😉

Good to see Ade Edmondson is still in work.

"dead people's clothes".... this is why I love Techmoan's vids... education and expertise delivered with a touch of acerbic wit to keep up the tempo on what can be a very dry topic... If this guy was a college lecturer... you wouldn't wander in late.. you'd be queuing outside the door for best seats.. :-)

This is not the kind of Hi-Fi I would put together, but I appreciate the Techmoan style and I'm excited to see the finished system.

You’ll probably never see this, but since Home Alone is making a comeback for some reason, it might be a fun idea to review that Talkboy Tape Recorder he uses in the second movie. Anyways, thanks for all of the great content!

Initially I wasn't going to watch this video because it's not really something I'm interested in. But I do enjoy watching *Techmoan* videos, so I stuck around anyway. It was a good, informative video - definitely worth watching - and who doesn't like an unboxing video? Looking forward to Part 2.

I recommend spending most of your money on the speakers and amp to get good sound. Then focus the money on the format you’ll listen to most and keep building from there.

"Just sell dead peoples' clothes." Line of the year, that. :) 1:08

I bought a Pioneer SX-P520 system for double dirt cheap and it came with the six CD changer and a separate twin cassette player and the multiplugs to connect it. My upstairs neighbour gave me a broken Aiwa hifi but came with an abs awesome turntable which went with the Pioneer. The only fly in the ointment is the CD changer doesn't like CD-R's much and skips esp on the last two discs but the sound is awesome, so crystal clear and defined whether its classical, old northern soul, bit of ska or a rampage of punk, this flat abs bounces when I crank it up :) Other thing is the display is a little dim but its working so def recommend scouring ebay for an old hifi as a starter. I also have a cable to hook my PC output to the phono sockets at the rear and can channel just about anything thru the stereo.

I love the idea of having some banging speakers, so I can dance to the tunes of Duran Duran after work.

Read up on hifi and the components. Getting a good deal from someone who hasn't got a clue what they are selling is great :)

Ive picked up a few bits lately from an ebay chap called " oldskoolhifi". One of which was an excellent Denon Precision PMA-100m amplifier. Nice high spec Class A amplifier with lots of inputs and runs down to 4Ohms if needed with 110 watts RMS per channel. And only £40 !!. It looked like it was brand new and the sound quality is just superb. So bargains to be had with older high spec HiFi equipment.

The whole thing about preference at the beginning I think was a good thing to point out! Most people I know would want a 1990s Technics with all the fancy shmancy functions meanwhile I’d rather use a late 1960s Denon deck that has only the function to play and record cause it sounds better to me

Mat, this is easily your best series of videos, and actually the ones that draw my attention to this channel in the first place. I wish you'd done more of that educative stuff on how to buy stuff, and what to look for, as you are really good at it. Thank you very much, and keep it up!

Dont own a HiFi system just use my Fiio X5 Mk3 DAC with some AKG 702s and love the sound it produces! Maybe one day but for now im staying portable. Cheers

I bought my stuff at a thrift store back in 2016 not knowing anything. It serves its purpose and wasn’t expensive. This year I upgraded from Pioneer bookshelf speakers to three-way Kenwood JL703 floorstanding units from the early 90s/late 80s. Sounds great and I use it up in the loft for all my analog audio/video stuff. On a 40 in. TV, VHS looks just good enough to watch and if it has Dobly surround, the amplifier I have supports Pro Logic II so it sounds great as well.

My Hi-Fi build: 1) Sennheiser HD 600 2) Any source Done.

I inherited one of those technics “casseivers” off my grandad when I was a kid. It saw me well through my teenage years.

You're the reason I got a Quartz Lock direct drive turntable. The speed is perfect! I had a budget Pyle table before and I was constantly 'retuning' it per record.

Great video. Old technology is not as bad as some people may think. I got me a set of Klipsch Forte speakers, made in the USA, in 1986. They sound amazingly good! Most modern speakers, even high end speakers lack the "punch" on the low end (bass). The Klipsch speakers produce an incredible "punch" with very clear mid-range and well balanced high end. I'm glad that my closest neighbor is 50 yards away. LOL.

"dead people's clothes"... LOL!

I managed to get myself a B&O Beocentre 1800 with a couple of B&O speakers, which needed new rings, for 80 quid off ebay. Amp, turntable and FM tuner in one. Absolute bargain and the best purchase I've made in years.

This brings me back to my highschool/young adult days. I inherited my parents Hitachi Hifi. The turntable was dead and innthe end I was looking for a new one. The radio, tape deck and amp were a combo and I eventually scrounged enough for a $120 5 cd changer and I added speakers and inputed my tv for suround sound.

Will Techmoan's budget Hi-fi system work? Tune in Tomorrow. Same Tech Time. Same Tech Channel.

Possibly putting the cat amongst the pigeons, but the first thing I would choose is where I was going to listen. A good listening position is important, but also a listening room (sounds pretentious, I evicted my dining table) where you can play music without disturbing neighbours. If you can’t do that it may be better to go with headphones and a headphone amp. I’m not fond of listening using headphones but I can do so at night without disturbing anyone else. At reasonable hours my music goes through a hand built valve amp.

Started a system 10 years ago thanks to a music loving mother in law. Since then, every component has been replaced at least once, most twice. Most broke, unfortunately. Added a minidisc deck and a CD recorder last year. Almost everything needs a service. But for a stereo system of any kind, I've never been happier in my life! In fact, enough KZfaq - I'm off to play something. Anything.

I found a mitsubishi da-l70 for my cheap stack system. Receiver with a 7 cassette changer and a separate drawer type turntable. Couldn't be more happy about it. and the cassette changing mechanism is just about the coolest thing I have ever seen.

Get Well soon Techmoan and thanks for teaching us on how to build your very own personal custom Hi-Fi system. Will try to make one soon 😊

I love your videos Techmoan. I'm a music lover however I'm not what you'd call an audiophile. What I really enjoy about your vids is your friendly presenting style. Amidst all the flash bang wallop you of 21st C life you are a breath of calming fresh air. All the best man.

I have a mini-system in another room that I haven't turned on in years and I still love this series. It would be fun if you would create a system with no components past a certain date, like everything must be from before Dec 31 1988.

I used to have a full separates system, but for space restraints I have gone to the dark side (Sonos). I thoroughly enjoyed this video as it brought back many happy memories of time gone by tinkering for the ‘perfect’ sound. Can’t wait for the new videos.

Your shirt reminds me of a DJ at a school disco during the 90s.

Theres gonna be a techmoan effect on the prices of these things.

I remember making mix tapes on my dads stereo back in the late 80's. I think it was a Philips system with dual cassette decks. I remember him adding a CD deck to it and the first CD he played was GnR's "Appetite for Destruction." He was also a fan of Randy Travis and George Thorogood , too.

I built a hifi sound system connected to the TV using old hifi separates, the only new things in the mix are the TV and the dvd/hdd player/recorder. I heartily recommend this route!

It would be fun to see you look at budget new products such as the Auna CD players and amps that can be found for under £100 on eBay!

Techmoan your equipment cabinets behind you look amazing! What a stunning selection of quality components you have assembled there. id kill for your open reel tape deck! great video and looking forward to part 2!

Your comments are bang on love to to tinker and get bored like to change my system All the time. That's the fun of the hobby.

My whole system is built of hand-me-downs and thrift store finds, and honestly, it's bangin'. To anyone just starting out, go to thrift stores, and see if any family members have anything sitting in the basement they never use anymore. If you want to upgrade a component, sell what you have on craigslist, and you can even get your money back that way, since everything starts and ends on the second hand market anyway.

My HIFI costed me 5.25$ it includes CD Player: Playstation 2 Cassette Deck: Technics M205 And also a Pioneer SX-2700 Receiver.

merry christmas and a happy techmoan

He's definitely ill. What a trooper, still manages to tech our world! Feel better soon, chap! 💙

That is a lovely video - great reference for people who say "I want to get a hifi" and have no idea what this means or what they're getting into. I like the way you "sneak in" a turntable even though it's not in your initial list.Also, please allow a small correction: a hifi without loudspeaker(s) is possible if you use headphones. I have to comment favourable on that very elegant rack you have installed your equipment which brings me to, perhaps, an additional item or two that should be on the list, namely the rack and the loudspeaker stands - should one prefer bookshelf loudspeakers. If you could include these in your shopping list, that would be great. A rack is not essential for someone who already has a dedicated space for the hifi. One, however, who hasn't such a space, especially if intending to acquire a turntable, and moreover lives with a spouse who abhors the look of random pieces of equipment stacked together in the living room or children who like to poke things needs to carefully consider the choice of installation method for their hifi. Speaker stands may be also an essential consideration in such a scenario. Last, I would like some input on the choice of cables. The reason for this is that someone might be inclined to walk into a local hardware shop and buy new budget price rca interconnects for 5 quid a pair, which will eat into the overall budget, instead of getting something on par (price-wise) with the rest of the system online. Also, on the other extreme, might decide to use bell wire for loudspeaker cable which will end up looking unsightly and manky over time and might also affect sound in extreme cases. Cable looks and tidyness I feel is an important factor when the hifi is placed somewhere where it can be seen and, worse, tripped over.

This video needs more puppets. I’m just starting the video, but of this fact I am certain. More. Puppets! (They’re great and I enjoy seeing you work them.)

Wharfdale are my first pick when it comes to speakers, surprisingly I have noticed hardly anyone ever .mentions them or even has them

I built my HiFi after watching your videos! Cassette Deck: Denon DRM-700 CD player: Denon DCD-810 Turntable: Kenwood KD-37R Tuner: Toshiba ST-T30 Amp/EQ: From a Technics DV290 setup.

This channel has become addictive. Man is straight off of Channel 4 daytime TV.

1:10 "The thrift store only have dead people's clothes". Glad to see you came home from there with a shirt though.

I find a lot discarded on my dog walks - nice speakers, amps, more. BTW, how about "home theatre" integration - and room setup, design, furnishings for best sound.

Refreshing to find somebody brave enough to admit the appearance of a piece of kits is important. That's how I ended up with a Transcriptor Hydraulic and a Michell Gyrodec :). They just happen to also sound great.

I've just put together an eBay system for my sister's new flat. Amp: £60 Denon DRA-F100. Micro hi-fi receiver with loads of inputs (inc turntable) & remote. Speakers: £90 NOS Q Acoustics 2020i. 5 star rated bookshelf's on final clearance. Were originally nearly £200. Bluetooth receiver: £25 Inotek from Amazon. Can use AptX HD codec that's close to CD quality. Speaker cable: £10 Gale XL 189. Easily good enough for clarity & decent bass. Will set it up by the TV for watching movies and the Bluetooth makes it just as convenient as her crap smart speaker to zap music from her phone. Little low on power but sounds great in her small lounge and amp is small enough to hide away. Awesome.

The best way to upgrade your hi-fi is to simply smoke a lot of cannabis. The music will sound a million times better. Even on the cheapest of speakers. Believe me. 🔊

A four part Techmoan HiFi series? Looks like Christmas has come early.

I'm not planning on building a good HiFi system for years, I just love hearing Mat talk! Even with a cold... (dead peoples clothes killed me)

I made the mistake of buying a Technics casseiver for a bedroom system - the SA-K2L. Sounds great with tape, but the aux input sounds awful. So I scrapped that idea, and bought separates instead. Sticking with Technics (because my main system is built around an SU-V7, which I love), I've built up a 1979/80-themed stack of SU-8044 amp, ST-8011L tuner, RS-M17 cassette deck and SH-4030 timer (not strictly necessary, but a nice bonus), driving a pair of tiny-but-gutsy SB-F1 aluminium speakers. The cherry on top is an NFC-enabled Bluetooth receiver, so I can connect my phone & tablet. Total spend: under £150! (The timer came with an ST-S3L tuner, too, but I prefer the analogue dial of the 8011.) And the sound? One word - awesome. Looking forward to your recommendations for the rest of your system, Matt!

New Techmoan. I literally dropped everything to be here.

12:47 pretty sweet. I think technics and audio technica are the best value for quality audio.

You know, out of all the KZfaq channels that have that "Special thanks to patreon supporters" that drag on, I at least appreciate that Techmoan's is accompanied by a very wonderful compilation of different equipment functioning along with very relaxing music. Love the amount of quality that goes into this channel. If I wasn't a broke University student, I'd support on Patreon myself. For now, I just give a thumbs up on KZfaq.

The Technics tape advance(song skip) feature brings back nice memories! The twisty speaker tabs, not so much... Also, can't wait to see what speakers get matched to that "Cassceiver"

You know, I feel like I'm on first-name terms with your stereo. I've seen videos about almost every component, and can tell you stories about each one :-D That turner for example, with it's Nixie tubes, or that odd thing with the Oscilloscope on it. Or the digital media player. All old friends by now!

The video why Im subscribed to this channel! Thank you so much!

A 4 part series on Hifi separates, this is definitely a Techmoan Christmas special! Made even better with the matching shirt & tree.

For anyone looking for old HiFi bookshelf speakers, I can recommend Celestion 3. Great-sounding British-made speakers, and they're still priced relatively cheap.

Listening to this on my $3 earbuds

How to Build a Budget Hi-Fi system: *Move to Japan.*

I think my first system (1988) was a Sanyo "rack" system. It was cheap junk, but as a kid, I thought it was awesome. Then I went to components like a JVC receiver and dual tape deck (both of which I still have) and Technics CD player (died a long time ago) hooked to a pair of HUGE Cerwin Vega 12" woofer speakers. Now I have kids... Little kids... I have a home audio video system which consists of a Yamaha 7.2 receiver, in wall center and side speakers, and a 12" Paradigm sub as well as a 55" LG OLED TV. Priorities change. My JVC receiver is out in the garage now, and I use an echo dot to stream music into it and all through a pair of Energy speakers which I've always been impressed with.

Techmoan, I think it'd be great if you made sure to mention speaker placement and room setup when you get to the point in the series where you install the system. So many new folks either don't get that advice or don't take it to heart. As us audio types know, great placement, or at least paying attention to it, can improve sound so much more than many realize.

I can't believe "The Mrs" was fussy about the look of the speakers when you have that huge rack of components flashing , blinking and dominating the room (no need for Christmas lights eh )

mate ive been a sub of yours for a while and I enjoy all of your honest feed back with the diversity of the products and gadgets you review - they are fantastic, thanks for all the great uploads and happy holidays - looking forward to more great videos!

The curvature of the speaker does have a real purpose. It reduces parallel sides and so reduces standing waves. Great video. I would love to get hold of a DBX expander.

At the end, I couldn't keep my eyes off the "Mindhunter" reel-to-reel in the background. What a damn beautiful machine (I loved that video, too).

“Charity shops only sell dead people’s clothes” - The most relatable comment ever

Top vid mate.. Few idiots in the comments section.. Merry Xmas techmoan

A great idea for a little series. Lots of great old reliable and solid tech out there. I'm astonished that my old hi fi system, bought new in 1983 and used a fair bit, is still working so well 35 years on! An Akai AM-UO1 amp and CS-M3 cassette deck, Pioneer CS-303 speakers and some more recent stuff added like a turntable and a CD player, also connected the tv, along with a cable plug to connect it to my digital radio, my MP3 player or my laptop as needed. Never had a single problem until the amp went last year, and I was really sad, and I started hunting for a replacement (a new Pioneer amp stood out) but a friend told me this old tech is great quality, worth fixing and not difficult or expensive to do. And sure enough a local hi fi repairman sorted it out for me. Makes me wonder if it will still be working in another 35 years, because I will probably not be!

when I had a hifi system in operation it was all stuff i got for cheap and a hodge podge of car audio speakers, 2 free 2 way cabinets and random sub boxs with 2 mids in shoe boxes. I was using a sony stereo receiver with homemade bass boost controler to a vintage kenwood amplifier for subs.

Hey Mat - first of all thanks for your many nice and entertaining videos - being a tech-nerd and Broadcast sound-engineer myself, I have enjoyed your output very much for the last year or so :-) I have a different kind of question to you - Where did you get that super über cool shirt you are wearing in this video? Is it to be found somewhere on the internet? I´m a vinyl junkie myself repairing old turntables in my sparetime, so it would be very spot on for me to get a shirt like that, and I dont think we will ever be at the same party with the same shirt haha :-D Wish all a nice x-mas and a happy new year from Denmark. Best regards Søren :-)

Wow, your voice sounds so different with a cold.

I'm still using my JVC MX-GT88 as my computer audio system. A little 'all-in-one' shelf set from, like, the late 90's. The speakers are absolute beasts for games and sound really good with music as well. Just running a 3.5mm jack cable out into a 3.5mm to RCA adapter and plugging that into the AUX input on the main body from my MB's audio out. BAM! Super nice speakers.

I’m always delighted to see a new video from you! My father instilled a deep love of hifi and electronics in me and I’m planning to complete my own budget hifi system soon. I hope you’re well and I’d love to get in touch

My only advice for buying old electronics is only buy products made in Japan.

This is what I'm waiting for

I was actually quite impressed when I saw that you had those speakers in the background. Polk audio actually makes some of the best sounding floor standing speakers for the money that I've ever heard. Yes it is completely possible to get better sounding speakers. That said when I priced out my S55s I to spend about 150% more to get better sounding speakers. At the time about five grand to drop on a system. I could have waited but honestly I think they sound phenomenal when they are powered via BI-AMP with a very good amp.

the thing about Hi-fi i like is the expandability. im currently sitting next to a system with 4 amps, 2eq's and a full on Dolby cinema processor.

uhh yes the perfect video for me, my whole life is on a budget!!

i bought a nakamichi bx-150 cassette deck from the local Arabian market, haggled the seller to 40 euros :D

Really like your videos, keep it up. Love seeing old tech that I drooled over when I was young. I will never go back though, I still have an old Sansui receiver from 1965 some old dual cassette decks and a phono in the basement that will never see the light of day ever again but it is great to see some of your old tech. Bought a new Pioneer VSX 1131 for $199 black Friday special for my projector home theater. I still have albums and a video disk player which when I add up the money spent on those formats makes my head spin. I am glad I live in these times where music is practically free for the most part and is perfect pristine digital sound. I do not long for the old days or old gear, but I love your videos for the reminiscing quality. Thanks

In the process of building a "Dad's Hifi" myself. I acquired a teac v680 3 head tape deck fully working at a bargain price of £40 on ebay. Added a Cambridge Audio d300 to my cambridge a1 amp I bought over 15 years ago, and a Sony Minidisc recorder. I was lucky to be sold a couple of KEF Q30 speakers for a silly price of a fiver (not sure the seller knew what they were). So cost to me around £400 (My amp being the most expensive part) - actual value new probably near £2000. All sounds great.

Is that an Eames next to your Hi-Fi setup? How comfortable is it? Was interested in getting an Eames but want to know how comfortable it is before taking the plunge.

Your cold would now be reclassified as Kung Flu.

I scored an used AIWA NSX-5229 for free, my aunt was throwing it away because it didn't read CDs anymore, but it does have RCA stereo input, this thing has been rocking as a sound system for my PC since then, it's been about 3 years now.

I've got an ultra compact system from Panasonic (SA-PM39D) that has a 5 cd/dvd changer, a cassette player, and an am/fm tuner, and has bi-wired ported 3-way speakers for very impressive adjustable wide and surround sound. It even has an adjustable subwoofer output to which I've hooked up a small but decent 8" Sony sub. The unit is 9" tall, 6" wide, and 9" deep, as are each speaker so it's extremely compact. The system takes up very little space and makes movies and musical performances on the bedroom TV sound fantastic. Best part, it cost only $45, plus the sub which I already had. MUCH better than any $200+ soundbar and MUCH more versatile. There's even an auxiliary/phono input with a very decent phono preamp, or you can hook up a bluetooth receiver. Cheap is the way to go!