re: Two channel audio/cd 'hi-fi' on a budget

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The CD player probably makes the most sense. I will look into that Oppo 103 that Doc mentioned. Or maybe a Yamaha( crutchfield) to match my system. I thought CD players would be cheaper these days.

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Oppo made great optical disc players but due to the shrinkage of the market they went out of business and their used pieces generally sell for what I considered high prices. The price of CD players have gone up because the market is small now, the economy of scale is slipping away.

My usual recommendations for turntables has been set your budget and pick a Rega, Music Hall, or Pro-ject that fits your budgets and your eye and buy it, they start at about $350. That changed a little earlier in the year when I went over the one of my "audio friend's" house to listen to a Fluance RT80 ($200) that he bought for his high school son with a budding interest in vinyl.* It was silly good for the price. So I would definitely include them in the sub $500 range because they have several other budget models. They are designed in Canada and built in Taiwan. I really think the sweet spot is 500-750 but you don't even have to spend that much. I have a Linn LP-12 I have had for over 25 years, it isn't one of the highly upgraded ones but it does the job for me anyway.


* we listened to it in his 2 channel system that is quite revealing (KEF Reference 5 and Anthem stack) so it wasn't hiding anything