Narcisse91 said:
Building a low cost amp isn't too difficult, if you don't mind giving up some power. I'd be curious to see what the result would be if someone took one of the more popular amps built by members here and turned it into a "low cost" version, with a $100 limit. Low power, no bells and whistles, no bulk orders to match components, no $5 resistors, but a 5 or 10 W design for driving some bookshelf speakers.
Exactly. Gain Klones, mini-As, Low-power Zens for start from scratch projects, old tubed console amps, integrated & recievers, SE & PP (most which need to be pheonixed), an old NAD, or Advent, and various other old gems are the fodder for a Frugal-Phile(tm) system.
What do you all think would be a reasonable limit in price for a budget project, amp + 2-way speakers? I may have to try this if I have some free time.
How frugal you want to be is up to you. It is more an attitude than a price. The closer to zero (your time is not considered a cost since you are having fun) you can get, the better. My current lab system which qualifies as Frugal-phile(tm) is a Yamaha CD (on extended loan from chrisB), a set of BK101s (bribe* to chrisB), a set of FE103As (pulled out of the dumpster at a 2nd hand store), a tuner that was a bonus in a swap, and a not modded enuff Calrad SE 6BM8 integrated (eBay $35 USD including post). My main system has Frugal-Phile(tm) elements - speakers & amps) but gets disqualified by the used Linn Sondek (~$1k USD -- bought when i was working for a steady wage).
*bribe in this usage is more akin to the word "favour". Around here it has taken on a life of its own, and a common form of currency is the "bribe tendered" (propaganda to mean any information on a product or service is another word that has taken on a more benign meaning)
If we want to set a semi-arbitrary maximum goal i'd throw out $500 CAD (or just over $300 USD).
dave