What was your best (and worst) audio purchase for the dollar?

[antcollinet]

Thank you! That's what I thought - Room EQ. But I heard that it is practically useless to do this in untreated rooms. Essentially, you're compensating for a lot of resonances and reflections that are almost never the same until the room is properly prepared.

My apartment has no sound insulation, a hollow wood frame and single-layer plasterboard walls.
I don't think there would be any benefit from an EQ with this mic, right?

Some people say that - and I guess in some cases it is true. But I have a small room, no treatment, but carpeted, curtains and fairly crammed with furniture (including kallax on the back wall which breaks up reflections)

EQ makes a significant difference.


And in any case, you can use the Umik during the installation of treatments to see if they are having the effect you want, and adjust if not. So not only for EQ.

 

[gwing]

Best - A little Alientek D8 'Direct Digital' amp with xmos USB input and STA326 for it's heart. This cost just £80 and, when playing well recorded and simple acoustical music , can still make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Thoroughly enjoyable but after many years of pleasure it is becoming unreliable now. Also a budget 10W per channel Audio Innovations integrated valve amp which was simply magic compared to anything at 3x the price.

Worst VFM- Probably an SME V tone arm for my record deck. Not that it wasn't a really good tone arm but allowing for inflation it would cost £6000 in today's money. Also a big Rotel 6 channel power amp which despite it's claimed 60Wper channel was completely lacking in dynamics compared to the above 10W valve amp.

 

[johny_2000]

Some people say that - and I guess in some cases it is true. But I have a small room, no treatment, but carpeted, curtains and fairly crammed with furniture (including kallax on the back wall which breaks up reflections)

EQ makes a significant difference.


And in any case, you can use the Umik during the installation of treatments to see if they are having the effect you want, and adjust if not. So not only for EQ.

Okay, I ordered UMIK-2 today. Let's see what I can measure with my current setup.
P.S. My room is also carpeted / furnished.