A Fantastic Stereo for ~ $300

You may be asking, “Why is a Mac geek writing about stereo gear?” Well, Apple is really good at a lot of things. One of which is delivering an enormous selection of music in a number of creative and industry-shattering ways. iTunes opens a portal to Apple’s unrivaled music library, from which you can choose to purchase by song or album or take the “all you can eat” approach by subscribing to Apple Music. Your music can be on your Mac, iPhone, iPad or iPod or all the above. You can also choose not to store any of it and rely on streaming your library from the cloud. Yes, Apple has revolutionized the way we acquire and store music.

The one area where Apple leaves us to our own devices is in actually listening to the music we own (or rent). Apple’s sparse offerings for this includes their EarPods included with every new iPhone or iPod, their (only slightly better) In-Ear Headphones and now the recently-acquired Beats line of headphones and portable speakers. If you want a room-filling stereo, Apple has no offering for that.

MacTexan to the rescue!

I’ve put together a really spectacular sounding system with bright highs, accurate mids and bone-shaking lows, all produced through a truly warm sounding hybrid amp with Bluetooth for less than $300! I know you’ll be amazed by this system’s sound because I was, and I’m no stranger to spending multiple thousands on really high-end audio equipment.

Before I begin, I want to disclaim that every single piece of this system was purchased at monoprice.com, one of my favorite on-line retailers. They sell a wide variety of electronic audio, video and computer accessory gear. I discovered them years ago as the very best (and cheapest) resource for a/v and computer cabling. Since then, Monoprice has grown into the “all things geek” store I know and love today. I’d also like to state that I have no business or personal connection with Monoprice or any of their personnel.

Hybrid Amp with BluetoothThat out of the way, let’s begin. The heart of any music system is the preamp/amp. Discovering this amp at Monoprice is what prompted me to start this project. You can read the specs yourself, but in summary, it’s a 15 watt per channel (RMS) hybrid stereo amplifier with built-in Bluetooth. This amp intrigued me for a couple of reasons. First it is a hybrid tube/solid-state amplifier. The preamp section utilizes four vacuum tubes to create a really warm, accurate music signal for the final solid-state amp. Describing this is difficult at best. It’s like trying to explain color to a blind person. Suffice it to say, the really super high-end audio gear like McIntosh uses analog vacuum tubes to create the sound that’s made them so acclaimed. When you listen to music created by one of these systems for the first time, you’ll instantly understand. The second reason is this amp’s inclusion of Bluetooth (it has standard RCA stereo inputs too). There’s lots of hybrid and tube amps available. There’s lots of Bluetooth-equipped amps available, but there’s very few that include both and certainly none that I’ve found for 150 bucks! This thing is a real bargain.

6.5" Two Way Bookshelf Speakers (Shown w/o grills)The next components are the speakers. When I first saw this pair on monoprice.com I was sure it was either a misprint or these were complete junk. These 6.5” bookshelf speakers are rated at a plentiful 85 watts (peak) so for only $32, I decided to take a chance with them. As it turns out, they are neither junk nor a misprint. While they admittedly aren’t the prettiest or highest quality speakers I’ve owned, they are the best value by a mile. C’mon! Thirty-two bucks! Are you kidding? I've paid more than that for a couple of pizzas. I bought a second pair just because. I don’t particularly need them right now, but I may someday and I’m sure there will never be another deal like this in my lifetime.

12", 150-Watt SubwooferThe final component is the subwoofer. If all you listen to is violin concertos and piano solos, you can probably live without it. But for modern, popular music a real “thumper” is a must. The sub I’ve included here is probably a bit of overkill. I chose this one for three reasons. 1.) I already owned it and 2.) It has multiple hookup options and features and 3.) at $106 it is extremely inexpensive for a 12”, 150 watt sub. The technical reason for my choice is the high-level inputs and outputs needed to make this system work. As great as it is, the amp I chose for this project doesn’t include a “sub out” connection, so high-level inputs are a must. More on that later.

Setting up this system couldn’t be easier. All you need is some speaker wire and a 120v wall outlet. Again, monoprice.com is where I got a 50’ spool of 16-gauge speaker wire for $12. Because there is no sub-out on the amplifier, this project requires a bit more speaker wire than might otherwise be necessary. Connecting the speakers requires connecting speaker wire from the left and right channel outputs of the amp to the left and right high-level inputs of the subwoofer.

Subwoofer Connections & Controls

The bookshelf speakers are then connected to the left and right high-level output terminals of the sub. When connected this way, you can use the adjustment knob on the back of the subwoofer to control the crossover frequency. In English that means you send the bottom end sounds to the sub and everything else to the left and right speakers. This buys you two things. First, you use the big, 150-watt subwoofer amp to reproduce the lows (the sounds requiring the most power to produce) through its big 12” driver and second, you keep those low frequencies away from the left and right speakers. The smaller speakers can’t adequately reproduce them anyway and they only serve to “muddy” the sound of your music, especially at higher volumes.

Once I got everything hooked up as I described, it was time to plug the amp and sub into the wall outlet and give the system a go. I turned everything on and selected “Bluetooth” as the input using the toggle switch on front of the amp. It was really cool seeing the four tubes on top of the amp gradually glow to a nice, warm yellow-orange. This is something you just have to get used to with tube amps. It takes about ten or fifteen seconds for the heating elements in the tubes to warm to operating temperature. Until then, you may think your rig is broken because no music comes out. Next I opened the Bluetooth settings on my iPhone and paired with “MP tube” from the list of available devices. The first thing I listened to was “Just the Two of Us” by Bill Withers and Grover Washington. I admit I wasn’t very impressed. It seemed like the amp wasn’t producing much. Even at full volume the song just wasn’t very loud. I monkeyed with the output volume of my iPhone and a few other settings and though the sound was clear and beautiful, it was less than I had hoped for. I left an easy listening playlist playing at low volume and went into another room to join some guests.

When everyone left I went back to tinker with the setup some more. There was a jazz tune playing, “Smoke” by Walter Beasley. I turned the volume knob on the amp from ¼ to ½ and WOW! The sound blew me away. It seems I’d forgotten about another trait of tube amps. Brand new tubes require a “burn-in” period before they reach their full output potential. In my case, the time that lapsed was about 4 hours, but it could have taken less time. I wasn’t paying close attention. Next, I played “September” by Earth, Wind and Fire. It sounded tremendous! The highs were crisp and clean, the vocals and horns very well-defined and the thump from the big sub was enough to make my shorts itch. I was a happy man! I had just put together a wonderful-sounding 2.1 stereo system for less than $300. It sounds beautiful and produces enough volume to make even my teenage daughter happy.

I couldn’t let time pass without informing all the MacTexans out there. If you’re looking for a tremendous sounding stereo system for about the same price as an iPhone 6S with a two-year commitment, then you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better sounding one than this.

Here’s a list of the components all in one place: 

1. Stereo Hybrid Tube Amp with Bluetooth $150
2. 6.5" 2-Way Bookshelf Speakers $32
3. 12" Powered Subwoofer $106
4. 16 AWG Speaker Wire (50') $12

TOTAL $300

Have fun. Enjoy the terrific sound!