Need help building my 8 year old's BUDGET stereo

My wife broke the crappy Panasonic all in 1 unit my 8 year old dughter had in her room. Since she broke it, we told my daughter we would replace it. Have you ever seen those all in 1 shelf systems? They are now HUGE, and really ugly - not at all something that fits in an 8 year old girl's room. So I had an old receiver (my first I ever owned bought with $$ I earned working at a grocery store when I was 18 in 1985 - a Technics SA-460. It is by no means an audiophile unit, but it sounded pretty good and looked cool with lots of lights. At the time I bought it, I thought it was important to have lots of lights! I assume my daughter will feel that way too, so that will serve as her receiver. I bought a Pioneer DVD player at Wal Mart (closeout for $50) that will serve as her CD player. I need speakers now. Are there any speakers anyone could recommend for under $100/pair that will sound decent while being small enough to fit in a bedroom?

I want to introduce her to better sound than she got from the Panasonic unit (it has truly horrible, horrible sound, and the damn thing counted down from 10 to 1 on it's display and then said "Blast Off!" every time it was turned on). It shouldn't take much. While audiophile quality is definately out of my budget (my wife just lost her job), I need some suggestions on what to look for. Any ideas?

 

Minisystem speakers will definitely suit the purpose at the bare minimum (not the way to go though) or Pioneer type of speakers will be fine, check the pawn shop or stereo shop for this kind of stuff or we do have DJ quality full range speakers made by Gemini for $49.95 per individual speaker plus shipping and handling at http://www.northernlightfx.com/cart.php?Action=closeup&prod=GT-1002. These are the cheapest full range speakers we do carry and they do sound excellent. If the speaker part of the speakers wear out, we do carry Eminence product as they only deal with the raw speaker and we do carry or my boss can make the cables necessary as he has a degree in electronics and actually went to college for this kind of stuff.

 

For Christmas I bought my 10-year-old daughter an office type mini system by Sanyo of all things. It's silver with a bit of fake wood trim and has a single CD tray along with AM/FM.
It's classy, simple, and actually sounds rather nice for what it is. It was on clearance at (I'm ashamed to say) Wal Mart for around $90. I talked myself into believing that Wal Monster lost money on the deal. My daughter loves it.

Since you're actually building a real system, you might want to check out those little Paradigm Atom speakers. Maybe you can find a pair close to $100. I think they usually sell for well under $200. Rave reviews on those puppies.

Dan C

 

I work at a Circuit City and minisystems have become ugly as hell. There are some systems though that have a wood trim and look pretty nice. I think Aiwa and Sony make some like that and they are ok sounding for an 8 year old girl.

 

Great project.

For my teenager, I ended up getting the B&W DM 302. I picked up a new demo set for $150 so used they should be less than $100, yet they are going for too much on ebay right now. They sound very good and I even picked up an extra set for the den.

I always loved the original EPI speakers. Model 60, 100, 110. They sound fantastic and have a good following. They are a 2 way at 6 ohms yet are inefficient since they are sealed enclosures. These sound really really good. You can find them on ebay and could possibly find a pair in your location to save on shipping.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3030732887&category=14991
I have a pair of Harmon Kardon HK - 40's and they sound very good also.
I have mine hooked up in the garage to a Dynaco PAS and ST 70.
They go for about $25-$125 a pair on ebay.
Mine look better than these that did not sell for $25
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3030003656&category=14993

Surprisingly the old Sony speakers from the 70's sounded pretty good also.
They are very efficient. I bought my last pair for $20 (sold for $50). I am referring to the ones that have sealed cabinets without ports or holes in the back panel.
here are some examples starting at ~$1.00
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3031541499&category=14991
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3031167773&category=14991
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3031403681&category=14991
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3031817137&category=14993
$39 with free shipping – a bit big though.
Would want to verify they have grill covers.


The Infinity sound ok yet are not accurate like the EPI. They can also be found for a low price used. I have a 2 way 8" pair in the garage I paid $40 for at a garage sale. They are hooked up to an old Kenwood. They are very efficient and with a port have some semblance of bass at low volumes.

 

Hello Chris.

Have you considered getting her a computer instead, with perhaps a 5.1 speaker system from, say, JBL?

Regards.

 

She has a computer in her room. It's got one of those integrated audio setups, not a sound card, so I'd have to get a sound card for 5.1, plus the speakers. It's on her desk which is in a hard to get at corner of her room, though, so it's hard to be switching discs, etc.

I saw a 5.1 system in a box (Panasonic - even played DVD Audio (!)), that had 5 speakers, subwoofer, am/fm/dvd/cd, etc. 300 total watts for $200 on clearance (reg. $325). I almost went for that, but $200 was more than I wanted to spend. I still might if I don't come up with anything else.

Thanks for the help, guys. That's why I spend WAY too much time on this site. It's the best!

 

Get the Gemini speakers, Chris, and you will definitely be a customer of the company I work for, for the rest of your life, guaranteed.

 

BTW, we are able to order JBL product at my employer, but the product isn't listed on the site but you can contact my employer if you desire JBL product.

 

BTW, if you were simply just getting a minisystem, your daughter might like my kind of setup involving a minisystem that allows hooking up something from an AUX source, a DJ mixer plugged in the AUX input, and all the components. She will discover that the minisystem CD player, etc. actually sound like crap compared to proper components. The minisystem I have is an RCA system with surround speakers. True surround does sound better than X-surround (simulated surround). The exact model of minisystem I have is discontinued but RCA does make similar systems that have the AUX input and surround speakers and they do sound nice for what they are to begin with but as soon as she adds a DJ mixer (the exact model of DJ mixer that I use, an American Audio Q-2422/SX is in production and can be bought for $199.99 and she will get the phono preamp built in to the mixer and we do stock this model mixer at our store) and components, the system will blow her socks off, especially when she hooks up digital cable and video sources to the mixer.

BTW, I agree that there are very few minisystems that are nice looking these days.

 

Good choice! These were the first speakers that came to mind.

Eight-years-old is not too young to start down the audiophile road.

 

PSB alpha & alpha minis are also excellent. I had the alphas in my den system in my old house and they were quite satisfactory for bookshelf speakers

 

I agree with Dan, the Paradigms are an execellent choice. If you can go just a little more try the Micros, I paid $150 for a pair. I am always amazed at how good such little speakers sound.

 

I have Paradigm Atoms in a few rooms including my 11 yr olds system. They're amazing.

 

Another vote for the Paradigm Atoms (or Micros). A steal for the price.

 

As of 9:40pm on 6/27/03, these Micros were only up to $69 in this auction on eBay, and the seller is only charging $10 for shipping. The auction ends in less than a day and a half. Take a look - here's the link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2540685561&category=23794

 

Thanks! I'll be watching them!

 

I don't think you can go wrong with either the Paradigms or the PSB. Pretty amazing sound for their size and price.
Sprocket