a visit to the ear doctor from time to time
@sbr my first DAC and headphone amp were 99$ Schiit Magni/Modi and they are still 99$ each and very much upgraded made in USA as they should be unless they are now made in Texas which is a whole other matter except the Schiit boys aren’t dumb no state income tax in Texas whereas California is worse than Mass
This $10 tube puller (which I actually really love): New Vacuum Tube Puller - Inserter For 7 8 9 Pin Tubes Extractor Repair Radio Amp | eBay
Or $12 monoprice balanced XLR cables to connect my Gungnir MB with my Mjolnir 2:
Or a pair of RCA 12AU7A organ clear-tops from Brent Jesse for I think $40.
But I don’t buy many sub-$100 items any more, sadly.
Must absolutely second the point about Schiit’s $99 each DAC and headphone amp. Though I’ve moved upstream, these items were how I found my way back in to audio. If I were going to give a $200 gift to a kid I thought might someday really enjoy music, I’d give her/him a Schiit Stack in a second.
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Audioquest RCA tower bridge for my Node 2i
Thanks for this guide! I’ll look into it.
Always fun to tinker…
About 30+ years ago I got myself a Suzuki Vitara and installed more hifi gear in the car than the actual price of the car. One of the things I found that were about $100 each were “directionally wound RCA cables”. I used those between all of the components.
Did it make any difference? … probably not ;(
Great thread (so much so it has got my first ever post!). I would say mine would be the DigiOne raspberry pi board from Allo. Stuck RopieeXl on the pi and use it as a roon / Spotify endpoint. Sound much better than what I had before.
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Glad it it got you on board Daniel, your comment made me think about my other favourite threads that you might be missing out on and so I started this meta thread that hopefully will grow as I am sure there is lots else going on I have missed.
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My absolutely best investment were my two Solid-Run CuBox for about 100€ both together used. I use them as roon endpoints for my living room and for my bedroom.
Never had any problems… 
Raspberry Pi 4 running Ropieee.
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Koss Porta Pro.
Splurge a little if you want to take phone calls with them as they make a version with a mic now.
How did those pads affect the sound signature?
Do they fit properly?
Sonic Design damping feet are a great budget buy to place under components.
I use them between my Turntable isolation platform and wall shelf and also under a pair of floorstanders in the family room.
Something that just arrived today which Im very happy with so far for build & sound quality is a balanced pentaconn cable for my HifiMan Ananda. Gives them a little more grunt whilst laying nicely tangle free on my desk. Bought from Custom Cans in the UK. Took around 20 days from order - build & test - shipped to Scandinavia. Will look to them for another cable when I purchase some new closed backs in a couple of months.
Nice 
In line with how to save money in Hifi, if you’ve been wondering about upgrading your cables or your switch. Do yourself a favour and watch these.
And
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They did, actually, Changing the pad for an asymetric model made the headphones sound more in balance, less emphasis on bass.
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Good to know. Cheers.
Disco anti stat record cleaner I think it’s called, did a great job on my vinyl. Alcohol does the same job to digital.
There is an Audiophiliac episode where he’s at an audiophile meet-up and talking to people about their systems. One guy says, paraphrasing here, I don’t have a system. I sold everything and bought season tickets to the symphony. It’s never sounded better.
If I lived closer to a venue I might do the same.
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Koss KSC-75 with Yaxi Pads, wish I’d found these earlier, would have saved me a fortune. Combined with the convulsion filter from autoeq, I’m amazed how good these sound for (including pads) £35 or so.
A £15 blanket to throw over a wooden table covered in kids’ plastic toys located in front of one speaker - I’m convinced it improves the detail of the soundstage…but maybe it just removes the distraction and makes me feel better 
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