$150 Audiophile Headphone System

Music makes things happen in my life – cooking, writing, sex, working out. (There’s a reason I’ve worked for two music-focused companies.)
And the tools that make that happen are important to me – speakers, headphones, amps. Audiophile equipment is one of those nerdy things I like to dig into, spend too much time researching, and find bargains that get me high dollar sound without spending a lot.
Anyway, I’ve built a 2.1 home system and a headphone system for working, all in, for about $500 or so. That’s how much people spend on just headphones.
Today I’m covering my $150 headphone system.
Three components:
- Headphones.
- Cables, adapters. Connect to your source and your headphones.
- Headphone amplifier. Enhance the quality of your headphone output.
Headphones. DBI-700. $45-$60 shipped. They’re competitive with headphones at the $250+ level. I’m not the only one to say so. And they’re built like tanks. Apparently record stores use them, but as those blink out of existence, liquidators are getting them out the door for cheap. You can find them on eBay. Or someone may sell them over at headfi.org
They sound pretty good un-amped, but with an…
Amplifier. $108 shipped. Schiit. It’s sexy. It’s small. It’s well built. It makes your headphones sound fucking amazing.
Cables, adapters. I like Monoprice. It feels meaty, its cheap, and it’s delivered to your door. You need a standard 3.5mm headphone jack to RCA adapter. And if you lost your headphone’s 3.55 to 6.55mm, you need one of those too (Radio Shack of all places is best).
All in: $160, shipped. It’s competitive with systems ~$500+.
300% ROI isn’t bad.
-Shlok
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Nov 15, 2014
Hello Shlok,
I see that you reviewed the book “Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers” before. I have written a book that is related to that. Would you be willing to let me provide you with a copy of the book in hopes that you would consider reviewing my book as well?
My name is Diego and the book I want to send is titled “Predictable Fortune: What Every Entrepreneur Most Know If Your Business Is Going To Survive (And How To Make It Thrive!)”. You can find a link to it here. http://predictablefortune.com
I can provide it to you as an attached file if you wish. It’s up to you.
Of course, I understand that you are under zero obligation to review my book, and if you do review it, you can leave a good, or a bad review. I am simply looking for the opportunity to have you consider it.
Thank you. I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Diego Velázquez