I put together my first HiFi system for under $500 — and it gives you excellent sound without breaking the bank

Tom's Guide

4 days ago

The best Bluetooth speakers are a great way to take your music on the go or amplify the sound indoors without spending hundreds upon hundreds of dollars. But at a certain point, Bluetooth speakers become expensive enough that there are similarly priced sound systems that sound much, much better than a single speaker unit.
Take the Sonos Move 2, for instance. As a portable speaker, it's about as good as they come for $450. It sounds good, features a massive battery to help you port the speaker around with you. But, if you spend $450 on some HiFi components, you ditch portability and make up for it with flexibility and sound quality.
My first HiFi was made up of second-hand units that I grabbed for cheap on eBay, but that comes with its own risks. My first amplifier only lasted about a week before it started to smoke, for example. It's just as possible to put together a system of brand new parts for Move 2 money — so that's what I've done.
The Wiim Amp is awesome. It's a compact streaming amplifier that packs in loads of features without taking up too much space or compromising on functionality. There's plenty of power on-board to power even more demanding speakers down the line, so you won't need to upgrade it for a while once you've plugged it in.
The amplifier portion has 30W of power on tap, an ample amount for the speakers you can afford at this price point. Its core sound is excellent as well, with a lovely neutral sound for your speakers to build on and minimal sonic coloring. Plug them into the speaker ports on the back, and you're off to the races.
The reason I chose this amplifier over similarly priced options from the likes of Cambridge Audio is the built-in streaming features. The amp connects to the Wi-Fi and then uses Spotify and Tidal Connect for easy streaming.
You can also use the Wiim app to stream music from other streaming services, like Qobuz. It's a useful option to have, and opens up the sound customization features that let you really dial in the sound of your system. You can also connect over Bluetooth, if you'd prefer something old school.
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For something so cheap, the Wiim amp is surprisingly fully featured, making it perfect for our $450 HiFi system. My Wiim amp has a place under my TV — because you can even plug your TV in with eARC for better TV sound. The results are far better than a similarly priced soundbar, that's for sure.
The Wiim Amp not only features Wi-Fi for streaming, but there are enough ports on the back to plug in a turntable or a CD player. There's plenty of power for even larger speakers as well, giving you a clear upgrade path. This is the best way to spend $300 for excellent sound.
With our amplifier coming with streaming capabilities built in, that really only leaves us with $150 for a pair of speakers. It's not too hard to find fantastic speakers for that much money, and our friends at Polk come in clutch here with some great budget options. My pick of the bunch is the Monitor XT15.
One of the best things about stereo speakers over a Bluetooth speaker is the actual separation you get with proper HiFi speakers. They physically move the two channels apart, allowing your music to sound much richer and more spacious. Once you've experienced it, you won't want to go back.
The XT15 are perfect for medium rooms and bedrooms. Their horn-guided tweeter brings out precise details, while the much larger 4-inch woofer brings the dimension for the low and the mids. Remember to place them further away from the wall, or the bass ports at the back could well make things sound slightly boomy.
Grab some speaker cable (it's super cheap, I promise — you don't need the really expensive stuff) and get them hooked up to your Wiim amp for a great-sounding mini-HiFi system.
The Polk Monitor XT15 aren't going to win any beauty contests, but they'll make your music sound amazing. Connect them to your amplifier, and listen to the sweet, sweet sounds they make.
So you don't need to spend the $2,400 on the Cambridge Audio EXA100, but a system like the above does allow for a whole load more options than a Bluetooth speaker like the Sonos Move 2. You can plug in a Turntable, so that you can listen to vinyl records, or a CD player so that you can pull your old collection out of the attic. You could even hook up an old cassette player for a proper hit of nostalgia.
It also means you can buy ever better equipment. New speakers that sound better, a new amplifier with more power. It's a slippery slope, that's for sure, but you won't find anything in audio as flexible and upgradable as a HiFi system.
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