Cheap steth with good sound?

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patel.748

67 Posts

All of you that knock on the Sprague should read this extensive study on Stethoscopes.

I have had an opportunity to test out quite a few of these and listen to them first hand. It's hands down the sprague Rapport has the best sound quality in my opinion. Only issue is the tubes rubbing, and still it's pretty darn good.

Acoustic Stethoscope Review Page 1, Best Stethoscope, Omron Sprague Rappaport, Littmann Cardiology III review, Stethoscope Review, Allheart, ADC Adscope, DRG Puretone, Littmann Cardiology, Master Classic II, Classic II SE,Omron, Prestige Sprague Rapppaport, Welch Allen Harvey Tycos Elite

Ellis19

11 Posts

I have the Sprague Rappaport and I hate it for the fact that it is so heavy and the ear pieces don't quite fit which makes for a very uncomfortable day. It was a gift so I tried it out but honestly cannot stand it. Not sure what I am going to buy, thinking about a Littman Lightweight

patel.748

67 Posts

I swapped out my Sprague earpieces and picked up some Littmann earpieces and swapped. It's so much better and comfortable! In terms of weight...how much crap do we have on us..pen light, id badge, notepads, pens, pencils alcohol swabs etc... It's just part of uniform.

Chris NS

209 Posts

ultrascopes are pretty nice if you cant go high as littmann

Moogie

1 Article; 1,796 Posts

Specializes in Gerontology, nursing education.
In New York, where I'm from, the tuition at state schools is about $4,000/year. That is quite cheap compared to the tuition at any private school...but the education at many of them is just as good if not better! Take SUNY Binghamton or Stonybrook for example. GREAT schools with low price tags!

Where I'm from, there are so many places to get great food that's cheap. One of my favorite places in town is a Mexican place, and unless you're getting an insane amount of food, you'll probably be paying about $7-10 for your meal. It's delicious, good quality, and CHEAP.

You're not gonna get me to change my mind about cheap and good belonging in the same sentence.

Cheap, plentiful, tasty food is good. :up: Cheap, plentiful, tasty Mexican food is even better. :up: :up:

But your mileage may vary with an inexpensive stethoscope. Since the one you got through your school isn't working well, can the school arrange for you to exchange it? If the scope is defective, seems that it shouldn't be your burden or the price for a replacement come out of your pocket.

If you need a new scope right away and can't wait for or do an exchange, do a search on the Internet because there are some well-known and reputable online sellers who have very good deals on a number of brands, including Littman. You may be able to find a low-end Littmann for under 50, even with shipping.

A lot depends on the reasons you'll be using the scope. If you only need it for checking blood pressures and apical pulse, maybe an occasional bowel sound, an inexpensive scope might suit your needs. If you need it for physical assessment, including heart and lung sounds, you might be wise to bite the bullet and get the most expensive scope you can afford. You don't want to let lower-quality equipment adversely impact your assessment skills. I was going to try to get by with my 30-year old classic Littmann for an advanced health assessment class but decided to upgrade to a Cardiology III. I can still hear rudimentary sounds with my old scope but the new scope is going to be much more appropriate for the type of assessments we are doing in this class.

ETA: I once had a Sprague Rappaport that I had gotten inexpensively just to do blood pressures and the like. I could not hear well from it at all and felt that I had wasted my money. Just my personal opinion and experience...again, YMMV.

SingDanceRunLife, you have made me hungry! I have to get off AN and go make some food. (I wish I could talk my husband into going out for Mexican food...sigh.) I hope this helps---I can't recommend a specific retailer but I think you are headed in a good direction.

It's that the steths that were provided to us are low quality. Mine works fine, it's just not quality. The first one I got was a dud, but the school did let me exchange for a new one.

Our primary use for steths is for auscultating BP, bowel sounds and lung sounds for practice only (so pretty much, BP is the only thing we need to be able to do with our steths that matters).

mcknis

977 Posts

Specializes in Med Surg, ER, OR.

The other things I forgot to tack on was, look into the Prestige Clinical 1. Of equal quality to the Littman Classic but is less than it's cost!

Moogie

1 Article; 1,796 Posts

Specializes in Gerontology, nursing education.
It's that the steths that were provided to us are low quality. Mine works fine, it's just not quality. The first one I got was a dud, but the school did let me exchange for a new one.

Our primary use for steths is for auscultating BP, bowel sounds and lung sounds for practice only (so pretty much, BP is the only thing we need to be able to do with our steths that matters).

Then I think you're going to be okay.

Slightly off topic, I talked my DH into going out for Mexican food last night. Had chicken mole enchiladas. YUM!!! Thank you for putting the idea in my head!

YEGRN

26 Posts

Specializes in LTC, med-surg, trauma.

Hi, I absolutely love my Littman lightweight, and you can get them CHEAP on EBay! :nurse:

I've been doing a lot of research, and I think that I'm gonna go with a Littmann Lightweight and ask for it as an early birthday present. At this point, it's not super early (just over a month), and my parents spend about $100-150 on presents and the like for birthdays, so it seems like a good plan. There are a couple of other things I want as well that are a bit pricey so...we'll see how it all pans out.

YEGRN

26 Posts

Specializes in LTC, med-surg, trauma.

The Littman Lightweights really are neat stethoscopes ... they're not as clunky as the Classic II (which I notice many students buy) and I've always had good clarity of sound with mine. On EBay the LLs are about half the cost of the Classic II model.

Shirt

83 Posts

Cheap Littmans can be found here Stethoscopes For Sale and staples has them too

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