I know both the 55 series and 100 series are affordable but which would you recommend building for a beginner
Recommendations on auto-generating synth boxes.
Some 100 series modules, driven by Pam's Pro Workout, in a Nifty Case, makes an interesting auto-noodle box.
It's nothing exotic, but covers the basics, and gives lots of possibilities for the money. Portable, powered,
plus the Nifty Case gets you get two channels of MIDI in. 
Smaller, maybe cheaper, but a bit fussier, would be a Pam's Pro Workout, a pair of 2hp Plucks, two 2hp Bells,
into a Doepfer 135-2 4 channel VCA mixer. An optional Disting mk4 could add additional echo fun that
works so well with auto-generation noodles. Substituting the 135-2 with a 100 series 121 dual VCF also works well
for mixing, sound shaping, and adding color. Pluck and Bell are surprisingly musical, sort of polyphonic,
and don't sound generically beep-ey. (and a pain to tune with those cramped knobs, but worth it)
https://noodlehut.bandcamp.com/track/cornishe-excerpt
I like using Pam's because using things like Maths to auto generate quickly gets boringly random for me
even if I tame it with more modules. Pam's is not a sequencer, but can give you complex euclidian beats
with quantized notes, along with some save and restore. And a nice yellow button for start and stop.
Affordable honorable mentions for the mults and offsets you'll find you will want:
Frap Tools 333 Sum and Distribution, and the Rides In The Storm QAM Quad Active multiple, are terrific and accurate.
If you're just starting out, Nazca Noodles are the only cables that consistantly work well for me,
other than those little yellow Doepfer wires, which I love to use wherever I can.
The longer Doepfer wires, and most others I've tried, are too stiff, or too thick, and just get in the way.
Stay away from those cables with LEDs in them. They seem like a good idea, but they'll mess you up every time.
Or you could just get a Behringer 2600 and go from there. Many have. ;)
Get the gray one if you do, the bright xmas lights on the brown/orange one quickly wear out their welcome.
