rjz Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Hi everyone! I am new to the forum, and have had a great time reading about and looking at everyones awesome setups. I am now after one of my own for a home office (3.5m x 4m). I don't have a fixed budget, but would like to keep it under $1500 if possible. I am happy to pickup second hand gear (there seems some great bargains in the classifieds!). I think I most need help with matching the components, so I don't end up with a fantastic amp yet poor speakers, for example. I would prefer a separate DAC and amp so I can upgrade later on. The main source will be a laptop, so a DAC with USB is a requirement, thought optical in would also be useful. I have been looking for small footprint devices as they will be sitting on a desk. The amp seems the hardest component to find in a small size, but I have found the following options: Topping TP-60 (~$280) NAD D3020 (~$600, combined amp and DAC) Rega Brio-R (~$500 second hand) Denon PMA-50 (yet to be released, amp + DAC) Teac AI-101DA (yet to be released, amp + DAC) Of these, the Topping and Rega seem to be ideal as they are just amps. For the DAC, I have been looking at the Cambridge Audio DAC Magic 100 ($150-$200 second hand). Are there other options I should consider? I haven't yet looked at many speakers, as it seems easier to find small speakers than small amps, but so far the Cambridge Audio S30 (~$380) seems a great fit. Would these speakers be a good match to the amp options? What other speakers should I consider? Is there a general rule of thumb for spending on amp/DAC/speakers? Thanks everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harmo_hammer Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Hi Rjz, If you're looking for small, separate DACs and Amps, perhaps the following site will help: http://schiit.com/products/bifrost I've been very impressed with the Bifrost DAC, and I really like the upgradeable options of it. If you can stretch to the better "Uber" mod (or upgrade it later) there's a noticeable improvement again. If you know someone with one, I'd strongly recommend you have a listen. Haven't heard their amp products, but they do look shiny :~) Good luck! Hamish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harmo_hammer Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Sorry, I forgot to mention, "Matching speakers and equipment" is a subjective term. I don't know about other people's experiences, but predicting the effect of one component on the overall experience is difficult at best... Having said that, it's quite normal for manufacturers to encourage a level of consistency in choosing all speakers in a home theatre or studio, from one product range or another. Also, some amp brands often have the "signature sound" or "feel", so if you like one, there is a good chance that other models will be fairly similar. Speakers... well they're more variable. I'd go to a few Hi-Fi shops, and see what sounds best for your type of listening (take your favourite CD/music source) with you to see how it goes. Heeding our advice is one thing, but listening is much better. :-) All the best! Hamish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
productred Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 (edited) edited: i was about to say oppo ha-1, until i re-read your post that it should include speakers. Edited January 7, 2015 by productred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjz Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 Thanks guys. The Schiit gear looks great, and seems pretty close to what I'm after, except they do not have a speaker amplifier option? Only headphones it seems. I am also a bit unclear on how a headphone amp would connect to the rest of the system. Would it be: Source -> DAC -> Speaker amp -> Headphone amp, using the line out (or tape out? or record out?) of the speaker amp to the input of the headphone amp If so, I would need an amp with a line out, so that would rule out all but the Rega amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudioHound Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 (edited) Hi RJZ, It looks like you have a few options for your amp and DAC lined up. I just wanted to post to let you know that I ran the Cambridge Audio S30's in my desktop system for a long time. I most definitely would recommend them for a budget conscious set-up. For their low price they are superb value for money and sound great when listening up close in a near field set-up. I've since replaced my S30's with a set of KEF LS50's. Yes the KEF's are much better than the S30's but they cost 5x the price of the S30's so they may not make your list. My set-up when I had the S30's was this: PC source -> Dacmagic DAC -> Virtue Audio desktop amp -> S30's + sub Cheers, Simon Edited January 22, 2015 by AudioHound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWong Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Do you need headphone amplification? If not, no need to look at Schiit, although they do do some budget DACs which is what you wanted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PWilson Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 If you do want headphones, quite a lot of headphone amps will come with a pre-out (meaning they can act as a pre-amplifier/volume control for a speaker system as well as then driving their own headphone amp circuit). In that case, it'd be Source->DAC->Headamp->Power Amp->Speakers. With that said... I'm only really familiar with power amps coming in the 'expensive and powerful' variety, and not as part of a budget system. If you're specifically looking for small speakers, you could also consider the Audioengine range. I haven't heard them personally, but they seem to review well. They have onboard amplification (active speakers), so in that case it's Source->DAC->Speakers. It saves you the money and space of additional amplification, but it does limit your upgrade path if you have plans to tinker and upgrade bits over time. http://audioengineusa.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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