The $3K all in exercize.

[plissken]

In another thread Jud mentioned a $560 speaker driven by several $K of electronics. I mentioned taking the same budget (say $3K all in) and spend $2300 on speakers. $700 on the electronics stack.

 

So here is my go assuming commercial and new speakers.

 

Dennis Murphy Philharmonic Slim Towers $2200

 

TEAC AL501DA-B $449

 

Source Computer w/ Wireless KB and Mouse: $127

 

4TB NAS for $149

 

JRiver with JRemote for smartphone.

[徐中銳]

I prefer Marantz, Source Player is either NA8005 MSRP : $1,199.00

or SA8005 : $1,199.00

Integrated Amp, PM8005 : $1,199.00

 

Frontal view, respectively :

Loudspeakers, Boston Acoustics M340 : $799.00

I'm sure the above can be bargained down to below $3K

[Jud]

Copied over from the other thread -

 

Here's mine:

 

- ELAC F5 speakers, $558/pr.

 

- James Romeyn Hypex NCore stereo amp build, $1490

 

- Schiit SYS volume control, $49

 

- iFi Micro iDSD DAC, $499

 

- UpTone Audio Regen, $175

 

- Etymotic ER4-PT earphones, $229

[wgscott]

90W/ch Of Output Power

 

Sensitivity 85 dB (dB/2.83v/1M)

[esldude]

90W/ch Of Output Power

 

Sensitivity 85 dB (dB/2.83v/1M)

 

No doubt for a small room and intimate listening conditions late at night only.

[esldude]

90W/ch Of Output Power

 

Sensitivity 85 dB (dB/2.83v/1M)

 

No doubt for a small room and intimate listening conditions late at night only.

 

Oh well I think the 3rd of my last 4 posts to duplicate. I am going to just leave both up from here on out.

[Jud]

90W/ch Of Output Power

 

Sensitivity 85 dB (dB/2.83v/1M)

 

It's OK, you wouldn't wanna listen to his rig loud anyhow.

 

(/me ducks and runs...)

[esldude]

I'll go with the OP's little $127 computer.

 

This little Ego DAC from Emotiva at $139. Accepts 32 bit input and up to 384 khz sample rates.

 

https://emotiva.com/products/dacs/dacs/little-ego

 

And a pair of Focal Solo BE6 powered monitors $2700 for the pair.

 

Focal Solo6 Be 6.5" Active 2-Way Nearfield FOPRO-SOLO6BE-GR

 

This will leave money for the necessary Monoprice cables.

 

Foobar will do nicely for playback and costs nothing.

 

I am assuming you already own music ripped to or downloaded to a drive of some sort this being computer audio. So I didn't include the price of that.

 

Being monitor speakers these would be best in a room of smaller size though not necessarily tiny.

[wgscott]

My starter system wasn't too far from this (BW speakers @ $2K, Peachtree Nova @ $1.2K, and I already had the mac mini).

[plissken]

90W/ch Of Output Power

 

Sensitivity 85 dB (dB/2.83v/1M)

 

 

It'll get loud enough for a lot of rooms at 90W.

 

I'll vary it up:

 

Behringer U-Phoria 404HD $99 I believe they have an ASIO driver for it also.

 

Crown Drivecore XLS 1500 $269

 

That will give you more than enough power.

[wgscott]

I found out the hard way that under-power kills you when it is played at low volume.

[esldude]

Well there was the time I was running a pair of Classe stereo amps in bridged mono. Capable of something like 2000 watts per speaker as these were pretty much 4 ohm speakers. An interconnect lost ground on one channel. There was this big loud humming sound before a woofer gave it up a few seconds later. Even though too much is just enough, sometimes too much is too much.

[plissken]

90W/ch Of Output Power

 

Sensitivity 85 dB (dB/2.83v/1M)

 

 

Wouldn't 88Db be 4 watts, 91-8, 94-16, 97-32, 100-64?

 

It won't hit HT reference levels but 100dB isn't exactly quiet.

[plissken]

Copied over from the other thread -

 

Here's mine:

 

- ELAC F5 speakers, $558/pr.

 

- James Romeyn Hypex NCore stereo amp build, $1490

 

- Schiit SYS volume control, $49

 

- iFi Micro iDSD DAC, $499

 

- UpTone Audio Regen, $175

 

- Etymotic ER4-PT earphones, $229

 

I have no idea how you are going to get sound out of that setup :-)'

[yincr]

This thread reflects what Computeraudiophile has become. Many moons before, this was a place, where people came to share real experiences about audio, but now, instead of "REAL" experiences, threads are full of theories and speculations about how things should be, and people who are brave enough to share their experiences, must prove that they are not hallucinating.

[Jud]

I have no idea how you are going to get sound out of that setup :-)'

 

Yep, I know. I'm not counting the cost of the computer, because virtually everybody who's interested in a site like this already has one to use for playing music, likely with more resources than the $127 machine. (That was part of what interested me in computer audio in the first place - I didn't need to buy a source component.) On the other hand, if someone wants to use a particular machine for this purpose that they don't already have, they can certainly go ahead and include it.

[plissken]

Yep, I know. I'm not counting the cost of the computer, because virtually everybody who's interested in a site like this already has one to use for playing music, likely with more resources than the $127 machine. (That was part of what interested me in computer audio in the first place - I didn't need to buy a source component.) On the other hand, if someone wants to use a particular machine for this purpose that they don't already have, they can certainly go ahead and include it.

 

The real trick is to see if there is any audible difference with say 24/192 with a $127 pocket computer or a $1000 i7.

[Possum Jenkins]

This thread reflects what Computeraudiophile has become. Many moons before, this was a place, where people came to share real experiences about audio, but now, instead of "REAL" experiences, threads are full of theories and speculations about how things should be, and people who are brave enough to share their experiences, must prove that they are not hallucinating.

 

I'm in no way a religious person but amen to that..

[Audio_ELF]

$3,000 equates to around £2000 ... or based on US to UK equipment prices £2500

£300 - 350 for a Vortexbox.

£1300 for Naim UnitiQute

£800 for KEF LS50

£100 for a second hand iPad Mini for control!

 

But equally valid I think if I had £5,000 I would suggest ...

£300 - 350 for a Vortexbox

£3,600 for a Naim SuperUniti

£800 for KEF LS50

 

And looking at lower price (only £1250) I would suggest something like

£200 for a basic laptop and add Foobar (or J.River for £30)

£200 for a DAC such as iFi DSD Nano or Dragonfly or similar

£300 for a integrated amp such as Marant PM6005 or Yamaha A301

£350 for a pair of speakers such as B&W 685.

 

But going the other way and stepping up to £12,500 my balance would change

£300 - 350 for a Vortexbox

£3,300 for a Naim NAC-N 272 (streamer + pre)

£3,400 for a Naim NAP 250DR (power)

£4,500 for Bowers and Wilkins 805 D3

 

I guess what I'm saying is that the balance varies depending on the budget.

 

In reality my main setup didn't cost much more than the $3,000 / £2,500 as I bought ex-demo / second hand...

£0 for a reclaimed Dell PC and install Vortexbox

£700 for a second hand Naim Uniti Qute

£1000 for ex-demo NAP200

£1000 for ex-demo PMC 20.23

 

PS. I also like esldude's suggestion of a basic DAC and a pair of Focal Solo6BE

[Audio_ELF]

This thread reflects what Computeraudiophile has become. Many moons before, this was a place, where people came to share real experiences about audio, but now, instead of "REAL" experiences, threads are full of theories and speculations about how things should be, and people who are brave enough to share their experiences, must prove that they are not hallucinating.

I think there is a place for both "real" experiences and also theoretical discussions / thought exercises.

[Jud]

I think there is a place for both "real" experiences and also theoretical discussions / thought exercises.

 

Several people have come to the forum with the "I'm starting out, here's my budget, what do you suggest?" questions. I've heard most of the stuff I'm suggesting. So both the question and the answers are more than theoretical.

[Jud]

The real trick is to see if there is any audible difference with say 24/192 with a $127 pocket computer or a $1000 i7.

 

With the i7 you can run sophisticated filtering and in effect change DACs without paying for new hardware.

[AudioDoctor]

SO, here are some ideas I came up with...

 

The all in one... Peachtree Nova65SE Integrated Amp & DAC at Music Direct

 

Integrated: Marantz PM8005 Integrated Amp at Music Direct

 

More power: Peachtree SonaDAC/AMP Bundle at Music Direct

 

Speakers: Focal Chorus 806V Bookshelf Speakers (Pr) at Music Direct

 

Focal Chorus 726 V Tower Speakers (Pr) at Music Direct

 

Dragonfly DAC: Audioquest DragonFly v1.2 USB DAC at Music Direct

 

Jitterbug: AudioQuest Jitterbug USB Filter at Music Direct

 

Pick and choose from the list... That took me two minutes, I am sure with more time put into it there are a ton of options out there. This list assumes you already have a computer.

[Audio_ELF]

Several people have come to the forum with the "I'm starting out, here's my budget, what do you suggest?" questions. I've heard most of the stuff I'm suggesting. So both the question and the answers are more than theoretical.

Yes thats true ... I've heard those systems I listed also though I've not heard all the competition to those systems so I wouldn't necessarily they are "the best" but at each of those price points I would be happy with those systems.

[plissken]

With the i7 you can run sophisticated filtering and in effect change DACs without paying for new hardware.

 

Or you can leave that up to the DAC.

 

So the question I have is: Can $2450 in electronics get a $560 speaker to outperform $2200 speakers with $700 of electronics.