Powered speakers with built-in DACs

[jcbenten]

Edifier S1000/s2000....BT, optical, RCA...Look nice and go to ear splitting levels.  I have the S1000 and not sure of DSD or absolute fidelity as I have had them set up in non-optimal locations but I like them a lot.

[Mike Rubin]

6 hours ago, jcbenten said:

Edifier S1000/s2000....BT, optical, RCA...Look nice and go to ear splitting levels.  I have the S1000 and not sure of DSD or absolute fidelity as I have had them set up in non-optimal locations but I like them a lot.

 

Beautiful.  No USB, though, so I would need an external DAC or a converter if I want to use the microrendu.

 

Pretty enough that I will look at the other speakers in the Edifier product line and see if any have a USB input.

[stuck limo]

16 hours ago, Ajax said:

I can recommend the Adam  A7X for $1,000 second hand plus a sub.

 

As someone with 2 sets of Adams, they're really not that great sounding for a living room unless your ears are directly in line with the tweeters. Otherwise, everything goes out of phase and sounds weird. Their vertical dispersion is crap. If your guests are sitting directly in that narrow band though, they sound great. Would highly advise getting a set of stands that are perfectly measured for couch sitting (ear height) or just putting them on a desk with appropriate stands for the ear height.

 

Or just go with Edifier who, from everything I've read, makes great speakers.

[Mike Rubin]

22 minutes ago, stuck limo said:

 

As someone with 2 sets of Adams, they're really not that great sounding for a living room unless your ears are directly in line with the tweeters. Otherwise, everything goes out of phase and sounds weird. Their vertical dispersion is crap. If your guests are sitting directly in that narrow band though, they sound great. Would highly advise getting a set of stands that are perfectly measured for couch sitting (ear height) or just putting them on a desk with appropriate stands for the ear height.

 

Or just go with Edifier who, from everything I've read, makes great speakers.

 

Adam's manuals make clear that the speakers need to be very precisely placed - distance from rear wall, vertical angle, distance from listener, toe-in.  These are going to sit on a TV cabinet that is placed against the wall. The cabinet fills that entire wall, so there is no place for speaker stands.  In the that respect, I need pretty flexible speakers. 

[ShawnC]

The Elac Navis bookshelf speakers are self powered only.   They retail for $2000, look into one of the iFi DSD DACs that are very affordable and your set.  The Elac's are new so it will be hard to find a used pair but DACs are a dime a dozen used.  Just find one with all your input needs.  

 

https://tmraudio.com/speakers/bookshelf-monitors/?sort=pricedesc

https://ifi-audio.com/

 

 

[Mike Rubin]

Thanks, Shawn.  The ELAC's look great and I imagine they sound fabulous, but adding the cost of a DAC/pre will take this a bit beyond the preferred budget.  I will keep them on the list, though.

[mrmb]

The PS Audio Sprout 100 is an integrated amp with a DAC and phono, priced at $599.  PS Audio pairs the Sprout with Elac’s B6.2 speakers for $899 https://www.psaudio.com/products/sprout100-elac-system/.  I've not heard any of these components.  But reviews, especially at the Elac's price, point are superb!  Of course, the Sprout 100 could be paired with any speakers....

 

I've been looking for these sorts of components for a friend that is new to computer audio and on a limited budget.  The Sprout and B6.2's both for their price and company's pedigrees, seem to be almost incomparable; making for a good primary system for some and a great secondary system for others.      

[firedog]

If you can give up the pure DSD playback (and in my experience with such a system you won't miss it) you should also look at the KEF LSX, which are the new smaller brother of the LS50W and getting great reviews. 

[Mike Rubin]

On 4/25/2019 at 2:12 PM, mrmb said:

The PS Audio Sprout 100 is an integrated amp with a DAC and phono, priced at $599.  PS Audio pairs the Sprout with Elac’s B6.2 speakers for $899 https://www.psaudio.com/products/sprout100-elac-system/.  I've not heard any of these components.  But reviews, especially at the Elac's price, point are superb!  Of course, the Sprout 100 could be paired with any speakers....

 

I've been looking for these sorts of components for a friend that is new to computer audio and on a limited budget.  The Sprout and B6.2's both for their price and company's pedigrees, seem to be almost incomparable; making for a good primary system for some and a great secondary system for others.      

 

I saw this!  Looks like a terrific solution, although I might look at other speaker potions.   The Sprout is on the short list now.