Check out the ps audio sprout 100 integrated amp. I use 1 in my office and for $600 it sounds very nice. There have been a couple of reviews of it in magazines that were positive.
Dream Speakers = landed. Now I need to feed them!
So I scored a pair of Belle Klipsch (1987 models, AB crossover). I would have gone for Khorns, but the room they were going in just wasn't going to work. RIght now, I'm running a cheap little Sony (STR-DH190) stereo receiver on them, and even that sounds amazing, but I know I've barely scratched the surface of what they're capable of. The dream is a pair of SET monoblocks (probably 300B type), though I'm worried about not being able to drive the bottom enough. I listen to a wide array of music from classical and opera to extreme metal, though my wife is decidedly more of a rock person, so I definitely need something that will push those woofers proper.
Due to lifestyle and logistics, a big piece of my source audio is going to be HQ feeds from my laptop via Bluetooth. I know, not an ideal source, but until I build my HTPC, it's just going to have to work. I also need to run optical out from my Sony Bravia (which I can't do right now because the receiver doesn't have optical in and the TV doesn't have analog out).
Here's the hard part: Right now, I can't really spend more than $1k for the whole shebang. So I started hunting.
At first I was sniffing around looking for a tube preamp that can handle both Bluetooth and Toslink, but all that seems to be out there are suspiciously cheap Chinese integrated amps that have no pre out for later use. I also looked at some dedicated DAC's such as the Cambridge Audio DACMagic, that I knew I could pair with a BT-capable tube pre. But I'm still sketchy about the cheap Chinese kit. I've heard positive things about Dared, though, and I was thinking their 5BT would be a good foundation alongside the aforementioned DAC, because I could use its power stage for right now, and if I can't stay in the right now budget to get a good pair of monoblocks, then I could wait for a while and buy the right ones later.
Thoughts? Opinions? Alternative ideas?
Due to lifestyle and logistics, a big piece of my source audio is going to be HQ feeds from my laptop via Bluetooth. I know, not an ideal source, but until I build my HTPC, it's just going to have to work. I also need to run optical out from my Sony Bravia (which I can't do right now because the receiver doesn't have optical in and the TV doesn't have analog out).
Here's the hard part: Right now, I can't really spend more than $1k for the whole shebang. So I started hunting.
At first I was sniffing around looking for a tube preamp that can handle both Bluetooth and Toslink, but all that seems to be out there are suspiciously cheap Chinese integrated amps that have no pre out for later use. I also looked at some dedicated DAC's such as the Cambridge Audio DACMagic, that I knew I could pair with a BT-capable tube pre. But I'm still sketchy about the cheap Chinese kit. I've heard positive things about Dared, though, and I was thinking their 5BT would be a good foundation alongside the aforementioned DAC, because I could use its power stage for right now, and if I can't stay in the right now budget to get a good pair of monoblocks, then I could wait for a while and buy the right ones later.
Thoughts? Opinions? Alternative ideas?
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- 76 posts total
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BTW - didn't mean to gloss over this one, just been mobile most of the afternoon/evening and am only now back on the laptop - lastly if your speakers are original consider updating the tweeter and crossovers huge improvements here. Bob Crites is reasonable priced and will bring the Bells up to modern spec. not to mention make the high end much smoother and enjoyable. The boys over at the Klipsch forums also suggested that I convert the AB crossover to an A, making a few cap replacements, but I'm NOT good with a soldering iron. I might look him up when it comes time to make that tweak. But I have the K-55-M tweets, which from all technical reports (including some direct A/B spectrometry) is the far superior option - were you thinking of the old K-55-V's? |
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@millercarbon my budget is roughly a hundred times yours and am I using separates? No! https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/836I've followed your system for years; guess it's time for me to applaud your design theory. |
- 76 posts total