Budget Hi-Fi System Help

[hybridauth_Facebook_1199734920047518]

I apologise in advance because I am probably going to sound very niave.

I am starting uni next week and I was considering buying some speakers to play music off my laptop.

I have done a little research and found that I will probably need an a DAC (eg dragonfly) to connect to my laptop, then an amplifier to connect to my speakers.

Obviously I am on a pretty tight budget so I cannot lash out on expensive or unneccessary equipment.

I was considering buying the Denon DM40, would this still require a DAC or could I connect it directly to my laptop via usb ( and would this sacrifice on sound quality)

Thankyou for any advice you can offer.

Sam.

 

[MajorFubar]

Hello Sam, if your laptop has a headphone output, you could connect it via a cable to the DM40's line inputs. If it has an optical digital output you can also connect it to the Denon via an optical cable. Unfortunately the Denon doesn't have a USB 'B' input for a computer; D+M Group seem averse to putting such a thing on their compact systems and even the company's more expensive Marantz MC-R611 still does not have it. The USB 'A' socket is however iPhone compatible I believe, if that helps.

 

[oivavoi10]

If you want to have the absolutely most value for your bucks... I think it will be hard to beat this: https://www.thomann.de/gb/jbl_lsr_305_bundle.htm

They are so-called active speakers, so you don't need an external amplifier. And they sound absolutely superb. They reason they are so cheap is that they are produced for the pro-market (recording studios etc), so JBL makes a lot of them, and they therefore become cheaper.

What laptop will you have? Some laptops have good internal dacs, so no external dac is needed. I use an external dac with my macbook, but I really can't tell a difference when I'm connecting to my laptop directly... So the internal dac is quite good. But cheaper laptops sometimes have dacs of a much lower quality, and in that case a small dac like the dragonfly can do wonders.

 

[muljao]

I am fairly sure that all advice you got here is good. Heres my two pence worth

I recently bought a SMSL M3 dac off amazon for 50 pounds. This is not the be all, end all in sonic ability but transformed the sound from my laptop. I followed up by ripping cds to flac format, so its basically cd quality music from my laptop through this dac (the dac also has a rather good headphone amp/output). There are many more similar options at similar money

Being a student you probably don't want to be carryng a laptop/stereo and speakers with you. I'd look at some inexpensive active speakers as mentioned above. Amazon have plenty well recommended for around the 100 pounds mark. FYI musicbee and windows media player 12 do FLAC rips for free

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SMSL-M3-Headphone-Amplifier-Asynchronous/dp/B01C2OAANI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474499017&sr=8-1&keywords=smsl+m3

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00X741TB0/ref=twister_B00YORI59S?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[luckylion100]

the way to go.

Any cheap USB dac that suits your needs and budget, plus something like these that get great reviews by those that have heard them.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yamaha-bass-reflex-bi-amplified-nearfield-monitors/dp/B00II08GZK/ref=pd_sim_sbs_267_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=Q3GBPXXC4BEGKGXGC3ZV

or

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Presonus-Eris-Active-Studio-Monitors/dp/B00E629IQA/ref=pd_sim_sbs_267_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=0WV0M1NVZCD6YP2JPQVF

I think your options are plentiful, depending on budget.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_1199734920047518]

Thankyou all for your advice.

I have a Fujitsu LIfebook A series, I can't find out if the internal DAC is anygood.

 

[rainsoothe]

Hi. Anything you get that's not gonna use your laptop's soundcard (dac section) is gonna sound better. If I were you, I'd either get a cheap audio interface (which is basically a dac) and the best active speakers I can fit in my budget. From expensive to cheap (I think), it would be Adam F5, Yamaha HS 7(or 5) JBL LSR 308 (or 305) or Presonus Eris 5. Connect these to your laptop via a Behringer UCA 202, and use a player like Jriver media center (if you wanna control it via wi-fi from your smartphone).

Alternatively, you can get a pair of actives with integrated dac, like Audioengine A2.

 

[thewinelake.]

Agree with avice.

Behringer 202 (£20ish) plugs into your laptop and then line level phono leads to active speakers. You should be able to get OK for about £100, good for £300 and bloody amazing for £500.

 

[knaithrover]

Audioengine A2 2nd hand for around £100 are truly one of the best bangs for one's buck currently out there. They are amazing in a small room, real quality. Sonos Play 1 also worth a serious look if you want cheap but nice sound.

 

[davedotco]

Agree with avice.

Behringer 202 (£20ish) plugs into your laptop and then line level phono leads to active speakers. You should be able to get OK for about £100, good for £300 and bloody amazing for £500.

If you are comfortable with having just a single source, ie your laptop, then this is the way to go.

A level of performance on a totally different level from any budget microsystem, the UCA202 dac and a pair of Yamaha HS5s can be had for £300. If you have any decent music on your laptop, you will be blown away.

Be aware though, adding extra functionality such as more inputs or a decent headphone amp will add to the cost, quite considerably in some cases.

 

[avole]

M-audio are both cheaper and nicer sounding speakers. I chose them over the Yamahas, which are a touch on the inflexibly hard sounding end of the spectrum.

 

[davedotco]

M-audio are both cheaper and nicer sounding speakers. I chose them over the Yamahas, which are a touch on the inflexibly hard sounding end of the spectrum.

They are speakers and should be treated as such, at this sort of price point not all models suit all listeners.

A favourite of mine is the Equator D5, £400 a pair, so maybe a touch pricy in this instance.

For serious value for money, try these.

Seiwin 6a

A bigger 6.5 inch design, from Seiwin, somewhat basic and a rather prosaic finish, way too potent for the desktop but if you want to fill a room, for £160pr, little comes close.

 

[thewinelake.]

Wow - those Selwins look very interesting indeed. I need more speakers like I need a reflex port in my head, but I'm almost tempted to buy a pair just to see what they're like!

BTW More inputs aren't necessarily very expensive. Various forms of passive amp (input selector + volume control) can be had for as little as £50 as long as you don't require remote control, etc.

 

[gasolin]

I would recommend a real hifi system with q acosustics 2010i or 2020i speakers a nad c316bee and audioquest flx slip 14/4

 

[ID.]

I'd go for something like a pair of JBL LSR 305 and then something like a Fostex PC-100USB-HR2 as a DAC and volume control if you didn't want to run them directly from the computer's headphone output. The Dragonfly you mention could also be used (or numerous other combined DAC and headphone amps would work as a preamp/volume control, or you could just use a cheap off board DAC like the cheapest one from FiiO and control the volume using your playback software).

My personal experience and opinion is that this kind of setup would give you superior detail, realism, bass and clarity of a "real" hi fi system and is in a completely different league to the Denon micro system you mention.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_1199734920047518]

I think I'll go for a pair of JBL LSR 305 and a dragonfly dac.

I notice the 305s don't have the normal phono connections, how would I go about connecting both the pair together and the speakers to the dac (3.5mm jack)

 

[davedotco]

I think I'll go for a pair of JBL LSR 305 and a dragonfly dac.

I notice the 305s don't have the normal phono connections, how would I go about connecting both the pair together and the speakers to the dac (3.5mm jack)

The connections at the speaker end are fine, if you want to use phono cables you can get phono to mono jack adaptors for a couple of pounds each.

The problem is the dac, which uses the wretched 3.5mm mini jack which limits your choice of cable.

The cheaper UCA202 dac mentioned above is a more practical solution, if you insist on paying more, try the M-Audio SuperDac. Gives you practical volume control and a headphone amp too, under £100.