New System

[Daaz324]

Hi,

I am thinking about building a new system to play mainly RNB

I have decided on Q Acoustic 3020 speakers. What amp would this pair nicely with? Marantz PM6005?

Will i need a DAC if i am looking to use my laptop as a source (TIDAL)

Should i purchase speaker stands and would you reccomend a subwoofer?

Excited to hear music through a decent set up rather than my iphone's speakrer!

Thanks

 

[BigH]

How did you decide on the Q Acoustic 3020 speakers?

What laptop do you have?

 

[BigH]

How did you decide on the Q Acoustic 3020 speakers?

What laptop do you have?

 

[nopiano]

In general terms, you can connect most laptops using a 3.5mm cable from the headphone outlet to 2x RCA phono plugs into the amp, but this relies on the laptop's built in DAC. For better sound, try a dongle like a Dragonfly or a full blown DAC that takes a digital usb feed.

Yes, you should use speaker stands to get decent results with the excellent QA3020, or choose floor standing speakers. If you think you need more/better bass, then you need different speakers - rather than a sub (unless you also want action movie replay). A sub at that price level isn't worth it in my experience.

 

[davedotco]

Hi,

I am thinking about building a new system to play mainly RNB

I have decided on Q Acoustic 3020 speakers. What amp would this pair nicely with? Marantz PM6005?

Will i need a DAC if i am looking to use my laptop as a source (TIDAL)

Should i purchase speaker stands and would you reccomend a subwoofer?

Excited to hear music through a decent set up rather than my iphone's speakrer!

Thanks

When using a laptop as a source, the best connection method is to use usb out. This requires a dac with a suitable Type B usb input, quite different from the usb Type A inputs used for iPods etc.

Even if your laptop has some form of digital output, Toslink most likely, this is likely to be less good than the usb connection mentioned above.

Few budget hi-fi amplifiers have a usb Type 2 input, the marantz models do not for example. If you have an Apple laptop, you can use an Airport Express into the Toslink input on the Marantz, a very elegant solution as it also frees your laptop from being wired to the amp.

If you are not Apple based, then a Bluetooth AptX receiver should work providing your laptop has it.

If you want the best from any bookshelf speaker, you have to use stands and position them with care.

Subwoofers are all about low bass extension, not bass 'punch'. If you want the latter then different types of speaker will probably be more effective. For real 'punch' and presence, consider a pair of Yamaha HS7 speakers with say an Audio Engine D1 dac/preamp.

 

[Daaz324]

From reviews! I will listen to them first to get a feel and want to try listening to some Dali zensors!

Just a Dell one! Do I have other options for a source ?

I read the dragon fly dac are good!

 

[Daaz324]

Thanks for your comments and people! Maybe I have not researched things enough!

i mainly want 2 speakers that I can play music through. Only hip hop and rnb mainly! What's the different in bookshelfs and floor standing? I will need to listen to a few speakers actually to find a good pair. I want to use tidal as a music streaming service but want to also make sure I get the best sound from a source, laptop or mobile phone

 

[davedotco]

Thanks for your comments and people! Maybe I have not researched things enough!

i mainly want 2 speakers that I can play music through. Only hip hop and rnb mainly! What's the different in bookshelfs and floor standing? I will need to listen to a few speakers actually to find a good pair. I want to use tidal as a music streaming service but want to also make sure I get the best sound from a source, laptop or mobile phone

You are barking up the wrong tree here.

For the kind of music you listen to, played in the style you want it, the difference between bookshelf speakers and floorstanders is the amount of bass woofle.

What you need is bass kick, this is not really deep bass, but bass in the couple of octaves above 50hz, the bass that really drives the music.

For the sort of money you are talking about you can get the Yamaha WXC 50 streamer/dac/preamp and a pair of HS8 spealers (about £700+ cables and stands), if the room is small, use the HS7 and save £100.

Minimal bling, but a performance that will make you grin.

 

[Daaz324]

Thanks! I will look into these room is only small! (Bedroom)

 

[davedotco]

The world of hi-fi has changed a lot in recent years and the evolution is still ongoing.

The emphasis on different styles of music, EDM and the whole hip-hop/r&b thing, for example, means that, for many users, old style, smooth, low colouration (distortion) systems are no longer what is required.

The focus is on a tauter, more 'punchy' style that delivers a real kick and handles the bass requirements of this style of music.

Whilst you can get this style of presentation from 'regular' hi-fi, it often requires EQ to deliver what is required and this in turn places demands on the amplifier that budget designs simple can not meet.

For a smallish room, the Yamaha HS7s will give you everything that you want, the built in EQ is limited but very effective in matching the speaker to the room and the 7 inch bass driver will give the bass a kick that smaller hi-fi type systems can only hint at.

The HS7 paired with, say, the AudioEngine D1 dac/preamp will give you most of what you want function wise and the sound, given the application should be right up your street.

One caveat, this will sound rather different to 'regular' hi-fi, so do listen for yourself and be sure that this sort of sound is what you really want.

 

[Daaz324]

Thank you

a a couple of people have said the q acoustic do not go low and that tannoy and monitor audio can go low, down to about 40hz! Which may be better for me because then I don't need a subwoofer! How long can the Yamaha h7 go?

 

[davedotco]

See below...

In general I would not obsess about low bass, the music in question is not mixed for wide bandwidth hi-fi setups, and most of the 'low' bass you think you are hearing is actually not that low at all.

If at all possible, try and get to hear some HS7s, or even, if you can find them, the Presonus Eris 8, as I said earlier these speakers are 'different' to most hi-fi, you really need to try them.