Small and lightweight office set up

[iandb1970]

Hello All,

I would some opinion on a 'hi-fi' set-up I am considering for my office. For a long time I had room for systems based on classic 90's separates (Denon Amps and Tuners, Marantz Amps and CD Players) and these were great but having moved recently my new office does not have room for such a set-up. I am considering the following and would like people's views;

Music - FLAC rips of my CD collection (a long term project using Exact Copy Audio to rip as accurately as possible - stored on a OneDrive)
Software - MusicBee or BubbleUPnP (using phone)
Renderer - Chromecast Audio (I have 3 of these already)
Ampilfier - Fosi V3 (this would a purchase)
Speakers - Modaunt Short M10 (I already have these)

As you can see this is physically small and lightweight but the only things I need to purchase is the amplifier. The Fosi V3 gets great reviews but interested to hear other options. I also have an old Beresford TC 7510 DAC that I am considering putting between the Chromecast Audio and the amp. Obviously I would like good quality sound but it is an office and budget needs to be sensible. I could go with different speakers but the M10's are small and to my ears sound fine. Thanks in advance for any help given

 

[Fandango Andy]

All sounds perfectly reasonable except to say, do you still have the Denon and Merantz amps? If you do, could you find space to use one of them? It won't take up much more width than the Fosi on account that you could sit your DAC and Chromecast on top of an old A/B amp, but the Fosi will probably get too hot for that and require breathing space.

 

[iandb1970]

I do still have the amps (and CD players) but they are seriously bigger than either the proposed amplifier and the DAC (both 1/10th volume or less than the old amps)

 

[Fandango Andy]

I do still have the amps (and CD players) but they are seriously bigger than either the proposed amplifier and the DAC (both 1/10th volume or less than the old amps)

I would go with the Marantz just because I like Marantz. Its all down to what space you have and how you want to use it. What space do you have to work with?

 

[iandb1970]

It needs to be as small as possible. There is not room for the old 90's standard form. It is a small office.

 

[jjbomber]

Fiio R7:

All-in-One Desktop HD DTS Decoding and Ear Mafer-FiiO R7

FiiO R7 combines transmitter/decoder/amp/preamp/media playback functions into one unit. It features numerous connections and expansion capabilities and rich operating modes, providing an excellent desktop HiFi experience!

www.fiio.com

 

[Fandango Andy]

Fiio R7:

All-in-One Desktop HD DTS Decoding and Ear Mafer-FiiO R7

FiiO R7 combines transmitter/decoder/amp/preamp/media playback functions into one unit. It features numerous connections and expansion capabilities and rich operating modes, providing an excellent desktop HiFi experience!

www.fiio.com

Thats a bit of a jump in price from the Fosi V3.

 

[Fandango Andy]

It needs to be as small as possible. There is not room for the old 90's standard form. It is a small office.

It sounds like you have made up your mind. The only real alternative to the V3 are other Fosi amps, maybe the ZA 3 for the option to upgrade to monoblocs in future. Or, other Chinese amps which probably have the same Texas Instruments amp chip. May as well stick with the Fosi as a relatively well know brand.

The only other option would be a pair of powered speakers, but that will be more expensive than adding a Fosi to what you already have. £330 for Q Acoustics M20 or £300 for Klipsch R-41PM.

​

 

[iandb1970]

I have only made up my mind in as much as I can't make the room bigger or move the furniture! I would love to keep using the old 90's equipment (which are large!) but I can't. I am having to adapt but size is key. So if there are other small amplifier/renderer/DAC options, that are cheap, great, but I have the Chromecast and the DAC (if it sounds better with the DAC). If I could justify the active speakers I would, but I can't. Even the M10's worry me size wise but not sure I can go smaller, and of course I already have them.

 

[Fandango Andy]

I have only made up my mind in as much as I can't make the room bigger or move the furniture! I would love to keep using the old 90's equipment (which are large!) but I can't. I am having to adapt but size is key. So if there are other small amplifier/renderer/DAC options, that are cheap, great, but I have the Chromecast and the DAC (if it sounds better with the DAC). If I could justify the active speakers I would, but I can't. Even the M10's worry me size wise but not sure I can go smaller, and of course I already have them.

I have large speakers in my office Mission 701 because they are quite forgiving of being placed close to the wall.

If it were just a matter of size, I would suggest the NAD D3020, but much more expensive than the Fosi.

The only thing t watch out for with a little class D amp is they can get hot. The ZA3 is supposedly better than the V3 for that.

 

[Messiah]

Is there a budget in mind?

When I see a request for a small amp I immediately think of Cyrus or the new Mission amp (with built in DAC).

 

[DiggyGun]

Another option is to consider SMSL kit as they produce kit with a small footprint.

In my office set up I use the SU-1 DAC and SA300 Amp.

DG…

 

[iandb1970]

Yes, budget for the amp really needs to be £150 or less, preferably the right side of £100. The FiiO R7 mentioned earlier is definitely out. Does anyone have any direct comparision with SMSL kit with the Fosi kit (V3 seems best fit for my needs).

 

[iandb1970]

Quick update. I have finished digitising all the CDs to FLAC, bought the Fosi V3 but I have also bought both a SMSL SU1 DAC and a Topping E30 DAC. One of the DACs will replace a Bereford Bushmaster II in my main system, the other will go into the Office set-up. Looking forward to firing up the office set-up but need to move 1000 CDs first!