Solutions for desk based Hi Fi?

[bigsteviet]

Hey guys (and gals?),

Long time lurker, first time poster...

I guess like many people, I'm realising that most of my music listening is done at the desk in my office these days. So, with that in mind, I'm looking to upgrade my set-up (imac, Lindy DAC, Denon UD-M50).

Nad's D3020 seems like a perfect solution, but would an HRT Music Streamr ii/iii and a Yamaha AS500 sound better?

I'm a smidgen concerned the Nad's DAC isn't up to the job, as a few reviews say it's better fed with analogue signal and the budget won't stretch to both. I'm looking at under £600 all in (DAC, amp and speakers)

Not sure of speakers yet - maybe Q2020is?

Or the Ruark MR1s with a DAC?

Would LOVE some feedback!

 

[davedotco]

Hey guys (and gals?),

Long time lurker, first time poster...

I guess like many people, I'm realising that most of my music listening is done at the desk in my office these days. So, with that in mind, I'm looking to upgrade my set-up (imac, Lindy DAC, Denon UD-M50).

Nad's D3020 seems like a perfect solution, but would an HRT Music Streamr ii/iii and a Yamaha AS500 sound better?

I'm a smidgen concerned the Nad's DAC isn't up to the job, as a few reviews say it's better fed with analogue signal and the budget won't stretch to both. I'm looking at under £600 all in (DAC, amp and speakers)

Not sure of speakers yet - maybe Q2020is?

Or the Ruark MR1s with a DAC?

Would LOVE some feedback!

A lot will depend on your requirements in terms of functionality.

Performance wise a pair these will be awesome, less than £400 pair, so money available for stands, cables etc.

Use your existing dac for now, replace it if and when you need more facilities etc.

In case you do not know what you are looking at, you are looking at a 5 inch, two way active monitor, neutral and revealing and powerful enough to do duty as a room filling hi-fi.

 

[Overdose]

I would echo the above. For desktop listening, find a suitable pair of 5" active speakers and maybe a pair of isolation pads.

 

[ID.]

See my signature for an example of an easy desk-top set up.

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/your-system/office-system

The A7Xs are, admittedly, overkill, and I have them on stands rather than my desk, but an active monitor monitor with a 5 inch mid/woofer would work well. My Icon HDP works as DAC and preamp, but really you could control the volume from the computer and not worry about a preamp (which is what I do with the Fostex monitors in my living room that used to be my office speakers).

Generally I think a separate amp is a waste of space for a desktop system, and you can get excellent value for money and sound quality from active speakers.

 

[davedotco]

I would echo the above. For desktop listening, find a suitable pair of 5" active speakers and maybe a pair of isolation pads.

Exactly, there are plenty out there, good ones start at about £200, I just quoted one I heard I while back that I thought pretty damn good and about the right price. Do not be tempted into anything bigger for desktop use, more trouble than they are worth.

Your choice may depend on the functionality you need, extra inputs for example and whether you are comfortable using the volume on your media player. Just think through your requirements.

Have a look at what is available. http://www.thomann.de/gb/active_nearfield_monitors.html

 

[bigsteviet]

Thanks for the input. So something like the Audioengine A5+ then? I do like the look / reviews of those...

I'm curious - why go for active speakers over a conventional integrated amp & passive speakers? (Space not really an issue)

 

[davedotco]

Thanks for the input. So something like the Audioengine A5+ then? I do like the look / reviews of those...

I'm curious - why go for active speakers over a conventional integrated amp & passive speakers? (Space not really an issue)

The A5+ is a powered speaker not active, it is also rather large for the deskrop.

I had a go with the original A2 a year or two back, pretty decent for the money, around £170-180.

To be clear, we are talking about 3 different types of speaker here.

1) Passive. The conventional hi-fi speaker such as the Q2020i mentioned that runs off a conventional amplifier.

2) Powered. A passive speaker, with passive crossovers and a built in amplifier, like the Audioengines. Each speaker has a single channel of amplification driving bass and treble units via a cobventional passive ceossover. Electronically identical to the passive speaker and amplifier setup.

3) Active. An active speaker will normally have a separate amplifier for each drive unit, the crossover is before the amplifiers at line level, The Equator mentioned above is of thia type.

Each type has its advantages, the conventional amplifier/passive set up has great flexibility and allows the user to 'mix and match' to suit his taste. At this sort of price point it has the disadvantage in that the amplifier has to have expensive casework and has to be able to handle a variety of speakers, all with slightly different characteristics.

The powered speaker integrates the amp and speaker saving on casework and allowing the amplifier to be specific to that particular application. This is at the cost of some flexibility.

Active speakers use an electronic crossover to split bass and treble before the power amplifiers, this is done at line level and has the advantage that it can be more accurate, apply correction and use steeper slopes without affecting the load on the power amplifier which is then dedicated to the specific drive unit.

Active systems are commonplace in the pro/studio world, less so in hi-fi, one of the few is the Kef X300a though in this case it is slightly over budget. Most, hi-fi models such as Audioengine, Ruark, Q Acoustics and others are all powered speakers.

Some people, myself included, believe that the active approach has more to offer in terms of sound quality than passive systems at this sort of price point. This is a somewhat contentious view.

 

[davedotco]

Thanks for the input. So something like the Audioengine A5+ then? I do like the look / reviews of those...

I'm curious - why go for active speakers over a conventional integrated amp & passive speakers? (Space not really an issue)

The A5+ is a powered speaker not active, it is also rather large for the deskrop.

I had a go with the original A2 a year or two back, pretty decent for the money, around £170-180.

To be clear, we are talking about 3 different types of speaker here.

1) Passive. The conventional hi-fi speaker such as the Q2020i mentioned that runs off a conventional amplifier.

2) Powered. A passive speaker, with passive crossovers and a built in amplifier, like the Audioengines. Each speaker has a single channel of amplification driving bass and treble units via a conventional passive crossover. Electronically identical to the passive speaker and amplifier setup.

3) Active. An active speaker will normally have a separate amplifier for each drive unit, the crossover is before the amplifiers at line level, The Equator mentioned above is of thia type.

Each type has its advantages, the conventional amplifier/passive set up has great flexibility and allows the user to 'mix and match' to suit his taste. At this sort of price point it has the disadvantage in that the amplifier has to have expensive casework and has to be able to handle a variety of speakers, all with slightly different characteristics.

The powered speaker integrates the amp and speaker saving on casework and allowing the amplifier to be specific to that particular application. This is at the cost of some flexibility.

Active speakers use an electronic crossover to split bass and treble before the power amplifiers, this is done at line level and has the advantage that it can be more accurate, apply correction and use steeper slopes without affecting the load on the power amplifier which is then dedicated to the specific drive unit.

Active systems are commonplace in the pro/studio world, less so in hi-fi, one of the few is the Kef X300a though in this case it is slightly over budget. Most, hi-fi models such as Audioengine, Ruark, Q Acoustics and others are all powered speakers.

Some people, myself included, believe that the active approach has more to offer in terms of sound quality than passive systems at this sort of price point. This is a somewhat contentious view.

 

[nopiano]

To add to ddc's great summary, I have been enjoying one of these all-in-one speakers for a couple of months, and if you want something versatile and great looking it might do it for you. Not proper stereo as both channels are in one box, but great overall balance, and multiple ways to connect, including airplay and optical, which I'm using from iPad and TV respectively.

 

[davedotco]

To add to ddc's great summary, I have been enjoying one of these all-in-one speakers for a couple of months, and if you want something versatile and great looking it might do it for you. Not proper stereo as both channels are in one box, but great overall balance, and multiple ways to connect, including airplay and optical, which I'm using from iPad and TV respectively.

A lot of the powered two ways come in a master/slave configuration, with all the connectivity you desire, but of course 'proper' stereo.

Sound quality varies from the quite decent to the thoroughly mediocre, though from about £200-250 upwards, none that I have heard compare to a proper active setup.

For example, the Q Acoustics BT3 powered speaker is pretty, has digital and analog inputs, remote control, AptX etc.

http://www.concept-av.co.uk/upload/data/1826_Large.jpg

About £350 a pair, but for the same sort of money you can get something like this

http://cdn.mos.musicradar.com/images/Future%20Music/269/presonus-eris-e8-630-80.jpg

Does not have the connectivity of the BT3 but this can easily be added. Performance though is in a different league, to my ears better than most sub £1000 amp speaker combos. (Other opinions are available)

 

[bigsteviet]

Hi,

Thanks for the suggestions.

I've now bought a Yamaha A-S500 from Richer for £170 - it was a price too good to refuse while I was making up my mind!

I wanted to steer clear of actives because I had a pair in my studio set-up and when the electrics went wrong, I lost EVERYTHING in one go. It was pretty bad. So I prefer the idea of separates, because then you only need to replace on link in the chain if it goes wrong.

Any suggestions for suitable passives to match the amp? You might have seen my other thread asking about this - now using my MA Silver 4is that were my rears downstairs, but I'll need to swap them back in...

 

[drummerman]

A lot will depend on your requirements in terms of functionality.

Performance wise a pair these will be awesome, less than £400 pair, so money available for stands, cables etc.

Isn't that price per piece as is fairly common for pro/semi-pro products?

Some years ago I did some listening to actives at a local pro music store. Long story short ... all cheap actives sounded ... cheap. Adam's were the only affordable ones that sounded half decent to me and they were something like £400 a piece.

It's a myth to assume just because something has active topology it will be better plus many look like crxxx.

Having said all that, its certainly worth considering active or powered products more orientated towards the home environment, which had a modicum of design input.

regards

 

[ID.]

plus many look like crxxx.

Yep, while I love the sound of my A7X, they're pretty ugly unless you like that industrial built for purpose look. There are some brands that I think look better (I quite like the look of the Genelecs and Focals), but even then they're not exactly living room friendly like hi-fi speakers with wood veneer/gloss finish and grills.