What speakers to buy

[Seglespaan]

Hi, first off apologies if this posts ends up being a bit too long. I'm essentially a Hi-Fi noob but am looking to get a pair of speakers for my office. Its a very small home office at approx 3metres cubed.

I have an old budget amp and CD player that have been reletively unused for the best part of 8 years, but they do still work. They are the NAD 310 amp and the NAD 520 CD player. Although I'm likely to stream most of what I listen to from the internet.

I have a budget of around £300 - £400 and will predominantly be listening to dance / electronic / breaks.

From rummaging around the web I've come across the following choices.

Dali Zensor 3
Wharfdale Diamond 121 / 122
Tannoy Revolution DC6

Also because my amp is pretty old and wasn't very expensive at the time, but I've not really got the budget for the whole setup, I've also been looking at active studio monitors. Quite like the look of the Tannoy Reveal range. Is the active monitor route a viable option?

The Tannoy range comes in 3 sizes. And I realise that for my space the 802's would be massive overkill, however they won't always be used in my office. And in a few years time will likely be in a much bigger living space. So one question would be, that while overkill, would they still sound good at low volumes in my current small space?

As I say as far as this forum goes I'm a complete Hi-Fi noob, so any recommendations are welcome.

Thanks in advance,

 

[davedotco]

Hi, first off apologies if this posts ends up being a bit too long. I'm essentially a Hi-Fi noob but am looking to get a pair of speakers for my office. Its a very small home office at approx 3metres cubed.

I have an old budget amp and CD player that have been reletively unused for the best part of 8 years, but they do still work. They are the NAD 310 amp and the NAD 520 CD player. Although I'm likely to stream most of what I listen to from the internet.

I have a budget of around £300 - £400 and will predominantly be listening to dance / electronic / breaks.

From rummaging around the web I've come across the following choices.

Dali Zensor 3Wharfdale Diamond 121 / 122Tannoy Revolution DC6

Also because my amp is pretty old and wasn't very expensive at the time, but I've not really got the budget for the whole setup, I've also been looking at active studio monitors. Quite like the look of the Tannoy Reveal range. Is the active monitor route a viable option?

The Tannoy range comes in 3 sizes. And I realise that for my space the 802's would be massive overkill, however they won't always be used in my office. And in a few years time will likely be in a much bigger living space. So one question would be, that while overkill, would they still sound good at low volumes in my current small space?

As I say as far as this forum goes I'm a complete Hi-Fi noob, so any recommendations are welcome.

Thanks in advance,

If you are streaming from the 'net, how will you do that, ie what computer, soundcard, output options?

 

[Seglespaan]

It's a fairly decent PC, core i7, but as its a work machine just now only has onboard audio. So I'd probably be looking to get hold of a sound card as well.

Possibly something along these lines

http://www.ebuyer.com/176957-asus-xonar-essence-st-soundcard-90-yaa0e0-0uan00z?utm_source=google&utm_medium=products&gclid=CPbf_OOOp8ACFRMatAodEkEAQQ

 

[davedotco]

It's a fairly decent PC, core i7, but as its a work machine just now only has onboard audio. So I'd probably be looking to get hold of a sound card as well.

Possibly something along these lines

http://www.ebuyer.com/176957-asus-xonar-essence-st-soundcard-90-yaa0e0-0...

Ok, that is a decent enough soundcard but I would be inclined to use something outboard. Ie Good media player (JRiver maybe), usb to dac, dac to active speakers.

The advantage is that all the money is spent on what matters. The new Tannoys look nice and are pretty inexpensive, they are new so I have no experience of them. There are dozens of alternatives at similar prices, mostly studio monitor types, but some powered (rather than active) hi-fi models from the likes of Audio Engine, Q Acoustics and others.

My person choice would be a simple usb dac, one of the Odac models say, plus a pair of 5 or 6 inch studio speaker in the £250-ish price range. Great for a smallish room, in a larger room just add a decent subwoofer.

You can easily spend more or less, as you wish.

 

[Seglespaan]

Thanks for that. I handn't considered the dac route but I may well go that way.

If I did go for the 802s would they be too big for the room?

 

[JamesMellor]

Hi Seglespaan ,

If it was my money and my desktop I'd be tempted by this :

http://www.musicmatters.co.uk/mini-systems/denon-ceol-piccolo-dran5-network-player-without-speakers.html

and this :

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2379863.htm?CMPID=GS001&_$ja=cgid:11911165382|tsid:41408|cid:177974942|lid:52148721054|nw:g|crid:40709921702|rnd:3153425501737910637|dvc:c|adp:1o1

Really depends on how long afew years is , the denon will do your interweb stuff and will take a 30pin ipod/iphone as a dock and input from your 520 cdp , the speakers have a review here :

http://andreweverard.com/2013/12/16/review-roth-audio-oli-ra1-tiny-speakers-with-more-than-a-little-magic/

James

 

[davedotco]

Thanks for that. I handn't considered the dac route but I may well go that way.

If I did go for the 802s would they be too big for the room?

It is worth bearing in mind that the system I suggested will really only work with a computer, trying to get a cd player to play through it would be more trouble than it is worth.

Regading the 802s, probably. The bigger the speaker, the bigger the bass and the more demanding the speaker is of support and positioning, the small, near cubic room will not help either.

Given the near £400 price tag of the 802s, I would go for something smaller and better quality, my personal favourite being the Equator D5.

As always it depends on what you want to spend, even for small monitors you can spend whatever you like, for example a Behringer UCA 202 dac and a pair of Studiospares (Seiwin) 5a monitors cost barely £150 and sound outrageously good for the money. Very low 'bling' factor though.

 

[Seglespaan]

Thanks again. The D5s look pretty good.

Can u tell me what the difference between the dac u mentioned which os pretty cheap and the likes of the cambridge audio dacmagic xs. Would there be a significant difference in the sound output?

 

[davedotco]

Thanks again. The D5s look pretty good.

Can u tell me what the difference between the dac u mentioned which os pretty cheap and the likes of the cambridge audio dacmagic xs. Would there be a significant difference in the sound output?

I first mentioned the Odac, which is comparable quality to the Cambridge, the Behringer is a more functional device that lacks the sophistication of the other two.

Though they may present the sound slightly differently it is highly unlikely that this will be significant. There are plenty of options around this price, just pick the one you fancy.

Word of warning, there is some chat about the new Tannoys being noisey, hiss and or buzz through the speakers, if you go that route check for that before commiting.

 

[Seglespaan]

Yeah I had seen a few comments about the tannoys being noisy. But also saw a post where someone had contacted Tannoy regarding this who then said if any hiss or buzz is heard yhe unit is faulty and would be replaced. But still not a great starting point.

The D5s certainly get good write ups but there are very few uk suppliers.

Equator audio also dont have an option to ship to uk although someone mentioned they did get them shipped by Equator with an added import cost.

 

[unsleepable]

I first mentioned the Odac, which is comparable quality to the Cambridge, the Behringer is a more functional device that lacks the sophistication of the other two.

Though they may present the sound slightly differently it is highly unlikely that this will be significant. There are plenty of options around this price, just pick the one you fancy.

Word of warning, there is some chat about the new Tannoys being noisey, hiss and or buzz through the speakers, if you go that route check for that before commiting.

If you are going to connect the DAC to your computer on the USB port, it may pay off to buy one with galvanic isolation. The benefits will depend on your computer and the DAC itself, but computers can be noise sources. Most middle-priced to high-end DACs already have this, but even well-regarded DACs like the M-DAC do not. It's something worth to pay attention to.

 

[davedotco]

I first mentioned the Odac, which is comparable quality to the Cambridge, the Behringer is a more functional device that lacks the sophistication of the other two.

Though they may present the sound slightly differently it is highly unlikely that this will be significant. There are plenty of options around this price, just pick the one you fancy.

Word of warning, there is some chat about the new Tannoys being noisey, hiss and or buzz through the speakers, if you go that route check for that before commiting.

If you are going to connect the DAC to your computer on the USB port, it may pay off to buy one with galvanic isolation. The benefits will depend on your computer and the DAC itself, but computers can be noise sources. Most middle-priced to high-end DACs already have this, but even well-regarded DACs like the M-DAC do not. It's something worth to pay attention to.

Good call.

Any suggestions given the price bracket we are talking about.

 

[davedotco]

I first mentioned the Odac, which is comparable quality to the Cambridge, the Behringer is a more functional device that lacks the sophistication of the other two.

Though they may present the sound slightly differently it is highly unlikely that this will be significant. There are plenty of options around this price, just pick the one you fancy.

Word of warning, there is some chat about the new Tannoys being noisey, hiss and or buzz through the speakers, if you go that route check for that before commiting.

If you are going to connect the DAC to your computer on the USB port, it may pay off to buy one with galvanic isolation. The benefits will depend on your computer and the DAC itself, but computers can be noise sources. Most middle-priced to high-end DACs already have this, but even well-regarded DACs like the M-DAC do not. It's something worth to pay attention to.

Good call.

Any suggestions given the price bracket we are talking about?

 

[Overdose]

Aune DAC for around £130

Fostex PM0.5d for around £250/pair.

Nice and compact VGVFM and smart looks. DAC can also be used as a headphone amp.

Note that the volume control on the DAC is for the headphone output, the phono outputs are fixed. Not a problem though, as you can use the Pc volume control or the headphone output to connect to the speakers. Gain adjustment on the backs of the speakers can act as limiters to stop any nasty surprises from a full volume input on startup.

 

[davedotco]

Aune DAC for around £130

Fostex PM0.5d for around £250/pair.

Nice and compact VGVFM and smart looks. DAC can also be used as a headphone amp.

Note that the volume control on the DAC is for the headphone output, the phono outputs are fixed. Not a problem though, as you can use the Pc volume control or the headphone output to connect to the speakers. Gain adjustment on the backs of the speakers can act as limiters to stop any nasty surprises from a full volume input on startup.

If you are thinking of the Aune X1, it does have pre-amp functions and looks great VFM. As do the Fostex monitors, I rather like the Presonus Eris5 at about £50 less, but there are plenty of viable options.

 

[unsleepable]

Good call.

Any suggestions given the price bracket we are talking about.

I'm afraid I can't recommend a DAC with which I have first-hand experience at this price level. But, for example, the Firestone Custom Cute apparently has this type of isolation and looks really, really good.

In this particular case, I can't even recommend my current irDac, which also seems to lack this isolation. I believe this may account for some differences in low level-detail that I have appreciated when testing and auditioning other DACs lately—hence my recommendation. The irDac isolates digital and analogue sections and keeps background noise very low, but it doesn't isolate the USB port by itself.

 

[pauln]

I can highly recommend the ODAC/EDAC whether you want it with or without headphone amp and Audiopro Addon T8 speakers. Can't paste link but there's a what hifi review.

(Not been around here for a few weeks - no changes for the better. Probably shan't bother at all anymore)

 

[davedotco]

Noise from computers does seem to be an issue in some setups, Galvanic isolation can be achieved using an optical connection but that will depend on your computer/soundcard.

Ah well, it will give me something to fret about and research now that the nights are drawing in....*scratch_one-s_head*