Need help with my first set up $1000

[Crystal_Clear]

Computer flac -> dragonfly 1.2 -> little dot mk iii (anything warmmer out there for price?) [will use for headphone out for private listening] ->
NAD C 316BEE or yamahaa s500 -> wharfedale 10.1/focal 705v/polk rti a3

I am open to suggestions on entire set up.

Will be using both nearfield and for room filling sound.


Below is a description of the room and my musical tastes.
My Bedroom room is asymmetrical with an odd hallway running out one of the 11ft walls 4 ft from corner, the opposite corner has a triangle shaped 1ft drop in ceiling at doorway. The room is 14x11x8ft.

Lastly, My musical tastes run from metal (wintersun, opeth, dream theater, Angel Vivaldi etc.), Classical (mainly romantics), and classic rock progressives (phillip glass, king crimson, led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd) this system will be used 80% for music listening 20% for blu-ray movie watching.


Thank you all so much in advanced for the help and support, you seem like an amazing community and I am excited to enter the world of HIFI!

P.s. Posted elsewhere with little response... Any help welcome!

 

[GIEGAR]

Computer flac -> dragonfly 1.2 -> little dot mk iii (anything warmmer out there for price?) [will use for headphone out for private listening] ->
NAD C 316BEE or yamahaa s500 -> wharfedale 10.1/focal 705v/polk rti a3

I am open to suggestions on entire set up.

Welcome to the forum!

I'm a bit slow... it's not clear to me if that's the components you already have or what you are proposing, or a combination of both. Can you clarify what components you need for $1000?

 

[Crystal_Clear]

Hey Giegar, other than the computer that is what i am proposing... I own nothing other than some recording gear. A cheap berhinger mixer some mics and some powered and passive guitar speaker cabs. I am a drummer people leave gear here all the time lol.

The above is what i am thinking of buying.

 

[Crystal_Clear]

Oh and my headphones are hd280 pro

 

[ImcLoud]

OK, so if I understand you need a DAC, integrated amp, headphone amp, and a set of bookshelfs? For $1000...

OK, heres what I am thinking, I may be way off with what you are trying to do...

https://emotiva.com/products/dacs/xda-2 this dac is awesome I own 2 of them, and the headphone amp that is built in ROCKS, I have used many internal headphone amps {parasound, yamaha, little bear, Fostex, valhalla, and a few others} I actually own a fosgate signature tube style {these are around $1500, I traded a set of tad monitors for it and some money} and don't pay extra for the vanity, you will like the sound of the internal unit in the emo better, I know I do...

Next for an amp you may as well stay with emo https://emotiva.com/products/amplifiers/upa-200

and that leaves enough for a set of these bookshelfs
http://www.musicdirect.com/p-76596-epos-epic-2-bookshelf-speakers-cherry-demo.aspx

that will put you at $870 so if you really just had to have a headphone amp you can get one of the cheaper little dots, or call emotiva and buy a bstock xda2 and a bstock amp you will save another $75 or so...



epos not on demo for $50 more, I would buy the demos ...EPOS EPIC 2 BOOKSHELF SPEAKERS (PR) at Music Direct
there are many bookshelfs out there that sound good.. the Epos are a nice warm bookshelf, I don't think for a critical music system there is a better deal around anywhere rite now..

Classic Two (Black) B-Stock| Bookshelf Speakers | Premium Audio Equipment

a sub would make it even better, you can their 2.1 for $499 with supers, or $599 with 1's both come with their 8" sub that isnt super impressive to me, but the 2 linked above sound nice..

there are tons of choices in bookshelf speakers, you just kind of have to listen to them all..

 

[Crystal_Clear]

Hey ImcLoud, THANK YOU!
I had looked at Emotiva, but had the NAD recomended befor but i liked the idea of warming it up with tubes and i figured the only way i could do that on my bidget was with a preamp rather than a tube amp at 60-80w.

Any risk of buying demos? Did a quick review of speakers and seem like they get a glowing appreciation. To start with could i get away with these and the emotiva amp and build up over time to include the rest?

Regarding subs I have a short list but that will probably be the last thing to add as i have never realy been a basehead... I need musical sub and that cost $ lol. I have looked at the stf 1, eqmax 8, or super 8.

 

[ImcLoud]

Hey ImcLoud, THANK YOU!
I had looked at Emotiva, but had the NAD recomended befor but i liked the idea of warming it up with tubes and i figured the only way i could do that on my bidget was with a preamp rather than a tube amp at 60-80w.

Any risk of buying demos? Did a quick review of speakers and seem like they get a glowing appreciation. To start with could i get away with these and the emotiva amp and build up over time to include the rest?

Regarding subs I have a short list but that will probably be the last thing to add as i have never realy been a basehead... I need musical sub and that cost $ lol. I have looked at the stf 1, eqmax 8, or super 8.

There is a reason we don't use tubes anymore, I know some people say they are "warmer" or "authentic" but to me SS sounds cleaner, clearer, and more accurate, they last longer, cost less, and operate more efficiently...
I have bought Bstock from both music direct and Emotiva, and have no complaints in all of the transactions I received stuff that I could not tell the difference, and I have never heard anything different...

If you start with the Emotiva amp and dac with the epos, all B stock {you need to call emotiva to buy their b stock, but they have plenty of it normally}, you will spend around $800 and have an outstanding system, keep in mind not long ago them epos epics were selling for $800 alone!!! I own'd a pair and they have a nice sound far above anything in that price range than I can think of... The CBM170se's are close but the epics have a nicer midrange...

As far as a subwoofer goes, svs sb1000 is a decent low cost musical subwoofer, they come up for sale in bstock also for around $450, but if you can swing the svs sb2000 it will get you the built in cross over and a 12" driver with a lot more output... Either way it will keep up with the epos and upa200 well...

 

[GranteedEV]

I recommend avoiding looking for electronics with a distinct sound signature i.e. "warm" or "bright". Either way you will find yourself dissapointed because good electronics are pretty ruler flat neutral. The ones with sound signatures are just crap. Remember, this is not sound production gear - it's sound REproduction gear - it is supposed to play back to you what is on the recording, not add or subtract from that. If you need EQ for a certain recording to sound better, then by all means use EQ. I can only recommend accurate stuff.

For 1K here's what I might consider:

DAC / Headphone Amp: HiFimeDIY Sabre USB DAC ES9023 96Khz/24bit

Volume Control: https://emotiva.com/products/electronics/control-freak

Speakers: JBL LSR305 x 2

JBL LSR305 5" Active Studio Monitor | Sweetwater.com

Sub: EMP ES10i x 2

EMP Tek ES10i Subwoofer