Need Help with the Basics

[digilio89]

Hello everyone!

I've been lurking the forums here, as well as the website in general, for a few months. I'm a noob when it comes hi-fi, and I'm trying to get my head on straight before I take my first dive in; here goes my first post

So. I've always been a music lover. Been ripping anything and everything I can in lossless for the past year, holding on to all my cds, and before that I've been using 320kbps AAC. Now what I would eventually like to accomplish is set up a 2.1 stereo system in my apartment this upcoming school year... and I'm not quite sure how to go about doing this.

For starters, I have to take into account that the majority of music is going to be coming from my vinyl collection as well as my iTunes library, generally ripped in higher qualities. Also, as far as I know, my MacBook has an optical audio out from it's headphone jack. Not sure what this means as far as audio quality is concerned for the future...

I would like to do this in parts... but I don't know where to start. I've seen plenty of other threads about what to begin with, but it seems that answers are generally very different depending on whose posting.

Obviously I have to start with speakers

I was looking at the EMP 55Ti tower speakers

but I'm confused as to whether these are actually good, or if they're just plastered all over this website for no good reason. Are there better speakers between the $500-$900 range?

I don't understand exactly what wattage is besides the fact that it's the power driven to your speakers. But for the EMPs it says recommended from 50-200 watts. Can I go over 200 watts with an amplifier? Or how would this work? And also... I don't understand what impedence and ohms are. The articles online tend to make things overly-complicated.

Then there's the issue of an amplifier...

The reason I'm posting in the amp section is that this is where I really have no idea what I'm doing. I understand that as far as speakers go, you really just have to hear them out yourself. But for amps... should I buy an integrated amp? (Should it be a tube amp? They sure are expensive, the Cayin A-50T is a bit out of my price range but looks amazing) Should it be driving around 200 watts per channel? Or should I just be buying a receiver of some sort? Do I want some different kind of amp setup? And how do I go about hooking up a subwoofer to said amp? (if there's not a line out, you hook the sub to the amp, and the speakers to the sub, correct?)

I don't have a ton of money... being a college student. At the absolute most I wouldn't want to spend more that $2000 on the whole setup.

A million thanks to anyone who can take the time to help me! I know I wrote a lot and I hate to be a nuisance with my questions

 

[Codifus]

....... my MacBook has an optical audio out from it's headphone jack. Not sure what this means as far as audio quality is concerned for the future..........

If you look into the headphone jack you'll see a red light, the optical output. This jack is quite common in Apple hardware. It's a combination headphone jack as well as a digital optical output that can output stereo data up to 24 bits at a 96Khz sample rate maximum.

To get the most from your hifi you would use the digital output and get a mini-toslink cable like this;

http://www.lifatec.com/toslink2.html

The other end you would plug into a DAC or a receiver with an optical input.

Hope this helps.

CD

 

[digilio89]

If you look into the headphone jack you'll see a red light, the optical output. This jack is quite common in Apple hardware. CD

That's awesome! I never noticed that. Would I need something like this then? Or could this function as my amp in general?

http: //signalpathint.com/index.php/Nova/Introducing-Nova.html

 

[Codifus]

That's awesome! I never noticed that. Would I need something like this then? Or could this function as my amp in general?

http: //signalpathint.com/index.php/Nova/Introducing-Nova.html

That'll work just fine. The Nova is a DAC (with 2 optical inputs among others), pre-amp, and amplifier all in one.

CD

 

[digilio89]

I was also looking at some Emotiva products that I've seen in another thread...

Since they don't offer integrated amps, I've been looking at USP-1 Pre-amp as well as the UPA-2 amp.

Could someone explain how ohms work exactly?

The specs on the EMPs:
• Recommended Power 50-200 Watts
• Impedance 6 Ohms

Would I be correct in saying that I would want 200watts being driven from an amplifier to each channel? And if so... what exactly does that mean.

The specs on the UPA-2 amp:
Power output (all channels driven):
185 watts RMS @ 4 ohm (0.1% THD)
125 watts RMS @ 8 ohm (0.1% THD)

I'm really not sure how ohms work, I'm afraid if I tried setting it up myself something would go wrong...

And are there any better alternatives to speakers?