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shadyJ
Speaker of the House
Staff member
For a nice 2 channel system, I would be looking at a Motu M2 interface combined with something like a Kali IN-8, Presonus Eris E8 XT, or an Adam Audio T8V. All of those speakers should have a good response, and decent bass extension. They are all powered, so you don't need to buy an amp. The Motu has a very high-quality DAC for the price. The advantage of these systems over the passive speaker system that are being suggested is that these will have a more accurate response. They will also have a wider dynamic range. Passive speakers in the same price point can't really compete in terms of sound quality. The disadvantage is this system can't really accommodate an HDMI source if you wanted to hook it up to a TV or something. For that, you would need a DAC that had an HDMI input and good balanced outputs. I am not sure who makes something like that or how much it would cost.
lovinthehd
Audioholic Jedi
I was hoping you'd suggest some of the active speakers you've had experiences with. How is hiss on these if nearfield?
Pogre
Audioholic Slumlord
Hey, I've mentioned powered monitors a couple times!
That said, glad you popped in with some suggestions. I know you've been getting your hands on some active monitors lately.
Streak01
Junior Audioholic
I definitely won’t be hooking up to the TV, so this sounds promising. I just watched a video on the M2 and almost all of it went over my head!
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Pogre
Audioholic Slumlord
All 3 of those speakers are so close in specs it's really hard to pick one. They all have really good bass for 2 way books, and I know if Shady recommends them they're also very accurate and neutral. I like the looks of the Adam and the AMT tweeter is pretty cool, but they're all good choices.
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shadyJ
Speaker of the House
Staff member
Supposedly the Kali IN speakers have greatly reduced any hiss. It's something like 12 to 18dB down. The PreSonus speakers are fairly quiet. The ADAM T8V, I don't know for sure. The T7V had some hiss, so I wouldn't expect the T8V to be dead silent. However, for a far-field application like what the OP is doing, I doubt it would be audible.
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shadyJ
Speaker of the House
Staff member
The M2 is really an audio interface intended for prosumer work. However, it's very simple and reliable as well as being affordable, so that it's also a great choice as a regular DAC. Some other budget DACs have become quite popular on account of their technical excellence like the Topping ones, however, there have been a lot of reports of reliability issues. The Motu is as solid as a rock and would have none of that. What is your source, is it a PC of some kind?
lovinthehd
Audioholic Jedi
I was just reading on ASR how the M2 is very hard to find now.....victim of covid ?
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shadyJ
Speaker of the House
Staff member
It has been in and out of stock sporadically. It offers a lot of bang for the buck and so is highly sought after. It took me a couple of months to get one of my own! There are other good alternatives though if the OP can not locate any. PreSonus and Focusrite have some affordable ones that look to be decent.
Streak01
Junior Audioholic
That is an interesting question. Normally I use my iPhone X playing Spotify via SpotEQ through Bluetooth to an Audioengine B2. I just came up to office and connected my Lenovo Yoga to the Audioengine and used Spotify and it sounds horrible. I use Premium which is 320 Kbps but though compressed on phone, sounds much better
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Streak01
Junior Audioholic
Ok. Made a decision that may help.
For work I will keep using Audioengine B2 while at desk. Not superb but “ok”
To allow better triangulation, I can set up a system on “Pink Floyd - The Wall” (formally known as wall with Pink Floyd posters). I took this photo from the “ugly futon”. I am 12’ from the Pink Floyd wall. If I have a speaker on outside of each left and right poster, the distance between speakers is also 12’
Essentially it’s an equilateral triangle of speaker - speaker - middle of ugly futon
Does this make options better?? Simply now have an office that will couple as an audio room
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For work I will keep using Audioengine B2 while at desk. Not superb but “ok”
To allow better triangulation, I can set up a system on “Pink Floyd - The Wall” (formally known as wall with Pink Floyd posters). I took this photo from the “ugly futon”. I am 12’ from the Pink Floyd wall. If I have a speaker on outside of each left and right poster, the distance between speakers is also 12’
Essentially it’s an equilateral triangle of speaker - speaker - middle of ugly futon
Does this make options better?? Simply now have an office that will couple as an audio room
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Streak01
Junior Audioholic
Pretty expensive amps required to drive the Kef LS50's?Okay, I did a quick search of your local craigslist. Not a lot there, but found a few possibilities.
KEF LS50 BOOKSHELF SPEAKERS - electronics - by owner - sale
In near mint condition. Sounds amazing. Comes with original box.raleigh.craigslist.org
Very good speakers, but 850 is a bit high. They retail for ~1300 new.
Golden Ear Aon 3 Speakers - electronics - by owner - sale
Bought these Golden Ear Aon 3 Bookshelf Speakers Brand New from Audio Advice in Raleigh 3 months ago. Changed my mind and want to go with Tower Speakers. Speakers are in PERFECT condition / zero...raleigh.craigslist.org
Also good, but again 850. Could make an offer.
Klipsch The Sixes - electronics - by owner - sale
I'm selling my pair of Klipsch "The Sixes" speakers. The speakers sound great but are too large for my Desk, I'm planning to replace them with smaller set of speakers. I bought the speakers in...raleigh.craigslist.org
I don't normally recommend Klipsch, but have heard good things about "The Sixes". Plus they're powered speakers so no amp necessary, but still need the source. I don't know if this is much help for you or not, but that's about the best I found used in your area. I'm curious to see what some of the guys say about these finds. Both the LS50s and Golden Ear Aons are legit good speakers. I'm just not sure about the asking price. You could always counter offer too.
lovinthehd
Audioholic Jedi
Why would that be? The LS50s are not spl monsters either.
Streak01
Junior Audioholic
A better question… what would he preferred amp to drive these
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lovinthehd
Audioholic Jedi
Something in the power range you want and can deal with a 4 ohm load would be sufficient and of course within your budget and aesthetic needs. There's a wide variety of suitable gear available from inexpensive to silly expensive. Also depends what you mean by amp...power amp, integrated amp, receiver.....
Streak01
Junior Audioholic
honestly not sure what’s best for my needs (wants) and budget
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lovinthehd
Audioholic Jedi
Just part of the planning is looking at not only current needs but what you'd like to do down the line. Do you want to stay with just two speakers? How about multich? Subwoofers? Any integration with video? Do you want to stick with active/powered speakers or invest in a passive system? Is the budget just a now thing or just to buy the first part of a larger/more capable system down the line?
I do think you can do better than the Audioengine speakers in any case.
Streak01
Junior Audioholic
All great questions. Ideally want to have a system that will allow me to stream tidal / Spotify that sounds warm and crisp. No video integration. Assume 2 speakers and possibly a subwoofer. Amp or preamp or receiver. Room is not large at approximately 22’ x 14.5’. I don’t plan to continue adding to system. More of a purchase and enjoy. I know little about active vs passive pros and cons so was mainly looking at passive. Also I’m not high tech (audio-wise) so the complexity can overwhelm me.
I could go up a lot on budget but have set an arbitrary $1000 limit as I know I could get crazy yet not sure my listening pleasure could justify purchasing a 5,000 system.
I passed on the original system as I found little about NuForce and reviews of the DDA-120 indicated a lot of quality issues. The Monitor Audio 3i speakers had few reviews also and folks here indicated the PS Ultimate was not necessary. The thought of buying a streaming setup as a “one stop shop” was what lead me to inquiring
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lovinthehd
Audioholic Jedi
There's a lot of detail to consider. We see all too often someone posting up who bought something based on let's say poor assumptions and not working out as envisioned. Much better to flesh it out and understand the differences/trade-offs with the myriad gear out there. Lots of glorified sales type info about gear as well as downright snakeoil to make it even more confusing. Can take a while to sift thru. Throwing money at things isn't necessarily a good thing in audio, tho, you can do quite well with a modest budget.
I remember when NuForce made a splash, think they put out some decent solid gear at a good price....IIRC Optoma bought them and haven't heard much about them since. Monitor Audio makes some very nice speakers, but like many things, depends on model and the suitability of the model to your needs. The MA speakers you mentioned are small bookshelf models and really should be supported by a sub IMO. You might not be a bassoholic like myself and could live without....YMMV. Generally takes a much larger speaker (no replacement for displacement as they say) to provide deeper bass in appreciable quantities without a subwoofer and often fairly expensive to boot. Whether you need appreciable quantities is another matter, I like being able to altho I limit the spl (sound pressure level) generally these days. I do like gear that helps integrate subs, tho....and much two ch gear does not.
With an amp you still need a pre-amp in that amp alone is generally taken for a power amp. An integrated amp is a pre-amp and amp in one box. A receiver adds other functionality, originally radio tuner, but now often more digital/internet based integration.
In the area of active speakers my only experience is with a pair of JBL LSR305s I got for I think $180 the pair or so and based on generally good comments and measurements. I quite like them and think would be quite a bit better than the Audioengine models you have. I run them off an old 2ch pre-amp so I can use a few different sources with them, an Audio Chromecast to stream to, and an optical disc player. There is a little bit of hiss I can hear if nothing is playing if I sit close to the speakers, but not how I use them in that room, more like 5 ft away and think they're fairly terrific in that small room (a bit shy of 13 x 10). Somewhat comes with active speakers to a degree but if not on your desk there are some terrific choices out there, some like Shady mentioned in the other thread (he's our speaker reviewer btw). I've even used just the Audio Chromecast unit with the speakers directly....a bit funky with a volume control on each speaker but they're indented positions for volume so not bad to set up identically. I can stream to the Audio Chromecast unit from my phone or computer.
Would you like to have other than modern streaming convenience? Digital sources only? Want to use a disc player? Turntable?
I remember when NuForce made a splash, think they put out some decent solid gear at a good price....IIRC Optoma bought them and haven't heard much about them since. Monitor Audio makes some very nice speakers, but like many things, depends on model and the suitability of the model to your needs. The MA speakers you mentioned are small bookshelf models and really should be supported by a sub IMO. You might not be a bassoholic like myself and could live without....YMMV. Generally takes a much larger speaker (no replacement for displacement as they say) to provide deeper bass in appreciable quantities without a subwoofer and often fairly expensive to boot. Whether you need appreciable quantities is another matter, I like being able to altho I limit the spl (sound pressure level) generally these days. I do like gear that helps integrate subs, tho....and much two ch gear does not.
With an amp you still need a pre-amp in that amp alone is generally taken for a power amp. An integrated amp is a pre-amp and amp in one box. A receiver adds other functionality, originally radio tuner, but now often more digital/internet based integration.
In the area of active speakers my only experience is with a pair of JBL LSR305s I got for I think $180 the pair or so and based on generally good comments and measurements. I quite like them and think would be quite a bit better than the Audioengine models you have. I run them off an old 2ch pre-amp so I can use a few different sources with them, an Audio Chromecast to stream to, and an optical disc player. There is a little bit of hiss I can hear if nothing is playing if I sit close to the speakers, but not how I use them in that room, more like 5 ft away and think they're fairly terrific in that small room (a bit shy of 13 x 10). Somewhat comes with active speakers to a degree but if not on your desk there are some terrific choices out there, some like Shady mentioned in the other thread (he's our speaker reviewer btw). I've even used just the Audio Chromecast unit with the speakers directly....a bit funky with a volume control on each speaker but they're indented positions for volume so not bad to set up identically. I can stream to the Audio Chromecast unit from my phone or computer.
Would you like to have other than modern streaming convenience? Digital sources only? Want to use a disc player? Turntable?
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