Hideous. Look, the last thing you want to do on a budget is throw money away on absolute crap. There are two kinds of people here: one or two like me who know what's what and will tell you no matter what, and a whole herd who will happily encourage you to spend, spend, spend. You've got your info. Choose wisely.
Dream Speakers = landed. Now I need to feed them!
So I scored a pair of Belle Klipsch (1987 models, AB crossover). I would have gone for Khorns, but the room they were going in just wasn't going to work. RIght now, I'm running a cheap little Sony (STR-DH190) stereo receiver on them, and even that sounds amazing, but I know I've barely scratched the surface of what they're capable of. The dream is a pair of SET monoblocks (probably 300B type), though I'm worried about not being able to drive the bottom enough. I listen to a wide array of music from classical and opera to extreme metal, though my wife is decidedly more of a rock person, so I definitely need something that will push those woofers proper.
Due to lifestyle and logistics, a big piece of my source audio is going to be HQ feeds from my laptop via Bluetooth. I know, not an ideal source, but until I build my HTPC, it's just going to have to work. I also need to run optical out from my Sony Bravia (which I can't do right now because the receiver doesn't have optical in and the TV doesn't have analog out).
Here's the hard part: Right now, I can't really spend more than $1k for the whole shebang. So I started hunting.
At first I was sniffing around looking for a tube preamp that can handle both Bluetooth and Toslink, but all that seems to be out there are suspiciously cheap Chinese integrated amps that have no pre out for later use. I also looked at some dedicated DAC's such as the Cambridge Audio DACMagic, that I knew I could pair with a BT-capable tube pre. But I'm still sketchy about the cheap Chinese kit. I've heard positive things about Dared, though, and I was thinking their 5BT would be a good foundation alongside the aforementioned DAC, because I could use its power stage for right now, and if I can't stay in the right now budget to get a good pair of monoblocks, then I could wait for a while and buy the right ones later.
Thoughts? Opinions? Alternative ideas?
Due to lifestyle and logistics, a big piece of my source audio is going to be HQ feeds from my laptop via Bluetooth. I know, not an ideal source, but until I build my HTPC, it's just going to have to work. I also need to run optical out from my Sony Bravia (which I can't do right now because the receiver doesn't have optical in and the TV doesn't have analog out).
Here's the hard part: Right now, I can't really spend more than $1k for the whole shebang. So I started hunting.
At first I was sniffing around looking for a tube preamp that can handle both Bluetooth and Toslink, but all that seems to be out there are suspiciously cheap Chinese integrated amps that have no pre out for later use. I also looked at some dedicated DAC's such as the Cambridge Audio DACMagic, that I knew I could pair with a BT-capable tube pre. But I'm still sketchy about the cheap Chinese kit. I've heard positive things about Dared, though, and I was thinking their 5BT would be a good foundation alongside the aforementioned DAC, because I could use its power stage for right now, and if I can't stay in the right now budget to get a good pair of monoblocks, then I could wait for a while and buy the right ones later.
Thoughts? Opinions? Alternative ideas?
Showing 3 responses by millercarbon
There is no right or wrong way to go. If you were to try Townshend Pods, some Synergistic Orange Fuses and Master Coupler power cord, and a $400 integrated amp, I think you would be shocked to discover they each give about as much improvement as the other. I know this is the case from having played around trying one thing at a time with systems I was building for friends and family. At one point I put a $1200 interconnect between a $400 amp and $400 CD player connected to $400 speakers. So $1200 IC into a $1200 system. And you know what? Darn thing made just as much improvement, was just as easy to hear, and sounded just the same as when used in my main system that it came from. Just that one thing shattered something like three audiophile myths! This is the difference between talking and doing. Go and do it. You will see. |
You’re on a tight budget. You already have an amp. Granted it is a receiver, the second lowest rung in audio (at least it is stereo, the absolute lowest is AVR) but as you say it sounds amazing. You will definitely get better sound from a better integrated amp. But going to separates on a budget is a huge mistake! The sound you get is the total performance of everything, including the wires powering and connecting everything together. The more separates the more power cords and interconnects. Leave these for guys with money to burn. Look, my budget is roughly a hundred times yours and am I using separates? No! https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 Nuff said. Forget stuff like 300B. Not that it’s not great, but you can get a lot of magic from any tubes so why pay the premium? Any good used tube amp will soar over your receiver, last a long time, and have good resale value when you upgrade down the road. Avoid made in China, look for deals, save some for a good interconnect and speaker cables. |