How much is overkill??


A lifetime ago I had a pretty nice set-up at home, with Krell Resolution 2 speakers and sub, mbl 7008 amp, and EMMLabs CD player.  Having a family, college tuition and several home moves over the years, and now I'm listening from my computer to FLAC files I ripped from several hundred CDs.

Wanting to improve the listening experience in my home office, I was thinking about some powered speakers with USB input (like Klipsch The Fives).  But I've gone down the rabbit hole reading too many forum posts and now I'm thinking about something like the Cyrus One CAST, or similar.  At some point in the future I HOPE to be able to get back to a little nicer 2 channel system, but for the next year I will be listening nearfield on my desk.  If I go the integrated amp route I'll likely try to use some Gallo Due speakers I've had stored in a closet.

So how much is too much, in your opinion?  Get an integrated to give a possible upgrade path, or just get the active speakers with DAC?  Thanks in advance.
Ag insider logo xs@2xazkeith
I think the value is in your own ears. 

Honestly though I think a good sounding integrated with built in streaming capabilities is a miracle.  So simple, so few cables. So relatively affordable.
Last year I bought and installed a pair of KEF LS50 Wireless speakers for our living room/dining room and they sound really good, and easily integrate with Spotify & Roon.  If these were in a more serious listening environment I'd probably add a subwoofer.

They have replaced these with LS50 Wireless II's which, if anything, would be an improvement on the pair I have.
At some point in the future I HOPE to be able to get back to a little nicer 2 channel system, but for the next year I will be listening nearfield on my desk.

Building a satisfying system is hard enough. Don't go making it any harder than it has to be. Buy powered speakers and from then on you are stuck in all kinds of ways. NEVER tie your hands like that! 

How much is too much is never the question. More quality (not quantity!) is always better. If you want to keep the HOPE alive: integrated.