Hi..IMO the Schiit is good but I felt a little overpriced compared to the build & sound quality of the Topping/SMSL & iFi gear..I like iFi's take on tone,extracting natural warmth from the Burr Brown chips Schiit didn't have.You simply can not buy better performance for $ & IMO the Zen's headphone circuit is superior in tone to any competetion at the price point...
As for the amp,SKIP the tiny Class A amps at that price..I have pure Class A solid state amplifiers & at 10 wpc(IF they really get close to 10 wpc) those tiny amps do not have transformer & heat sinking needed for reliability ...
Get yourself a REAL,pure Class A stereo amplifier from Douk Audio.https://www.ebay.com/itm/273008586195?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=VGPj6PsVTjC&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY...It's bigger than those other amps,gets pure Class A HOT & absolutely ROCKS for dirt cheap $.It will drive those 4ohm speakers of yours WAYYY better than the other choices & I stake my 50 years of love of stereo you will be sitting in your chair & not even realizing you have this big SCHIIT eating(hahahaha great pun) grin at the sound so little $ can give..Spend the rest of your $ budget on an interconnect & speaker cables,put the speakers on some kind of isolation like cheap rubber/cork 4"squares & your styling...Good luck & please update us when your ready,It will help others newly coming into the hobby..
Table top DAC and Amp advice needed
Hi guys,
Please help me with some table top DAC and AMP advice as I don’t have much table space and I am hoping to reuse my pair of Q Acoustics 3020i and a subwoofer for my pc and also use it for audio to my gaming headphones.
I was advised to consider this setup:
Zen Air DAC and Schiit Gjallarhorn
As someone with zero experience with any of these items I have only read that stuff from Topping, Icepower or Aiyima may be a better buy.
Many thanks for any advice and a low-ish budget.