Amp + Speakers for under $600

silver · « **on:** 21 May 2004, 04:27 am »

Hi I am looking for a amp and a pair of speakers with sub(or without sub if bass are fine) for under $600, Speakers with amp build in are fine.

I mainly listen to classical and j-pop, with little jazz and rock.
Thanks a lot.

PS: My first post.

sturgus · « **Reply #1 on:** 21 May 2004, 04:55 am »

First let me say welcome. Hope you enjoy the site. Before anyone here can make a good recomendation we need a little more info.
1. Will this be H/T or 2/channel or both?
2.What will be your source?
3.What are you listening to now?
4. What type of music do you like, do you like it loud?
5. How large is the room the system will be in?
6. Would you buy used ( money buys much more ) ?
If you answer these questions I am quite sure you will get many sugesstions.
Sturgus

silver · « **Reply #2 on:** 21 May 2004, 05:15 am »

1. Will this be H/T or 2/channel or both?

2 channel (maybe both, but unlikely)

2.What will be your source?

For PC use now, sound card is emu 1212m or 1820m(still not sure which one to buy, has m-audio revo now) Will buy a CD player and DAC sometimes next month. I will use a headroom headphone amp(MoH) as preamp.

3.What are you listening to now?

Vivaldi, Mozart, Ayumi Hamasaki, Arai Akino...(too lazy to list CDs)

4. What type of music do you like, do you like it loud?

Classical, J-pop, Anime sound track, and little Jazz and Rock.

5. How large is the room the system will be in?

kind of small, not sure howmany square feet

6. Would you buy used ( money buys much more ) ?

not really but if the deal is really go I will go for it.

Thanks.

vpolineni · « **Reply #3 on:** 21 May 2004, 05:31 am »

first off, go for the emu 1212m soundcard... from what i've read, it seems to be a tremendous value. with this soundcard, I don't think you'll need a dac... so that saves you some money. you'll already have an excellent front end so with 600 dollars, you'll need to find speakers and an amp that will do it justice. for speakers, the ascend acoustics cbm-170 have garnered a lot of praise.... they're monitors though. If you want floorstanding speakers... the athena as-f2 are probably you're best bet. for amps, this looks like a preety good deal:
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstran&1090271783
nad amps are typically in your range as well. do you have cables or will you be buying those as well?

silver · « **Reply #4 on:** 21 May 2004, 05:40 am »

Hi thanks for the input, I will need to buy cables too, forgot about that

Oh forgot this, thew speakers will be placed on my desk, so they the floor standing type won't work.

gotmikey · « **Reply #5 on:** 21 May 2004, 05:53 am »

Welcome to the wonderful world of the audiophile! Questions like yours keep guys like us thinking for hours... I can't even suggest anything

ToddSTS · « **Reply #6 on:** 21 May 2004, 12:16 pm »

Amp- Panasonic SA-XR25 on clearance at Sears nationwide for about $130 still in the box. It may be marked higher but when they ring it up it is less. You just have to find one.

Then you have $470 left for speakers.....hmmm....

Get a Dayton sub from parts express for around $100.

Then take your pick of some nice bookshelf speakers with the rest.

Athena AS-B1s are nice, and cheap too. I think $200 a pair at Best Buy. Which still leaves money for cables and connectors. Or call Ascend and ask about a pair of B-stock CBM-170s. I just ordered a pair for $288 plus shipping.

Todd

Tonto Yoder · « **Reply #7 on:** 21 May 2004, 12:38 pm »

Quote from: sturgus

First let me say welcome. Hope you enjoy the site. Before anyone here can make a good recomendation we need a little more info.
1. Will this be H/T or 2/channel or both?
2.What will be your source?
3.What are you listening to now?
4. What type of music do you like, do you like it loud?
5. How large is the room the system will be in?
6. Would you buy used ( money buys much more ) ?
If you answer these questions I am quite sure you will get many sugesstions.
Sturgus

WARNING: OFF TOPIC POST TO FOLLOW
No criticism of the content of your post, but just a heads-up that coloring parts of your post's text makes it virtually unreadable for those members who use SpacePilot rather than sub silver. I switched to silver to read the post, but now I'll creep back into the darkness of space.

Creeped out of the dark to find a BIG pic of the soundcard discussed--
http://media.zzounds.com/media/brand,zzounds/1212M_DAS-6c20824f13120cfdef52e6b1b5e5683b.jpg

vpolineni · « **Reply #8 on:** 21 May 2004, 01:15 pm »

toddsts makes a great point.. the panasonic sa-xr25 will work well using the digital out on your emu 1212m soundcard... you'd need to put an iec outlet on it as well as some other tweaks though. with that and a b-stock of the ascend cbm-170's you'd have a great system. Regarding cables, how much did you want to spend? Given the level of equipment you're dealing with... i think you'd be limiting your system by not getting some quality cables. Chris Venhaus's pulsar ic would make a great digital cable. If you area DIY'er, you can make some speaker cable using his star-quad 9awg wire... I wonder if that'd fit in the binding posts of the sa-xr25 though... aren't those push-pin type connectors?

Hantra · « **Reply #9 on:** 21 May 2004, 02:54 pm »

I am going to have to reinforce what VP said to a degree.

When you say:

Quote

For PC use now, sound card is emu 1212m or 1820m(still not sure which one to buy, has m-audio revo now) Will buy a CD player and DAC sometimes next month.

There is absolutely no need for you to buy a CD player, and a DAC. Especially if you buy either of those soundcards. If your budget is $600 for the amp and speakers, I think you will find very few multi-kilobuck players that will compete with that setup.

L8r,

B

JoshK · « **Reply #10 on:** 21 May 2004, 03:39 pm »

You might also have a look at the 2-way Rick Craig @ Selah Audio makes

$375 for a completed pair.

http://www.selahaudio.com/rc2.html

Based on good drivers.

silver · « **Reply #11 on:** 21 May 2004, 08:32 pm »

Thanks a lot guys, that's lotsof helpful info.

Quote

you'd need to put an iec outlet on it as well as some other tweaks though

Sorry I don't really understand this part...

I was searching xr25 and found this one http://www.digitalfotoclub.com/sc/main_item.asp?id=964592545&rf=dt&dfdate=05_20_2004 Is the XR50 worth the $ 100 more?

CBM-170 and RC 2 are both in my price range(RC 2 is a little high, but it's ok) so which one is better? Or how are they different?

I am not a DIYer so what cable you guys think I should buy? Thanks.

Tonto Yoder · « **Reply #12 on:** 21 May 2004, 09:11 pm »

Quote from: silver

Quote
you'd need to put an iec outlet on it as well as some other tweaks though

Sorry I don't really understand this part...

.

The Panasonic comes with the power cord permanently attached; much high-end gear comes with an IEC outlet in the rear panel, allowing use of different power cords. Computers come with the IEC outlet as well.
Some feel that the Panasonic unit can be improved by making such changes, but it voids your warranty.

BTW, the XR25 RETAILS for $299 but is available for $130-40 since it's being discontinued: hard to find though at that price.

silver · « **Reply #13 on:** 21 May 2004, 10:36 pm »

Quote from: Tonto Yoder

Quote from: silver

Quote
you'd need to put an iec outlet on it as well as some other tweaks though

Sorry I don't really understand this part...

.

The Panasonic comes with the power cord permanently attached; much high-end gear comes with an IEC outlet in the rear panel, allowing use of different power cords. Computers come with the IEC outlet as well.
Some feel that the Panasonic unit can be improved by making such changes, but it voids your warranty.

BTW, the XR25 RETAILS for $29 ...

I see, thanks a lot for explan that to me, the problem is I don't know how to do it, well I suck at this kind of thing, everytime I try to mod something I mess it up and break it...

As for XR25, I will see what price I can get, or maybe I just get a XR50, 50 is better than 25 right?

silver · « **Reply #14 on:** 22 May 2004, 01:17 am »

I think I will get e-mu 1212m, cbm-170, the DAYTON 10" 100 watt powered sub, and xr50(don' think I can find xr25)

Now what kind of cable do I need for all this things? I really have no idea, some some help please.

Thanks a lot.

dave_c · « **Reply #15 on:** 22 May 2004, 05:53 am »

I had the CBM's and returned them. They sound really good. But I didn't care for their looks. Aside from being bigger than I thought they'd be, I don't really care for their plastic/vinyl finish.

That's just me though. They sounded great and their customer service was excellent. There are many satisfied customers and they are a tremendous value. I would have paid more to have a pair finished with a veneer.

Are you going to use this as your PC setup? If so you may want to consider some powered Pro Audio Studio Monitors. It will allow you to spend the money where it counts. Instead of paying for HT features that you won't use, you'll spend it on quality drivers with matched bi-amplification.

Just a thought.

BTW - You listen to M Flo at all?

cjr888 · « **Reply #16 on:** 22 May 2004, 11:32 am »

If you're going with the sub, you might also consider a pair of NHT Super Zero's or Super One's from onecall for ~$150, or another good choice would be the Magnepan MMG W's for $300 (http://www.magnepan.com/1-800-474-1646/magnepan-main.html#)

jptang · « **Reply #17 on:** 14 Jun 2004, 05:35 am »

based on your listening peferences i suggest a tube based system...
nOrh se-9 single ended tube amp for $400 maybe.
then get some fairly efficient speakers, like B&W dm110 (what I got used for $100) or the nOrh 3.0.

just my opinion !
Have fun.