[Jay Decker]

Looking to put together a new affordable sound system, e.g., speakers, amp, DAC, and streamer, for streaming music in my basement pottery studio. 

1.  If you know of a good thread on this topic, please post a link to the thread.
2.  Budget around $1,000.
3.  Already have a Roon server in the house and an extra ethernet connection cable already run into the studio already.
4.  Music is a little bit of everything rock, country, jazz, classical, but not into hip hop or rap.
5.  The studio space is about 20x30 has a 7 foot ceiling, the floor joists and heating ducts are exposed, the walls are CMU, and the floor is concrete.
6.  The environment can be dusty.
7.  Spend long periods working and listening in this space.

[Gumby]

Hello Jay,

One option: Put all your budget on the best Dac and connect to it with usb cable.  Not as convenient as streaming but you’ll hear better clarity, meat and bones.  In your budget I highly recommend a Chord Mojo or an older Bryston BDA

Second option: Start with a decent streaming Dac.  You can always add a killer Dac in future.  You can’t go wrong with Bluesound Node

[LedZep]

I would choose a dac with preamp and active monitors - with xlr. Pro market is better and cheaper. There might be bundle opportunities

[JLM]

Bluesound Node 2i + Kali LP-6 active 2-way monitors

[Doublej]

The SVS Prime Wireless Pro at $800 is worth a look. Speakers, Amp, DAC, streaming for$800/pair.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/svs-prime-wireless-pro-powered-speakers

[dublin78]

Watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CohiNYuOFRQ
Then this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJcLvlbPwdw
Enjoy the music with simple streaming from Rune, Apple Airplay and others

[morganc]

I’d start with the best speakers you can afford, get an integrated amp and go from there with an inexpensive DAC/streamer.  Key is getting speakers that you like. If you’re working you don’t need pinpoint imaging, etc but rather speakers that sound great through the entire space.  Lots of great options on the used market now. Active monitors definitely make the process cheaper and easier.

[newzooreview]

The new Emotiva DAC-Amp and Speakers system for $1k looks pretty good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzVCNy3DVso

Since you have Roon up and running, a Raspberry Pi running Ropiee would work perfectly to stream to the Emotiva or similar DAC-Amp and passive speaker setup.

Keeping the streaming portion on something separate and open source seems to provide flexibility since the things that change most rapidly are streaming options and software.

[Jay Decker]

Wow - great ideas and avenues that I hadn’t considered!  Particularly, the idea of active speakers, which I know nothing about, and a Raspberry Pi based streamer. 

[Letitroll98]

JBL makes some of the best active speakers for home use.  The 3xx line, 305,306,308, are pretty inexpensive and do a great job. 

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Get a PS Audio Sprout 100 integrated amp/DAC/Streamer and a pair of Elac Debut speakers.  You may have to increase your budget to $1100 though as the sprout 100 is $799.  Other options are a Yamaha S501 integrated from here-

https://www.accessories4less.com/?type=&page=category&action=&id=integratedamp&mode=&search_query=&category=&thumb_sort=store_price.asc

And an IFI streamer like this-


https://www.crutchfield.com/p_246ZNBLUE2/iFi-Zen-Blue-V2.html

[Tyson]

Get a PS Audio Sprout 100 integrated amp/DAC/Streamer and a pair of Elac Debut speakers.  You may have to increase your budget to $1100 though as the sprout 100 is $799.  Other options are a Yamaha S501 integrated from here-

https://www.accessories4less.com/?type=&page=category&action=&id=integratedamp&mode=&search_query=&category=&thumb_sort=store_price.asc

And an IFI streamer like this-


https://www.crutchfield.com/p_246ZNBLUE2/iFi-Zen-Blue-V2.html

+1

[morganc]

Buy it here and it stays within budget:
https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649890235-ps-audio-sprout-100/

(No affiliation with the seller!)

[danali]

its a 20x30 room, he needs a good condition used pro amp, crown $2-300 use not much ore new,  for example and some jbl pro speakers to fill that size of space. studio monitors aint gonna cut i

[Doublej]

To danali's concept, a pair of these and a WiiM would do it.

https://www.amazon.com/JBL-Professional-EON710-Loudspeaker-Bluetooth/dp/B09K4W1VD7?th=1

[whell]

Dust! That's the key here IMHO.   Most electronics in a dusty environment die an early death.  A Raspberry Pi is something I might be inclined to rule out because of this.  Same with the BlueSound node. 

I like the idea of the Wiim Mini, not just because I have one.  In a dusty environment, its small size and the fact that it doesn't generate heat would allow it to be covered up.  Once you plug it in and set it up, you can cover it because there's really no need to touch it after that. You could even cover it with an old Tupperware container, and if you want to add some modest ventilation, a couple of well-placed holes in the Tupperware - may be covered with cheesecloth? - would suffice.  Plus, if it does die an early death due to dust, it's cheap to replace.

Search for a pair of powered speakers as suggested.  You might be able to find a good used pair to save some money. 

[MarvinTheMartian]

If you can remotely control your main roon upstairs rig from your basement workshop.
Why not simply add a secondary amp > speaker wires > basement speakers to your main system.
Probably 4 speakers to cover the large 30’ x 20’ area, hidden in rafters to maintain your limited 7’ headroom.

I did this in my basement woodshop and it sounds great when using hand tools,
but end up using Bluetooth noise canceling hearing protection when any machines are running.

Cheap and works well, especially if the upstairs family agrees with your musical taste ; )
Shawn

[richidoo]

Voice control is very handy to control the audio in the shop. When something comes on that you don't want to hear, or when an important call comes in, you can just yell "Alexa, Pause." Then when the coast is clear, yell "Alexa resume."

You can command to play an artist, a song, an album, any radio station, weather, news, talk, set a timer, etc. You can control other smart devices like TV, lights, security, etc.

I have an older echo, the tall cylindrical model with a woofer in the bottom. It has decent enough bass to enjoy music. It sits out in my damp cold and hot garage for years without any problem. It can be placed near the wall for more bass, or out on the edge of the countertop for clearer sound. It plays loud and clear enough that I'm sometimes concerned the neighbors will be annoyed from 200 feet away.

I see they now have an echo subwoofer available, and a pair of echos can be configured to play in stereo.
There is a version with better audio quality called Echo Studio.
They have a line level "hifi" source box called Echo Link, and a "hifi" amp version called Echo Link Amp that can be controlled by an Alexa device like phone or normal echo dot. These can play uncompressed audio from streaming services and have input jacks to distribute audio somehow. Kinda like a Sonos system, but cheaper.
Sonos also has Alexa voice command now too, not sure it's worth the premium price.
 
Refurbished Echos start @$40. Get one with the bigger 3" speaker, not the tiny echo dot.

[Doublej]

If you want voice control you can get a $20 (on sale) Echo Dot and use its analog line out to send the signal to a preamplifier of pair of speakers. The  Echo also has Bluetooth built in.

You can use one with multiple music services including Pandora, Spotify (supports Spotify connect), Amazon Music, TuneIn radio, and iHeart radio.

You will, however, have to spend $200 to purchase an Echo Link or Echo Studio if you want a digital output from an Echo device.