[fancynapkin]

I appreciate the concerns, but this isn't a huge state school, this is a private christian school with less than 4000 attending. I seriously doubt anything will be stolen or damaged.

I think I will work on my headphone setup, since I already have time and research invested in that, but honestly I NEED speakers, Im not looking for eye (or rather ear) opening performance at this price (totally understandable) but compared to my other options (plastic name brand computer speakers) I think I will be quite happy with this route.
BTW I have an airport express, could this be of any use?
I think I will buy a used reciever (such as the ones listed) and get some of those av123 x-ls bookshelves, or build my own if needed, and use them for watching movies or listening to some tunes. Do you think thats a better choice than the t-amp/paradigm atom combo?

[Doublej]

Get an Onkyo CS210 or a Teac Reference 225 (if they sell them in the states).

The Onkyo will run less than $200. If you don't like the sound of the speakers take the savings and buy a pair of speakers for $200.

You'll be loving it. I guarantee it.

[Christof]

Fancynapkin

If I were in your shoes, which I was just a short time ago, I would use my PC (Mac) as a transport, skip a dedicated CD player all together.  Pick up a 250-500gig external HD and go wireless to your Airport Express (I currently use and am thrilled with this set-up).   Use the optical output on your express vs. analog (same as mini plug) into a slightly dated all in one reciever which you can find here or Agon but make sure it has a digital optical input so you can get a good signal out of the airport express.  

Take what ever money you have left and purchase the best speakers possible.  Consider demos or B-stock to keep the price down.  PM Rick Craig, Jim Salk, Danny @ GR, or any of the designers selling direct and ask what deals they might have for you.  I think most people here will agree that speakers are the most important component to invest your initial $ in.  Don't waste alot of money only to find out that amps, recievers, CD players, PC transports, cables, all account for such a minor part when it comes to the overall distortion of your system compared with speakers.

If you go the headphone route go over to headfi forum and look at reviews.  Airport Express into this could be fun http://www.firestone-audio.com/cgi-bin/product.asp?pdtseqnm=1

c.

[mcgsxr]

I think the system evolving here is a really good one for the $$, and I should know, since I STILL use a budget system, because of a house investment, on the order of JLM's, and my two little ones (2 girls under 2.25 years of age)!

I like the PC as front end, an external HD, a Panny receiver (used would be perfect, any of the SAXR-25, 30, 50, 70 or 55 etc), and either a set of those speakers Wayne recommended, or a set of Athena Technology bookshelves, also reknowned for the $$, all leveraging the digital output of the Express, into the Panny.

Sorted, for $400 I figure, and sound WAY better than the Yamaha AX500U, and floorstanding Cerwins I used in college...

[Christof]

Here is another option.  If you don't need to shake walls a full range could be a good introduction to this sick addiction we all share....

PC->AE->SAXR 70-> http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0801/coolaudio.htm

The Moth Audio Cicada can be DIY'd for much less and any cabinet maker near your school should be able to whip it up from Baltic Birch for pretty cheap.

c.

[thayerg]

If you like the idea of headphones but feel you need speakers, the solution might be to buy a pair of self-amplified speakers and call it good. Here's a pair that might get the nod:

http://www.audioengineusa.com/

The airport express is a decent analog converter. I think Stereophile did an exhaustive technical report and all I could see against it was a higher-than-possible intermodulation distortion figure.

[rajacat]

Check out these Swan speakers!http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16836136102

[JLM]

Strange things can happen in small, private schools.  I went to a private school with 800 students on campus and saw vandalism, guns shot off in the dorms, and over $6,000 worth of audio gear stolen (from one room alone).  A 700 student church school nearby had race riots a couple of years ago.  

The KKK is small town based.  The Oklahoma City bombers were from rural Michigan.  All militia groups are rural based.  

Dirty laundry stays behind closed doors in small communities.

OTOH Dared sells a cute, relatively inexpensive 13 wpc USB based tube amp that would be sweet in a dorm.

[fancynapkin]

http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/athena_asb1.htm

anyone tried these? They should match well with a t-amp and the whole setup would be dirt cheap, just to get me started (since I will probally focus more on my headphone setup).

[Folsom]

How about the M-audio Audiophile USB?

That or this can have RCA outs, volume controlled via computer.... http://www.hagtech.com/hagusb.html Then throw in some better components if they will work, 1% resistors, better caps etc perhaps.... I would ask Hagtech about that. The reason I think this would do ok using the on board DAC is I read a few things about the chip itself and aparantly it is uesd in some "low end audiophile" USB devices. Hagtech themselves say it is just ok, however it might respond from some upgrades. Also I would like to point out in general I find computer to have a lot more detail, simply more data makes it out than with even really nice transports in several thousand dollar CD players. I know the DAC does not compete, but honestly I think detail is riviting even with out the smoother transitions of soundstage you get from a nicer DAC. I would not want to use the airport.... Personally all that with a toslink etc etc etc equals jitter to me, that is what I see happening. There is just way to many conversion to different mediums of transporting data involved. Next becaues you can control the volume via software (I prefer buttons that act independently from software some how, that is what my laptop does) you can take an old vintage-ish reciever and GUT THE HELL OUT OF IT! Trust me it is fun to take out all the buttons, volume controls, and put in your own DIY wire like Cat5, or maybe some magnet wire. This way the computer controls the volume, the amplifier is as simple and best as it has ever been, and no one wants to steal some "old POS from the seventies". Throw in some home made speakers from used wood (I have some from an old entertainment center, every one thinks my speakers are older than my amplifier), and make your own speaker wire, using electrical tape to hold it togather.... Trust me no one will take it when you have a Powerbook sitting next to it.

Simple is best...

Also desktop speakers while they sound nice also have no soundstage, and you loose a lot of depth to the music being so freaking close. That is why in a dorm I set my stuff up in the Study Lounge, and listen to it in there, when I want to really hear music.... Every one assumes my crap is old or they are trust worthy friends etc.... I live on a very good floor that really is VERY protected by the people and building. Not just any one can get on the floor, and the people on it would mess up who ever tried to steal your stuff. Yeah I am lucky on this floor.

Rule of thumb, lock room or always be near your stuff or have some one else around.

I use some headphones straight out of my computer for listening in my room. My computer is pretty unique for some reason, even though not one person but the guy at a local high end shop will even think twice there is a possibility of the onboard being worth ANY THING. Fact is it is better off than some rather high end stuff in aspects.

Any ways... Yeah I recommend simple as possible, DIY. Put on new connections onto a vintage amp when you gut it etc.... I can even send you some wonderous little things for speaker wire posts with out termination. They are solid blocks of copper covered in silver, and would be free. Hell you can even use them as your interconnect connections if you wanted.

[mcgsxr]

I have heard those Athenas, they are exactly what I was recommending...

Your budget will allow for some interesting options.

Personally, I would steer clear of the T amp, and hunt a Panny, that you can feed with a digital input, thus skating around all the issues with DAC totally...

Good luck!

[fancynapkin]

alright, looks I've got this figured out.

usb/laptop soundcard > transport device (such as airport) > used reciever> DIY speakers (pe BR-1 or madisound sledgling kit) or av123 x-ls speakers.

BTW I have an ascendant audio atlas 15" sub and a few boxes I made for it, would it be good to maybe get a plate amp and use this in a HT setup? Its probally way too big, but it might be fun  

edit: accidently left out the reciever

[Christof]

Are you planning to drive these with a T-Amp or Son of T amp?

[Folsom]

You left out an amplifier....

You could make a really cheap amplifier with kits from

http://www.twistedpearaudio.com/

I still say screw airport and toslink.

The Hagtech unit will also allow you to add a really nice DAC later if you want, DIY or what ever.

Hagtech equipment $80
Twisted Pear parts $35
Transformer from Parts Express $50
Magnetic wire and connectors from radioshack $50 (RCA and speaker wire, as well as chassis mount RCA jacks)
= $215

That leaves $185 for speakers. You could easily get...

FR125s from Diycable $140
MDF piece of wood $20
Parts Express, some binding posts $12

$13 left over for some screws, silicon, wood glue, perhaps ports for the speakers depending on design. Either way you would cut it right aronud $380-420 pretty well I think.

It is all up to you! I just like the DIY stuff.... Plus you end up with better stuff for the run of money. People talk about and critisize DIY stuff a LOT but the truth is that is ends up better than any thing else not DIY in the price range any how.

[Christof]

DoS

Why do you say screw the Airport Express -> Toslink route?  Just curious.

[Folsom]

DoS

Why do you say screw the Airport Express -> Toslink route?  Just curious.

Considering how many times the information goes to different mediums I just have a hard time imagining it keeping the integrity of the audio. The understand I have is it does not use raw data, but SPDIF...

A local place here has experminted with it and found it to be nothing close feeling the need to advertise equipment sale for it, they just ignore it all togather... The Squeeze Box is note worth obviously. My laptop with Foobar2000 at 96khz is much more mentioniable from the 1/8th out.

I was following some expermints with jitter.... Toslink has a conversion and hence jitter can be induced (this matters on SPDIF signal). That is why a lot of high end equipment is preferable to the BNC ended style even though it seems out dated and inferior at first look. It makes sense to me. Data being sent in bursts etc, as opposed to never ending changing of clock cycles inducing a lot of jitter from SPDIF signal, through several medium changes, airport and toslink etc that are not necessary.

I take jitter pretty seriously, as it seems to degrade detail in music a lot more than most people are aware. The difference between reduced jitter of say via computer, via computer to squeeze box, etc, vs. transports is baffaling. There is just so much more detail when you reduce jitter. In fact the detail level brings me to a post I plan to make about how DAC's and transports are over rated   . I believe the same concept of jitter applies to all these little gadgets, as a lot of tests have shown too.

In general simple = best.

[fancynapkin]

okay, so I've been doing some thinking (for once) and I've decided that it probally is worth it to invest some more money into this hobby, since its inevitable that my pockets are going to be drained at some point.

So here it is:
my computer with a chaintech av-710 soundcard
I will run that to either a headphone amplifier (a simple cmoy) and then into my senn hd595's
Or, I will use the spdif into a panasonic xr-55 reciever
which would be powering whatever DIY bookshelves I decide on (in the sub $400 range) and also to an ascendant audio 15" atlas in a ported 20hz enclosure, powered by a rythmik audio 350w plate amp.

I guess my question is, is this good, and what diy bookshelf kits are out there that would sound excellent for under $400

[SET Man]

.... and what diy bookshelf kits are out there that would sound excellent for under $400  ...

Hey!

   Your solution sounds good.

As for DIY speaker... people at Madisound seem to have couple of interesting DIY speaker. Here are some that I find interesting. Have not heard them but they seem like a good speaker kit.

http://madisound.com/ar_com.html

http://madisound.com/cygnet2.html

There are more...

http://madisound.com/kits.html

I think most of them come with cabs so it should be easy and take little time to finish them.  Well, there are more spekaer kit out there I'm sure other here will fill in.

Goodluck,
Buddy

[bhobba]

Interesting thread.

Instead of DIY spekers the following looks a great combo at even less cost:
http://www.av123.com/products_product.php?section=speakers&product=82.1
http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/loudspeakers/Onixxlsp1.php
Great when connected to a modded SB3
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=24689&start=20&sid=5b03b9b83dafe8d1942eb2c0ce57703f

If you really want DIY speakers the following looks both cheap and good and on special at the moment.
http://www.northcreekmusic.com/CM-7/CM-7_Loudspeaker_System.htm

Thanks
Bill

[dave_c]

If you don't need surround, how about this:  http://www.outlawaudio.com/products/rr2150.html

A little more pricey than the XR-55, but its a soundcard, receiver and headphone amp all in one.  Oops, also I just noticed that its sold out.

And the X-LS from AV123 that everyone is suggesting.