advice please

nicknack35 · 1 Jun 2014 at 11:05

Hey all just a bit of advice please my pc arrives next week andvim still looking for sound options I went in richer sounds yesterday and was looking for something decent didnt want to spend over the odds and the assistant showed me the fatman amp and a decent pair of denon speakers small enough for desktop he set it up and it sounded great im just wondering if anyone had this amp I was lookingvto spend around £300 and the fatman amp and speakers came to around £290 would this be a good option ive decided not to go with pc speakers as I wanted decent sound the room is not very big so the corsair would be to much with the size of the sub any advice would be great many thanks

Cookeh · 1 Jun 2014 at 11:26

If you can push your budget at all, the Yamaha AS500 paired with a Q Acoustics 2020i is extremely hard to beat for the money. The Q Acoustics are the best speakers you can get beneath £200, they also have quite a small footprint and the AS500 pairs well with it (from personal experience

). Should total about £340. You would have to spend about £500+ to get anything that was even noticeably better

The Fatman is 'ok' - very expensive for its output wattage and tube amps can be a real pita, and Denon don't actually make speakers?

nicknack35 · 1 Jun 2014 at 11:30

Thanks cookeh its mainly for music and films and also tv use could I get that set up from richer sounds cookeh?

Cookeh · 1 Jun 2014 at 12:32

You certainly could

If you subscribe to their VIP service you can save at least a tenner (perhaps even double).

nicknack35 · 1 Jun 2014 at 14:24

Thanks cookeh ive just been looking at these speakers also dont know if you know about these cookeh they look nice also mordaunt short Alumni 2 they look good and also for home theatre?

nicknack35 · 1 Jun 2014 at 14:40

Another thing cookeh would I need a decent sound card on my pc for this set up or would the onboard be ok ive ordered the asus xonar D1 to be added to my build

Cookeh · 1 Jun 2014 at 14:42

They're pretty old as far as speakers go, they have a very analytical sound to them - may be quite tiring to some. Given the identical price,the 2020is will be the better purchase - especially if you are referring the the entire 5.1 Alumni speaker package, which will require an AV receiver, not an amp and so will further push the price up for lower quality audio in a surround sound set up.

Cookeh · 1 Jun 2014 at 14:43

nicknack35 said:
Another thing cookeh would I need a decent sound card on my pc for this set up or would the onboard be ok ive ordered the asus xonar D1 to be added to my build

A soundcard, not so much - it's DAC will be a bit better than the onboard so it will make a difference. The D1 isn't really worth £20 over the DG though, based on reviews (I've not actually used either).

nicknack35 · 1 Jun 2014 at 15:12

What DAC would I need cookeh please?

dacads · 1 Jun 2014 at 15:48

I don't think the Q2020i are the best speakers for under £200, at that price you can check out the Dali Zenzor 1 and Monitor Audio Bronze BX1. I recommend having a demo with all these speakers at richersounds if they're available, with the amp you intend on buying. This will give you a much better idea of what they sound like rather than relying on what other people think, which would be too biased.

Cookeh · 1 Jun 2014 at 17:48

Different ears I guess, but I didnt feel like either of the above matched the 2020i. OP, read some reviews, and as aforementioned, dont be afraid to demo them all. Ears are very subjectuve after all haha.
Regarding a DAC, you dont strictly need one, but a decent one will set you back another £150 (DACMagic Plus) so it might be worth thinking about that as a future upgrade rather than an initial pur hase.