Best speakers/amp for music circa £500

[richieboy]

Morning,

My old Gale floorstanding speakers have bitten the dust and I'm looking for recommendations for new speakers/amp ideally not floorstanding this time, I've got a dining table for a desk so plenty of room on it for them.

What would you buy for circa £500 budget, they would primarily be connected to PC for listening to music. Ideally I'd need an amp in that budget too or a built in amp is fine. Ideally a good low end would be nice I do love a bit of bass.

I'm trying not to skimp but honestly haven't got a clue these days when it comes to audio so appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks.

 

[JasonM]

PC for listening to music. Ideally I'd need an amp in that budget too or a built in amp is fine.

Adam T7V £145 * 2, £290
Gear4Music desk stands £29
AcouFoam (isolation foam) £23
SMSL d0100 (XLR DAC) - £167
Van Damme XLR cables - £30 for pair of 2.5 meter from the bay.

If setup correctly, above would sound very good.

​

 

[radderfire]

There's a list of major speaker manufacturer websites here, which might help your research.

 

[richieboy]

Adam T7V £145 * 2, £290
Gear4Music desk stands £29
AcouFoam (isolation foam) £23
SMSL d0100 (XLR DAC) - £167
Van Damme XLR cables - £30 for pair of 2.5 meter from the bay.

If setup correctly, above would sound very good.

​

Thanks, I'd been reading up on some Adam Audio speakers earlier, had no idea they existed until today but I've seen a couple of people here recommend them so looks a good option.

Only weak link might be the fact I'm just using onboard sound from my PC mobo so may have to find a decent sound card too as looks like optical input... although it seems to have a USB-C port which has confused me greatly, can I put audio in to it by connecting a USB cable to my PC, or is that for controlling it or something similar?

I've got a lot of catching up to do I think

 

[JasonM]

Thanks, I'd been reading up on some Adam Audio speakers earlier, had no idea they existed until today but I've seen a couple of people here recommend them so looks a good option.

Only weak link might be the fact I'm just using onboard sound from my PC mobo so may have to find a decent sound card too as looks like optical input... although it seems to have a USB-C port which has confused me greatly, can I put audio in to it by connecting a USB cable to my PC, or is that for controlling it or something similar?

I've got a lot of catching up to do I think

You use the SMSL d0100 (XLR DAC) for audio from the PC, it has options for Coax, USB and optical. Optical output from your PC is best as it's galvanic. Then connect the XLR cables from the DAC to the adam monitors.

 

[richieboy]

Thanks Jason - I'd been looking at simpler options like the M20's from Q Accoustics but I like the look of your list, I'll do a bit more research and look at some reviews but unless anyone has any better ideas I think I'll go with your recommendations. I can always upgrade to a decent sound card with an optical out later on! Thanks again.

 

[richieboy]

By the way...where are you sticking the AcouFoam?

Edit... guessing underneath the speakers! I thought you were maybe advocating sticking them on my walls...

 

[JasonM]

By the way...where are you sticking the AcouFoam?

Edit... guessing underneath the speakers! I thought you were maybe advocating sticking them on my walls...

It's just foam to sit between the speakers and stands, it does not have to be AcouFoam, but any good foam with good reviews. It's quite important for sound quality as it isolates vibration going into the stand / desk. The stands are very very important, as it gets the speakers to ear height.

Over a sound card, you don't really need one. A good sound card should give you less jitter over motherboard audio, however for time being go with motherboard and spend budget on DAC / Adam monitors. You can connect to the DAC from the motherboard, so USB, Coax and Optical. Optical is best as it's galvanic, means it only passes the signal and no noise / RFI from the computer. Does your motherboard have something called TosLink on it?

 

[mrk]

If it's near or mid field setup for desktop then surely the best speaker type to go for is something with a point source (like KEF Uni-Q drivers)? The surround immersion regardless of where you sit at your desk etc is simply sublime. Obviously a new pair of KEFs would push out the budget a bit but you can buy them used substantially cheaper! Or any other brand with point source drivers.

For reference my setup is KEF Q300 (was around £340 back in the day) and Topping MX3s (now £170). They are big speakers though so I have them on standmounts. I can't imagine ever needing to upgrade the speakers/amp ever really.

 

[hornetstinger]

Morning,

My old Gale floorstanding speakers have bitten the dust and I'm looking for recommendations for new speakers/amp ideally not floorstanding this time, I've got a dining table for a desk so plenty of room on it for them.

What would you buy for circa £500 budget, they would primarily be connected to PC for listening to music. Ideally I'd need an amp in that budget too or a built in amp is fine. Ideally a good low end would be nice I do love a bit of bass.

I'm trying not to skimp but honestly haven't got a clue these days when it comes to audio so appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks.

Near field or more distance to the speakers?

 

[richieboy]

Near field or more distance to the speakers?

They would be on my desk with me sat in the chair, it's only a small room so presumably near field would be what I am after?

 

[richieboy]

If it's near or mid field setup for desktop then surely the best speaker type to go for is something with a point source (like KEF Uni-Q drivers)? The surround immersion regardless of where you sit at your desk etc is simply sublime. Obviously a new pair of KEFs would push out the budget a bit but you can buy them used substantially cheaper! Or any other brand with point source drivers.

For reference my setup is KEF Q300 (was around £340 back in the day) and Topping MX3s (now £170). They are big speakers though so I have them on standmounts. I can't imagine ever needing to upgrade the speakers/amp ever really.

Thanks I'll look at these bits also, I didn't know about point source drivers so I'll have a look at that too - I quite liked the Adams Audio ones suggested by Jason above but not sure if they are near field etc will do a bit more research.

 

[JasonM]

Thanks I'll look at these bits also, I didn't know about point source drivers so I'll have a look at that too - I quite liked the Adams Audio ones suggested by Jason above but not sure if they are near field etc will do a bit more research.

Yes the Adam monitors are near field, near field is normally any speaker set 3 foot or less away from you.

 

[MrRockliffe]

Audio Pro A28. These have just been on sale, so you could message them and see if they’ll discount them for you.


Q Acoustic M20.

 

[hornetstinger]

You can use regular speakers near field. Not ideal but they do work.

I'm using some hifi speakers in upstairs bedroom/pc system I won't be changing them to near field monitors, not worth losing money/spending money..use Yamaha ypao and seems to improve them

 

[richieboy]

Thanks for all the replies guys, for sake of simplicity and peace of mind with warranty etc for the speakers I'm going to go with Jason's original list as I can get most of it from one place (gear4music), only annoying thing is the SMSL d0100 which is from a third party seller on Amazon. Ah well, fingers crossed I guess!

 

[JasonM]

Thanks for all the replies guys, for sake of simplicity and peace of mind with warranty etc for the speakers I'm going to go with Jason's original list as I can get most of it from one place (gear4music), only annoying thing is the SMSL d0100 which is from a third party seller on Amazon. Ah well, fingers crossed I guess!

Also phone Gear4Music, they should do a deal if your buying everything together. For example they might put some isolation foam in for free, or do a discount on the XLR cables. Otherwise I think you be very happy with that setup I specced.

 

[richieboy]

Ok nice I'll give it a go, not sure if I'm being daft or blind but can't seem to find a van damme XLR cable 3 pin male/female to go from DAC to speakers they all look to be XLR one end and mini jack the other!

 

[JasonM]

can't seem to find a van damme XLR cable 3 pin male/female to go from DAC to speakers they all look to be XLR one end and mini jack the other!

Hopefully not in trouble with the mods, OCUK don't sell XLR cables so should be ok.

This is the seller I buy my cables from. You need 2 of these in the length you prefer, do keep the cables the same length per monitor. BTW these cables will give improved performance over typical mass produced / standard cables.

Van Damme / Neutrik Female XLR to Male XLR Balanced Mic Patch Cable 8 ID Colours | eBay

ID Ring colour options: Black Red White Blue Orange Green Purple or Yellow. Cable colour - Black only. Cable Construction. Conductors 7 x 0.08mm bare silver plated ultra pure oxygen free copper wire. Conductors 32 x 0.08mm ultra pure oxygen free copper wire.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[hornetstinger]

Ok nice I'll give it a go, not sure if I'm being daft or blind but can't seem to find a van damme XLR cable 3 pin male/female to go from DAC to speakers they all look to be XLR one end and mini jack the other!

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