Best speakers/amp for music circa £500

richieboy

richieboy

richieboy

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29 Dec 2004
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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 said:
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.

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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? :confused:

I've got a lot of catching up to do I think :D
 
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.
 
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...
 
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mrk said:
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.
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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.
 
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!
 
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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JasonM said:
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.

​

Click to expand...
Had some financial setbacks but have finally got the money together for this, is the SMSL d100 still the best way to go? Looks like £150 on Amazon via third party seller or d100 pro for £209 but don't think I need the hdmi arc so will likely stick with the cheaper option unless anyone's got a better option for a DAC? SMSL seem to have a million different models and for the life of me I can't figure out much difference bar the price!
 
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