Cheap, yet a quality AMP

Zeebedy

Zeebedy

Zeebedy

Soldato
Joined
28 Jan 2011
Posts
8,068
Hey guys,

Im thinking of possibly getting some passive speakers for my PC setup..

Can you recommend a good, compact, yet reasonable budget AMP.

Im no means an audiophile yet I do like my music!


Cheers.
 
Marsman said:
The Syba sonic, is a headphone amp not a speaker amp. Hardyxd got a bit mixed up. Possibly missed the part where you mentioned about speakers.

SMSL SA36 or 50, maj mentioned, is a good choice for cheap small speaker amp.

There are some decent active speakers to be had, such as those from Edifier, if you'd prefer to go that route. They are very good, but one advantage to buying passive speakers and an amp, is that you can get many passive speakers that cost less than they used to. Active speakers don't drop in price the same way.

Also passive speakers are more solid in terms of reliability. As they have no amp inside, they have less electronics. Electronics will be the thing that go in active speakers, if there is an issue. With cheaper active speakers, more corners are cut to meet a price point. Very often that is that power supply. If it ever comes to it; cheaper to replace the amp, than the speakers. ;)

Depending on what size of speaker you want and how much you want to spend, Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 are great speakers for around £50 from Richer Sounds.
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Thanks for the clarification mate.

I currently have the Razer Nommo 2.0 speakers, would I notice a worthwhile change to the said amp and WD 9.0 to warrent a upgrade?
 
Thanks for the time @Marsman

I ordered the Lepy Amp, as I can screw it into the under side of my desk. And went for the Wharfdale Diamond 9.0 speakers, with speaker stands, and the bits and bobs (cable, speaker and RCA etc..)

Once I receive and have setup I will return the Nommos as they are OK but lack bass, but are good for the sizes tbh!

Will post back once I have it all, wount be until teh weekend though :(
 
Marsman said:
Glad to help. I use a similar set up myself. I have a Topping TP21 amp and Roth Oli speakers. They are the same size as the Wharfedale's and for my desk, just right. Anything larger would be too big! :p

Did you go for desk speaker stands or floor standing ones?

Just curious, as some people do use desk stands to raise the speakers so the tweeter is ear height, and to help decouple the speakers from the desk to stop unwanted vibrations.
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Yes mate, I bought desk stands, I think they can be adjusted to be a few customisable settings for height!
 
One more thing, do you turn your AMP off after use? Or just minimize the volume?

I only ask as I heard its better to leave the AMP on to aviod "warm-up" or such? Is that true?
 
My Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 speakers arrived today, lovely, lovely looking and quality speakers for the money!

Will update setup with photos once I recieve the AMP and cables.
 
JasonM said:
I put my amp's into standby mode, or at least soft off. The reason is it's kinder to electronics as it reduces the repeated surge of main power off/on over time.

Regarding warm up, yes you can get a change in sound, normally amps sound better after 20mins or so off use. You'll be hard pressed to notice the warm up on a modern class B amplifier, however I still believe it's there.
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I went for this AMP - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00SATAEEA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So im guessing I cant "standby mode" or "soft off" no?
 
I think that for the money it costs, I will just turn it "hard" off and if it packs in down the line, get another..as it doesnt exactly break the bank much tbh
 
Just setup and installed my new speaker setup. Well glad I went down this route, night and day for sound against my Razer Nommo speakers. :)

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Cheers mate :)

Yeah, im surprised as..they are meant to help absorb the vibrations from the bass etc..and they do them really, really well..

I play some heavy bass music, and sounds great, and yet there is minimal vibrations on the desk, floor etc..

Well impressed

Thanks again for the help mate, so so much better sounds now :D
 
JasonM said:
That setup looks really good, love the way you have positioned the amp.

Also very good you got your speakers on stands and isolated, makes a big difference. I would experiment with getting them away from wall more, just an extra 1-2cm can make a difference to sound.

Just a small tip, don't drive your speakers to hard at first, all speakers need some running in time, start at low volume then slowly play tracks louder, normally takes at least 20 hours of playing.
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thanks mate. Appreciated!

I will move the speakers a bit further out then.

about 20 hours! Didn’t know that. Will take it easy at first then :p


Cheers mate.
 
Thanks mate, will play around with these settings, and see how I get on.

One quick q @JasonM ..my AMP when I turn it on, after a few seconds there is an audible (not loud) click? :confused:

Is that just the AMP or could it be a fault?
 
JasonM said:
Is the click coming from the amp itself, is there any music/sound from the speakers before the click? If so it's probably normal, amp's have short circuit protection and as there is no short detected it's opening the circuit to the speakers.
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Im 99% sure its the AMP itself, it happens before I increase the volume to the speakers, as I turn the volume down before off, when I am finished and turning my PC off.
 
JasonM said:
It's strange that the click is happening with volume. I would have expected the click to open happen when the unit was switched on or off.

What I would do, play some music from the computer while turning the volume down, and see if the click suddenly cuts all sound from speakers.
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Sorry I didnt make clear, it is when I turn it on from the switch. Then its a click.
 
JasonM said:
It's probably the short circuit protection then. Again i'm no expert here, however what I believe is happening the amp is checking the impedance of speaker circuit, if there is no short detected, then the click is activating the output stage of amp. Providing the click is not happening when playing music (only happening when amp is turned on or off) I would not worry about it.
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Yeah, this is the only time it happens, its playing music flawlessly, no intefearence nothing..

Thanks Jason.
 
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