Could someone recommend me a speaker with built in amp for pc

lostone98

lostone98

lostone98

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Noob here, Budget is about £300, dont have pc yet so i dont know what sound card i will end up with. needs to be simple to setup that does not take up much room. i was looking at KEF X300A but i heard bad things about it
 
IMO if you get passive speakers you will have greater choice as choose own amp. Also choose stereo or a avr, and choose one with little or lots of inputs.

You won't get active speakers like back of Denon a1xva backplate for example!
 
hornetstinger said:
IMO if you get passive speakers you will have greater choice as choose own amp. Also choose stereo or a avr, and choose one with little or lots of inputs.

You won't get active speakers like back of Denon a1xva backplate for example!
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Say if i increase my budget to £600 to £700 and go for Q Acoustics 2010i speakers and a Audioengine S8 SUB

what amp with built in dac would you recommend? This will only be needed to play games, i prefer to go a little cheaper and dont want to go overkill with it.

I dont have a lot of room btw.
 
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Buy speakers and amp first then look into a sub. You have a choice of a stereo amplifier or avr amplfier. Decide if priority is sound quality, or multi channel, bass management, hdmi, hd decoding, room eq etc.

That sub doesn't seem very impressive.
 
I just ordered an Audiolab M-One currently on offer for £399. Looks to be a great amp. Going to be using q acoustics 2020i's with it.

Don't think it has a sub output though, if that matters to you.
 
hornetstinger said:
That sub doesn't seem very impressive.
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Agreed. £270 for an 8" sub? Can't help but feel that Audioengine overcharge for their products. A product best suited to people who like to buy these lifestyle things that have the same manufacturer and look.

BK Gemini II for £215 is a far better buy than the Audioengine S8.
 
Marsman said:
Agreed. £270 for an 8" sub? Can't help but feel that Audioengine overcharge for their products. A product best suited to people who like to buy these lifestyle things that have the same manufacturer and look.

BK Gemini II for £215 is a far better buy than the Audioengine S8.
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Would the Q Acoustics 2010i be ok with that sub? Or would it be better to go for a higher model?
 
Those q speakers will be fine with bk sub. But you need a amplfier for the speakers. The sub has its own amp so you won't need a sub amp.

It depends on what you want that bk gemini will be fine in a smaller room and/or for music but if you want earth shattering bass in a large room, high SPL output, very low sub bass frequencies and low distortion fora action movies you need to spend more.
 
hornetstinger said:
Those q speakers will be fine with bk sub. But you need a amplfier for the speakers. The sub has its own amp so you won't need a sub amp.

It depends on what you want that bk gemini will be fine in a smaller room and/or for music but if you want earth shattering bass in a large room, high SPL output, very low sub bass frequencies and low distortion fora action movies you need to spend more.
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Seeing the sub has an amp, where does it plug into? Does it plug in the amp for the speakers or does it plug into the pc directly??
 
All depends on your system..if you have a regular home cinema amplfier it'll plug into the lfe output on the back of the amplfier. If you use a stereo integrated amplifier you either use speaker level, or if your amp has it stereo preouts. If you have a preamp the you use stereo preouts or the lfe pre-out. If you have a computer use the subwoofer pre-out.


And depends on what connections sub has. All have low level but some lack high level so in that circumstance you would have no way to connect it to a stereo integrated amplifier if that had no stereo preouts.

Then need to use bass management, set that up on your computer following instructions on your sub. If you are sending filtered audio to the sub bypass the subs own crossover. If sending full range use the subs crossover
 
hornetstinger said:
All depends on your system..if you have a regular home cinema amplfier it'll plug into the lfe output on the back of the amplfier. If you use a stereo integrated amplifier you either use speaker level, or if your amp has it stereo preouts. If you have a preamp the you use stereo preouts or the lfe pre-out. If you have a computer use the subwoofer pre-out.


And depends on what connections sub has. All have low level but some lack high level so in that circumstance you would have no way to connect it to a stereo integrated amplifier if that had no stereo preouts.

Then need to use bass management, set that up on your computer following instructions on your sub. If you are sending filtered audio to the sub bypass the subs own crossover. If sending full range use the subs crossover
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Thank you for the help but i sadly dont understand what you said as my knowledge is very basic. Could i use this amp: https://www.amazon.co.uk/AD18-Stere...r&reviewerType=all_reviews#reviews-filter-bar. It also needs to run my Pandora iv hope head phones which have 32 ohm.

Here is the sub, shows the connections https://www.amazon.co.uk/BK-Subwoof...8&qid=1534194799&sr=8-1&keywords=BK+Gemini+II
 
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That shared (coax/optical/subwoofer) socket does look a little weird. Optical/subwoofer I can understand. Similar in a way to the shared 3.5mm outputs on sound cards that can also take 3.5mm mini toslink optical. Metal contacts within the socket for analogue output and a fibre optic laser and the end for mini toslink. Coax though uses metal contacts and is digital. Subwoofer connection will be analogue. Can't see how that works.

Edit: Q5 pro (which I have) is a lot more simple with a dedicated subwoofer RCA output. No headphone output though.

Speaker level inputs is when you take cables from the speaker terminals on the amp to not only the speakers, but also to the subwoofer. The Gemini II has speaker level input, which is the back circular connection labelled 'hi level input'. Not noticed until now, but they have misprinted high as hi. :p

It comes with a cable that plugs into that which allows wires to connect to the speaker terminals on the amp.
 
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Marsman said:
That shared (coax/optical/subwoofer) socket does look a little weird. Optical/subwoofer I can understand. Similar in a way to the shared 3.5mm outputs on sound cards that can also take 3.5mm mini toslink optical. Metal contacts within the socket for analogue output and a fibre optic laser and the end for mini toslink. Coax though uses metal contacts and is digital. Subwoofer connection will be analogue. Can't see how that works.

Edit: Q5 pro (which I have) is a lot more simple with a dedicated subwoofer RCA output. No headphone output though.

Speaker level inputs is when you take cables from the speaker terminals on the amp to not only the speakers, but also to the subwoofer. The Gemini II has speaker level input, which is the back circular connection labelled 'hi level input'. Not noticed until now, but they have misprinted high as hi. :p

It comes with a cable that plugs into that which allows wires to connect to the speaker terminals on the amp.
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Whats your audio setup if you dont mind me asking. Regards
 
lost0ne33 said:
Whats your audio setup if you dont mind me asking. Regards
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I have the SMSL Q5 pro connected to some floor standing speakers downstairs. They don't get used much though; they were speakers going spare, so decided to add a little amp for occasional use.

I have some Roth bookshelf speakers on my desk connected to a small Topping amp, which is in turn connected to a DAC/headphone amp. These get the most use for music, even though the set up doesn't sound quite as good as the 9.1's mentioned below. More time spent at desk etc, and for more critical listening, I use headphones.

Also have some Wharfedale 9.1's on stands either side of my TV, connected to a Cambridge Audio 350a amp. Originally got those for music, but they mostly get used for TV and film now.

I don't have a subwoofer though. I don't really miss the bass a subwoofer provides to be honest and wouldn't get any thanks from other people if I did have one. :p
 
Ok I hope im not sounding like a broken record but I come up with a new setup, here it is:
Q Acoustics 3020i Bookshelf Speakers £249
Q ACOUSTICS 3070s Active Subwoofer £199
Marantz PM5005 Integrated Amplifier £169.77
Total: £617.77

Is this a good setup?
 
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