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

[lostone98]

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

 

[lostone98]

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?

 

[lostone98]

ah i forgot the sub is active

Don't bother with that sub it's crap. It the extra £200 into speakers/amp get sub later

sorry it late for me, so are you saying get better speakers and amp? i will leave the sub for a later date

 

[lostone98]

Skip the sub for now put the money from sub into speakers/amp

please could you recommend speakers and a amp. there so much out there, There either cheap crappy ones or to expensive.

 

[lostone98]

QA 3070s subwoofer is no good anyway, not unless you get an amplifier that has sub out or pre out, which the Marantz 5005 doesn't. You'd have to spend a bit more on an amp to get sub or pre out

Even so, I wouldn't buy the 3070s regardless, not when the BK Gemini II is only a few more £.

QA 3020i are a good speakers, but if you have a Richer Sounds store near you, then you can get the 3020 for a paltry £100. I very much doubt the 3020i model is worth the extra £150.

If you are looking to spend £250 on the speakers, I'd probably be more inclined to spend a bit extra and go for maybe Monitor Audio Bronze 2 or if slightly larger speaker is not an issue; DALI Zensor 3; otherwise for £100 the 3020 are a fantastic bargain (if you can get to a Richer Sounds store).

Bronze 2 and Zensor 3 have larger woofers, so as Ivan has said above; you may feel a subwoofer is not needed.

Of course if you do have a local Richer Sounds store, you should be able to demo all these.

For the amp: Marantz 5005 is a decent budget amp, but something like the Yamaha AS501 for £250 might be a good choice. Has dedicated subwoofer output (so no need to mess around using speaker level cables from amp to sub) and a built in DAC. If you've not got a sound card, saves connecting the amp to the onboard audio.

Thank you so much, that's some great advice. i shall look into it.

 

[lostone98]

I should have pointed out that you can only get the Gemini II subwoofer direct from BK Electronics themselves, but if you can listen to some speakers at somewhere like Richer Sounds, then you can at least get an idea whether you'll want to get a subwoofer as well, or maybe at a later time.

So if I go for a Dali Zensor 3 speaker and Yamaha A-S501 Integrated Amplifier. Go for a sub later that would be a good choice?

 

[lostone98]

Sound good choices to me.

I like the marantz amp but none seem to take a subwoofer.

 

[lostone98]

I use ruark etudes don't feel the need for a sub for music . Only for movies and or music in larger room

ummm what's your opinion on the Dali Zensor 3. if am asking too many questions just say.

 

[lostone98]

Never heard them. Have owned kef, celestion, wharfedale, b&w, ruark speakers. Svs, Yamaha, rel subs

The only ones I have experience with is the Kef Q100 they sound beautiful but they discontinued those..

 

[lostone98]

Not even the more expensive 6006 and 7005 have a pre or sub outputs. I have no idea why Marantz don't include one or the other.

Lack of pre or sub out won't stop you using a subwoofer with the 5005 or 6006 though, if you prefer the slimmer profile of Marantz amps; you'll just have to use the high level input on the subwoofer.

Just noticed Denon PMA720 has pre out, which is about £180.

I think i'll go for the Dali Zensor 3 or Monitor Audio Bronze 2. They look more in my price range. but im not sure about Denon PMA720, I heard a worrying review on amazon. Any other you can recommend to go with the speakers

 

[lostone98]

Pair of celestion A2 on bay. £1600 when. New. Need a good amp.

Stonking good sound quality have A1 and a3

Beautiful but too big for me lol

 

[lostone98]

..

 

[lostone98]

Buy sub later

1) you may not want or need a sub
2) you may have greater demands for one higher output, bigger driver, more powerful amp, features like high pass, peq. Movies demand a powerful sub
3) you may prefer floorstanders over standmount for 2 channel therefore not needing a sub.
4) you could prefer ported over sealed, or if sealed Matt need to get better spec to similar rated ported due to how sealed is.
5) put the extra cash into speakers (or amp) so you buy bigger, better sounding, better build speakers,more powerful amp/ features.

In a 2 channel system I prefer bigger speakers and no sub. I use kef reference floorstanders in hifi with svs 12" sealed box 400w but the sub is not needed, if you went for those celestions they'll sound better than those Dali by miles build quality ten times better, you won't need a sub with wider frequency response, and easy to get setup no sub integration to pull your hair out. Also subs in 2ch can be difficult to set up you don't have bass management so have to send full range to sub adjust crossover adjust the gain. Or send high level to sub then high level out from sub to standmount ( if your sub has high pass, and if you so buy stand mounts this is very useful)

You may want to look around for a sub that has high pass I've used it. Both of my cinema and 2ch subs have this feature as does my outlaw ICBM-1. I. A sub-sat or sub-sat system the sub will pass >80hz to speakers and <80hz goes to sub. Not needed if you have floorstanders but worthwhile for bass shy speakers.


Pretty sure bk sub comes with high level cable?

How much do you suggest i spend? The kef reference floorstanders seem very expensive, what model number do you have?

 

[lostone98]

Only just noticed the OP is posting with 2 different accounts.

Anyway; yeah, BK subs come with a high level input cable.

lol I just noticed, my phone is on a different account to my PC

 

[lostone98]

Kef ref are very expensive but I have older models.

It's not about how much you spend but want to get good speakers. You don't need spend a lot if you look around, ie I bought £900 speakers for £130.

Wise words hornetstinger. I just wish I knew what I wanted, so so much choice, just wish i had the knowledge.

 

[lostone98]

If you decide to buy those celestion A2 he's asking a bit much,.lowest I've seen is £300 but that was very unusual to be sold that low (mint condition too) so I would say 450 is a fair price if you get him to drop it. You'll need a good amp.as.thry are 4 ohm speakers.

You won't get speakers built like that anymore even at £2000.

Also you won't need a sub.

ah it some way, as I live in South Wales.

 

[lostone98]

Just seen pair of celestion A3

Where? I don't see it on the bay