How can I improve my sound system?

Cromulent

Cromulent

Cromulent

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I currently use the on-board sound card on my computer which feeds to a Denon PMA-500AE connected to some Tanoy Mercury-M2 speakers. I'd like to get a new sound card and am seriously consider the Asus Xonar Essence STX and a new amp. I'd like the digital output from the sound card to go directly into the amp as that appears to offer the best sound quality.

Is my plan the right one? If so is the Asus Xonar Essence STX the best sound card to get? Which amp should I upgrade too? I think a second hand amp would be best to get the most out of my budget.

My budget is about £300 - £350 for the whole lot.
 
Nick1881 said:
What will the uses be?

If it's for 2 channel listening, you could get a USB DAC and connect that to your amp.
Click to expand...

Yep. Primarily stereo music. I don't really care about sound quality in games.

I've not considered a USB DAC. Do you have any recommendations for things to look for?

Would that still not be limited by the quality of my on-board sound card though? I'm pretty sure that is the weakest link in my current configuration. It is a Realtek on-board sound card on an Asus Sabertooth X79 motherboard.

Edit: Just realised that is a stupid question as I assume the USB DAC bypasses the on-board sound? I'm not very familiar with these things at all so you'll have to excuse the stupid questions :).
 
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What do you want to improve on your system?

If it was me i'd be looking at speakers. Something like the Dali Zenzor 3's or if you can go second hand something much better. I presume you want to stick with standmount speakers? Do you have them on stands or on a desk?

Do you have any other sources? If you could borrow/connect a cd player and try that with your system then you could see how much of an improvement might be possible over your onboard sound. If its not much then adding a USB DAC might not give a big change.

I certainly wouldnt be spending all your budget on a dac with the amp/speakers you have.

Also you're correct the USB dac would take a digital USB output from your pc and convert it to analogue for your Amp.
 
Marvt74 said:
I certainly wouldnt be spending all your budget on a dac with the amp/speakers you have.
Click to expand...

I always thought my speakers were the best part of my current set up. Are they really that bad? I always assumed that I'd get more from upgrading the amp than I would from upgrading the speakers since the amp was always a cheap model that was bought just to get me through Uni.

The speakers I've borrowed since they were better than my original ones. I've read a few reviews on them and they seem reasonably positive given that they were originally a reasonably priced set.
 
Don't get me wrong, they're not bad by any means but i always find that i find the biggest changes when swapping speakers, especially at the lower end of the spectrum.

I think it depends what your future plans are. If you want to spend £350 now and that’s it the approach would be different (for me) than if you were spending that now and then maybe wanted to spend again in x months time.

Again it all depends on what you feel you're missing and what you'd like to improve really.
 
Marvt74 said:
Don't get me wrong, they're not bad by any means but i always find that i find the biggest changes when swapping speakers, especially at the lower end of the spectrum.

I think it depends what your future plans are. If you want to spend £350 now and that’s it the approach would be different (for me) than if you were spending that now and then maybe wanted to spend again in x months time.

Again it all depends on what you feel you're missing and what you'd like to improve really.
Click to expand...

I can't really afford to spend more than £350 for the foreseeable future. Perhaps in a year I can add some more stuff to my system but for the time being I'll have to make do with £350.
 
The Asus Xonar Essence STX is a very very good sounding sound card.

Before I bought a Naim DAC, I was using the STX to feed my Naim XS & Proac system and it sounded excellent. It will be a major upgrade from the build in sound on you motherboard.

You have a not very well regarded £180 amp and some very old (15?) speakers. I suspect it sounds flat and lacking any energy/life.

The problem is, with £350, if you spend £135 on the STX, you only have £215 for an new amp. Well you've already got a £180 amp.

If it was my money, I would get the STX, see how that sounds and then try an amp that's a serious step up from the budget end of the market and get an old (but very good) Audiolab 8000A or Naim Nait-5i amplifier off ebay. Or for less money a Rotel RA-05.

If you are not confident or unwilling to buy used, look at something like the Rotel RA-04 amp instead. Seems to be highly regarded at the price. (£250)
 
I have a Xonar Essence ST feeding a Naim Nait-5i and I enjoy the sound a lot. That's a pretty good call.

The Essence is wasted if you plan on using its digital out though. It has phono outputs on the back so you can use some decent cables to your amp and get a good signal out that way. While digital out is probably better than the thin and flimsy 3.5 to phono cables with the onboard sound, with the better output from the Essence probably unessesary unless you happen to have a very good DAC in your amp or an external DAC.

For now, just buy the Essence ST and a decent phono cable (£20 should be plenty with that sort of setup) and you will be surprised how more clearer things sound already than with the onboard. Wait until you can afford a bit more to upgrade the amp, or just wait until an utter bargain appears on ebay.

If you absolutely must upgrade the amp, you should be able to get a second-hand amp that was £400 to £600 a few years ago but is now easily in budget second hand. Maybe a Marantz 7200 or a NAD C352? They would have a bit more power too should you eventually want some bigger speakers :)
 
If you think your source is the problem then fix that first obviously.

Until you get above £600/pair the biggest difference you can make building a setup in my experience is to buy better speakers. The difference between my old KEF iQ and current MA GX50 is night and day in both sound and build quality.

I'd keep a watch on all the hifi dealers and forums especially when new models are due to be released - for example I picked up my GX50 brand new for the money you have to spend.
 
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Thanks for the advice. I'm having a major reorganisation of my room which will include moving the speakers to a better location listening wise. If they still sound rubbish after the move I'll look into upgrading components.

Based on the advice here and elsewhere I'll upgrade components in the following order:

Sound Card
Speakers
Amp

but I'm hoping that the move will help as the sound won't be muffled any more by furniture and other bits and pieces.
 
No no no!

Sound card is a waste of money. A dac will connect via USB or optical and give analogue out like a sound card does. Just use your motherboard or existing optical out.

USB DAC First. Something like a Beresford or second hand DACmagic
Speakers second. Dali zensor one.

That should use most of your budget.

Later on... Amp third. Not sure what's worth going for here but see what richer sounds have.
 
Ste said:
No no no!

Sound card is a waste of money. A dac will connect via USB or optical and give analogue out like a sound card does. Just use your motherboard or existing optical out.

USB DAC First. Something like a Beresford or second hand DACmagic
Speakers second. Dali zensor one.

That should use most of your budget.

Later on... Amp third. Not sure what's worth going for here but see what richer sounds have.
Click to expand...

I'll look into those DACs then. Thanks!
 
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