i need a small amp

shadowlord

shadowlord

2[H]4U
Joined
Jan 6, 2005
Messages
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Hi folks!

right now i'm building myself a second pc for daily use and at the same time i want to upgrade my pc audio setup.
right now i'm using creative i-trigue l3500 speakers but still the new setup doesn't need to be TOTL since i have 2 decent stereo setups already.

at the moment i'm leaning towards a entry level pair of heco bookshelf loudspeakers (victa 200) maybe with the matching sub. speakers are about 120€, sub too.

what i'm searching now is a small amp (desk space is at premium) and maybe a dac with at least 2 inputs for both pc's.

the so well regarded sonic t-amp cost about 75€ here in austria which I thinks is a lot for it's performance.

after a bit of research i found a site with apparently hong kong made, nice looking, yet affordable amps.

these are the two amps in question.
pop pulse t40 ( i need a dac with 2 inputs to use this (maybe the beresford))
http://www.audio-magus.com/product_p/ppt40i.htm

or this with a built in dac (1 pc via usb and one analog)
http://www.audio-magus.com/product_p/krt20u.htm


has anyone expirence with one of these amps?
or does anyone have a better suggestion.

requirements:
small footprint is important
2 sources
under 200€

thanks in advance!
 
There's a couple of forums where these small class-D amps are discussed, i forget the name of the one forum, but here's the other one.

There are plenty of good/small class-D amplifiers for under 200€, unfortunately i don't know much about the recent offerings.

good luck either way
 
thanks for the link.

i found a hint over there that you couldn't connect the amp to the high level inputs of a sub, since the sub shares the ground inputs and T amps don't :confused: is this true ?

a co-worker recommended me the teufel motiv 2 2.1 speakers http://www.teufel.de/de/iTeufel/Motiv-2.cfm
has anyone experience with these ?
i could use them with a dac and have all my bases covered if the soundquality is all right.
 
Hi,

just to finish this thread:

i just ordered a Zero dac from ebay and the teufel speaker set from the teufel website.

i will post pics as soon as they arrive.
 
I got the system 5's from Teufel last year for €750. One of my best buys ever. They make really good speakers :)
 
Hi
finally my new gear arrived last wednesday.

the zero dac
pcaudio001.jpg


pcaudio002.jpg



teufel motiv 2
pcaudio003.jpg


and on my desk
pcaudio004.jpg


sub placement
pcaudio005.jpg



zero dac:
well for it's price the dac is very good. for me it has the typically oversampling dac sound. bottom end and high are way more pronounced than on my non oversampling dac. detail and soundstage are ok. i paid 100 euros with shipping and i'm impressed how good a device for this little money could sound.
only downside is the dac gets very hot !! i think it's not suitable for component stacking.
i allready added an additional exhaust hole over the 4 transistors on headphone-amp board.

teufel motiv 2:
the speakers are totaly worth the 300 bucks i paid for them. they have a lot of features: 3 inputs, ir-remote and real cable binding posts. these speakers are the best sounding 2.1 speakers with reasonably sized satellites i've heard so far. i once heard a passive 2.1 system from revox which didn't sound much better then the teufel but i cost more than twiche the money. only downside of the speakers is that the driver from the sub has no protection, which is bad when you put the sub down to your feet.

/upgrade
 
found them on the net:
Specifications of the ZERO 24 BIT/192KHz DAC/Headphone Amp/Pre-Amp:
Receive chip: CS8416
Decode chip: AD1852
Analog operational amplifier chip: OPA2604
Signal to noise ratio: 120dB
Total harmonic distortion: 0.0005%
Dynamic range: 117dB
Frequency response: 20Hz - 30 kHz
Analog output level: 2V
Input interface:
One independent digital fiber input
One independent digital coaxial input
One RCA analog signal unbalanced output
One 6.3mm headphone signal output
Time delay switch for ON/OFF protection circuit
Individual PCB design for future upgrade capability
Hi End components and IC (less than 1% tolerance)
Separate and individual voltage regulators
Dual Mono Amp design
Double face PCB for reducing size
Click to expand...
 
Hey that looks pretty good, better than most receiver/pre-pro DACs...120db SNR! Comparable specs to the AKM 4396 (120db SNR as well) that everyone raves about...then again so many people rave about that AKM DAC and say its better than the top of the burr-browns that are ~132db SNR...
 
Thanks. Looks good but I have to say, I'm always wary of manufacturer reported specs. x)
 
Even if the specs are of a bit the unit has a decent sound.
I'm not shure if a little more burn in will further improve the sound but i already like it so far.
i think it could easily rival cd players in the 200 bucks range and you could upgrade the op amps as well.
Only thing i would be interested in is a comparison with the beresford dac which offers a similar functionality for only a few euros more.
 
The potential for op-amp rolling is certainly an appealing feature. The heat you mentioned earlier is a bit off-putting though.

I'm in the market for a DAC/headphone amp but have no idea what to go for. >.<
 
Wow, that Zero DAC Headphone AMP looks AWESOME!!! I want one :) If you had to do it over, would you stick with that headphone amp?
 
even if i will mostly use it as a dac with pre-amp function for my speakers i already tested it with my headphones (AKG K530). I must say that the sound from the zero head-amp is very good, it is very detailed with powerfull bass impact.
hope this helps with your decision a bit.
 
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