Recommend me a DAC amplifier for speakers

[droplink]

Hello folks.

I have a couple of speaker sets, both of which have decent sounds, but the amplifiers within (they were both born as active sets) are rather poor. Both are buzzing. Neither did so when they were new, so I am guessing its due to old age, somehow.

So, I am thinking that rather than buying a new set of (dear) active speakers, to get a standalone amplifier, and bypass the electronics that exist in the speakers themselves.

I would ideally like:
- decent quality
- USB sound input (hence the DAC)
- able to run stereo and subwoofer
- Costs up to 150 USD /EUR or up to 200 at a stretch.

I have tried to do some reading on various audio website, but no luck.

 

[MajorFubar]

I'm guessing your powered speakers won't immediately work as passive speakers connected directly to a regular amp. So you're either going to have to go inside and butcher them to find a way of feeding a signal from an external amplifier to their crossovers, or you're going to need to buy different speakers.

Your options appear to be:

1) powered studio monitors to which you could connect a sub and a USB DAC
2) passive speakers connected to an amplifier with or without a built-in DAC.

200 is a push to achieve either option all at once, so it's going to involve a compromise. IMO I think you can avoid the added complication - and clutter - of an amp unless you have a need to connect multiple sources to one set of speakers. These days, you get more for your money if you buy powered speakers instead of passive + separate amp. Efficiencies can be realised during manufacture and distribution that just cannot be realised with an amp and separate passive speakers, and the smaller the budget the more significant those efficiencies become, where the saved costs can be expended by the mfr on better drivers, crossovers and cabinet design.

With your budget I'd either buy Presonus Eris 3.5 (80 ish) and rig them to a Behringer UAC202 audio interface (30 ish), or I'd splash the whole of the cash on Eris 4.5 (150 ish) and wait for my budget to replenish while in the meantime feeding them from the headphone output on the computer. Both Eris models have an output for a powered sub on the main speaker, but your 200 budget isn't going to fund that as well buying the speakers, no matter which pair you buy, so that would definitely need to be a separate purchase.

EDIT: Also you've never said if you're expecting to fill the Carnegie Hall with sound or whether it's just a bedroom setup. That matters as well. If you have a large space to fill, that could be challenging within your budget.

 

[droplink]

I'm guessing your powered speakers won't immediately work as passive speakers connected directly to a regular amp. So you're either going to have to go inside and butcher them to find a way of feeding a signal from an external amplifier to their crossovers, or you're going to need to buy different speakers.

Your options appear to be:

1) powered studio monitors to which you could connect a sub and a USB DAC
2) passive speakers connected to an amplifier with or without a built-in DAC.

200 is a push to achieve either option all at once, so it's going to involve a compromise. IMO I think you can avoid the added complication - and clutter - of an amp unless you have a need to connect multiple sources to one set of speakers. These days, you get more for your money if you buy powered speakers instead of passive + separate amp. Efficiencies can be realised during manufacture and distribution that just cannot be realised with an amp and separate passive speakers, and the smaller the budget the more significant those efficiencies become, where the saved costs can be expended by the mfr on better drivers, crossovers and cabinet design.

With your budget I'd either buy Presonus Eris 3.5 (80 ish) and rig them to a Behringer UAC202 audio interface (30 ish), or I'd splash the whole of the cash on Eris 4.5 (150 ish) and wait for my budget to replenish while in the meantime feeding them from the headphone output on the computer. Both Eris models have an output for a powered sub on the main speaker, but your 200 budget isn't going to fund that as well buying the speakers, no matter which pair you buy, so that would definitely need to be a separate purchase.

EDIT: Also you've never said if you're expecting to fill the Carnegie Hall with sound or whether it's just a bedroom setup. That matters as well. If you have a large space to fill, that could be challenging within your budget.

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, my (two different sets) of speakers will not immediately work as passive speakers, but taking them apart and converting them to passive is what I had in my mind.

Both sets (one is a EV Sonic EX 2.1 set, the other is an Argon 7460A set) have decent sound quality (for me anyway) but have developed a buzzing, and the Argon set has also now started popping VERY loudly when turned on/off, so the electronics are probably bad.
My thought was to avoid throwing them out and instead "replacing" the guts with a stand alone device.

The budget of 200 (which is low, I can see) I came up with because I thought that buying a set of new speakers would set me back about 200 to 300.
I did not consider the speakers you have posted, so that is also something for me to consider.

Are the stand alone DAC converters usually good?

 

[MajorFubar]

Yes. Obviously the more you spend the better they get, but the Behringer will already surpass anything you might have previously found inside powered or active speakers.

I'm afraid I'm not familiar with either of the models you currently own, possibly they weren't sold in my territory so I can't say how well they will compare to my recommendations in terms of performance. However I suspect it won't be an easy task to convert either of your current speakers into passives to use with an external amp, especially if either of them are genuine active speakers (not just powered speakers), because genuine active speakers won't even have a passive crossover inside.

I would strongly suggest starting again with a modern setup.

 

[robotica]

FiiO k7 is decent and is about that price. Works with Mac and windows no problem.
You would need a separate amp tho as it’s just a DAC.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Hello folks.

I have a couple of speaker sets, both of which have decent sounds, but the amplifiers within (they were both born as active sets) are rather poor. Both are buzzing. Neither did so when they were new, so I am guessing its due to old age, somehow.

So, I am thinking that rather than buying a new set of (dear) active speakers, to get a standalone amplifier, and bypass the electronics that exist in the speakers themselves.

I would ideally like:
- decent quality
- USB sound input (hence the DAC)
- able to run stereo and subwoofer
- Costs up to 150 USD /EUR or up to 200 at a stretch.

I have tried to do some reading on various audio website, but no luck.

Fiio has a bunch of USB amps that are less than $150. They're pretty much the best when it comes to DAPs and portable amps nowadays, to the point all their Android DAPs have amps built into them, which is why they're so massive.

FiiO Amp-Born for Music

FiiO Amp--Born for Music

www.fiio.com

 

[arkitect]

I agree with @MajorFubar that starting over might well be the best option.

It needn't cost the earth. 🙂

In my work studio — a space of about 4m x 4m — I have a Mac Mini 2018 connected via USB to a Fosi Audio DAC-Q5 paired with Edifier R1280Ts speakers (as well as AKG K702 headphones)

For the space (and my 59yo ears) the system delivers great sound and loads of volume — the Edifiers also have a connection for a sub as you want. I listen mostly to Classical — and that means 18th/19th/20th century orchestral with tons of opera thrown in.

The little Fosi DAC has been stellar, but if you had the extra cash, then the FiiO DACs may be better suited.

My setup today would cost around £180, though me being both cheap and poor I bought them off eBay 4 years ago for far less. 🙂
£70 Fosi
£110 Edifier

Anyway, as you have seen, the sky's the limit when it comes to audio prices, and there are distinct diminishing returns pretty early.

 

[droplink]

Thank you one and all!
There are some good ideas here.

I can see that the idea of rebuilding speakers would be pointless, and it is better to consider a complete new system.
So this is what I will do.

The FiiO things seem to be a bit to pricey, the amp versions of their DAC start from the K9, and it is nearly 900 USD where I am, so I will look for a cheaper solution.
The Fosi / Edifier solution would be an option, but again, those are active speakers.

The reason I want to avoid active speakers, is that if they start to buzz or otherwise break, the whole system needs to be replaced. It is easier to replace a component such as an amp, when is is stand alone, and the rest can be kept.

 

[MajorFubar]

What you say is true, there are undeniable risks associated with putting all your eggs into one basket, however equally I think you've just had a bad experience with powered/active speakers and your experience isn't typical. Also let's be fair both of your pairs of speakers are getting long in the tooth especially the EV Sonics, where the earliest reviews I can find are from 2003. Even the Argons are maybe 14 years old. As we would say in England, they've had a good innings.

It's time you treated yourself to something current, and unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective) the best of the crop of sub-200$/€ powered speakers are so good that they can't be beaten by a separate amp and passive speakers at the same price unless you land the deal-of-the-year on something used. But that said, I almost never buy used transducers of any kind (speakers, headphones, microphones, phono cartridges, etc). It's way too easy to buy something that has been thrashed and trashed while having no obvious physical signs of abuse.

 

[robotica]

Get yourself some nice active speakers (speakers with amps built in) and then you just need to worry about the dac. Can get a pair of decent ones these days for a few hundred.

 

[droplink]

What you say is true, there are undeniable risks associated with putting all your eggs into one basket, however equally I think you've just had a bad experience with powered/active speakers and your experience isn't typical. Also let's be fair both of your pairs of speakers are getting long in the tooth especially the EV Sonics, where the earliest reviews I can find are from 2003. Even the Argons are maybe 14 years old. As we would say in England, they've had a good innings.

It's time you treated yourself to something current, and unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective) the best of the crop of sub-200$/€ powered speakers are so good that they can't be beaten by a separate amp and passive speakers at the same price unless you land the deal-of-the-year on something used. But that said, I almost never buy used transducers of any kind (speakers, headphones, microphones, phono cartridges, etc). It's way too easy to buy something that has been thrashed and trashed while having no obvious physical signs of abuse.

Its hard to argue with you, as you speak the truth

It will be so.

 

[olavsu1]

The reason I want to avoid active speakers, is that if they start to buzz or otherwise break, the whole system needs to be replaced.

That is wrong reason. Active speakers have such a simple construction that it is often enough to replace only one chip and everything is fine again. Can't be a ***** who doesn't have diagnostic tools or skills to fix a broken thing.

I have been using the Pioneer S-DJ60X for several years now and they are good, very good things.