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[Deleted member 12837]

For the past 2-3 years I've been using the Audioengine A5s for music, gaming, and general TV/movies. I've been extremely happy with the sound quality, especially the clear, non-overpowered bass. However, recently when I've been using them for playing music during parties, they overheat fairly quickly (1.5-2 hours) and either the satellite speaker cuts out or the thermal overload circuit kicks in and essentially turns the speakers off.

I've tried several different sets and they've all had the same issues, so I know it's not a defective set. I'm looking to sell my A5s and get a similar set of speakers within a similar price range that wouldn't have the issues that I described above.

What would you guys recommend? Would I be better off just picking up a receiver and some non-powered speakers instead?

edit: Note that I normally use these speakers with a Macbook Pro or an iPod for music (I know, not very audiophile-ish sources...I enjoy nice sound but I'm not obsessed with it or anything). However, eventually I'm sure I'll be using these speakers with an HTPC that can put out better quality sound, so I guess keep that in mind with recommendations.

 

[nitewulf]

PC speakers wont be enough for driving party music, ppl try it and do it in small NYC apartments...but usually the space is small, and the music isnt too loud. If you have an open space, and like it loud...get a stereo amp, and bookshelves or small floorstanding speakers.

 

[Deleted member 12837]

PC speakers wont be enough for driving party music, ppl try it and do it in small NYC apartments...but usually the space is small, and the music isnt too loud. If you have an open space, and like it loud...get a stereo amp, and bookshelves or small floorstanding speakers.

Could you recommend a decent amp and set of bookshelves within the price range of the A5's (let's say I can get $250 for them when I sell them) plus $150 or so? Or do I need to increase that price range?

 

[permutated]

Mackie HR624 MKII

This is what I mix on, and they're pretty damn accurate. Not very sweet or boomy, just nice quality sound.

A pair will run you about 600$ street, but they're worth every penny.

 

[Winged Creature]

Could you recommend a decent amp and set of bookshelves within the price range of the A5's (let's say I can get $250 for them when I sell them) plus $150 or so? Or do I need to increase that price range?

you could probably get a good vintage amp for about $70-100 and good budget speakers should run you about $250 or so

 

[Oli]

Is there a nice set of PC speakers I can get for under $100? I'm using a laptop and the sound is pretty weak without headphones.

 

[THE:MILKMAN]

I have these: Avi ADM9.

Love the simplicity of them being a complete hi-fi minus source.

Just add mac/squeezebox/transport and you have a fantastic hifi.

 

[MidgarBlowedUp]

I love my Velodyne speakers. Picked up the whole discontinued set (7.1) +2 spares for $400. Retail was around $2000.

However, I always did mixdowns of recordings on an old set of Pioneer HPMs I got at a pawn shop for $45.00 and to this day people crap their pants when they hear them.

 

[Winged Creature]

I finally added the dac magic to my system, everything sounds fantastic... new speakers next!

 

[nitewulf]

which DAC did you use previously?

 

[Winged Creature]

I was just using whatever was on my pioneer elite dvd player. Now with this DAC i hooked up my pc and digital disc source

 

[Deleted member 12837]

you could probably get a good vintage amp for about $70-100 and good budget speakers should run you about $250 or so

Should I look for a particular brand or certain characteristics or specs when shopping for an amp/receiver (what's the difference btw?)? Are there any good ones that I can buy new for that price or do I need to look on ebay/craigslist?

 

[Winged Creature]

Amp (im assuming its an integrated) is a pre-amp and power amp in one box, a receiver would have a both plus a radio. Generally integrated amps are higher quality then receivers, but this is not always true. I would look at craigslist or ebay but the best of all is audiogon if your in the US or canuckaudiomart if ur in canada. Brands to look out for are marantz, pioneer, sansui or rotel from the 70s and yamaha from the 70s or 80s. When looking at power output i would look for something around 50 watts, the output on those old amps are much more then they are rated at.

 

[thesoapster]

I have a set of Dynaudio Audience 42's on the way. What equipment should I be looking at to use them with a computer? I've read it's best to go with good quality gear with these, so I guess I'm asking what a nice amp would be to go with them. Along with the amp, what other stuff will be needed to actually get everything connected?

 

[Winged Creature]

whats you budget for the amp?

 

[Witchfinder General]

I have a set of Dynaudio Audience 42's on the way. What equipment should I be looking at to use them with a computer? I've read it's best to go with good quality gear with these, so I guess I'm asking what a nice amp would be to go with them. Along with the amp, what other stuff will be needed to actually get everything connected?

Dynaudio need power. I know from personal experience that the Denon PMA-1500AE is a fantastic match with the 42s. You'll need a decent DAC. The Cambridge Audio Dacmagic is probably you're best bet at that price point.

 

[Winged Creature]

Ive had experience with that denon, it is a nice powerful amp. As for the dac magic, i have that and it really does make computer audio come to life.

 

[ChoklitReign]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370202165996&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Are these speakers good for the price? I would mainly use them for gaming, movies, and maybe music.

 

[Winged Creature]

There cheap plastic speakers im sure there ok, but if u look at this thread most of the gear referenced costs thousands, so I wouldnt be able to tell if its good or not unless its audiophile gear.

 

[ChoklitReign]

I'm not a freak of nature, I'm an unemployed college student. Besides, they retail for around $70 so they're only cheap relatively speaking.

 

[thesoapster]

whats you budget for the amp?

Not really sure...I'd want to compare options at different price points before I decide.

Dynaudio need power. I know from personal experience that the Denon PMA-1500AE is a fantastic match with the 42s. You'll need a decent DAC. The Cambridge Audio Dacmagic is probably you're best bet at that price point.

I've heard that it's not a great idea to run speakers at their full power (I have no idea). They are listed as having a peak power at 150 watts. So, when you say they need power, do you mean I should run them at 150, 100, 80...?

The other thing is the DAC. Do I actually need a DAC to use the speakers, or does it just make it sound better? How does all that business work? I mean, from what I understand the signal must be analog at some point for the speakers, so do amps usually have a non-dedicated DAC built in? If so, the premise I guess is having an external, dedicated DAC will be better?

 

[nitewulf]

you should really just read the thread from the beginning, because thats pretty much where i came into the picture. i ended up buying dynaudios as well.

they need a lot of current to drive them, the 150 watt is peak power handling capability, a good amp will be able to supply the current needed for the peaks and valleys of the music signal without straining, which isnt necessarily gonna always be 150 watts. so a 50 watt amp, capable of supplying dynamic current, no matter what the speaker wants, will be good enough.

except, most generic 50 watt amps arent able to do that.

look into whatever was suggested, i'd look at 100 - 150 watts per channel capability for your dynaudios. you could buy an integrated amp, or just a power amp, or a receiver.

you need the dac to supply the music from the PC, USB dacs will extract the data only, through the USB cable, bypassing the junk sound board, and that digital signal will be converted in the DAC to analog, and passed to either a pre-amp (in case of a pre-amp --> power amp combination) or directly to the integrated amp/receiver.

on the other hand, you can directly connect the coax/optical output from your sound card to whatever amp combos you are using. but then, you will be severely limiting your dynaudios' capability, as you will be relying on the onboard sound card DAC which is basically a piece of crap, as far as audiophile standards go. basically if you do that, you won't be using the revealing potential of the dynaudios, so they'll be a waste.

 

[Winged Creature]

A Dac is not necessisary it will only bring the best out your music, you could just use the analog outputs on your sound card but it wont give nearly as nice results as a good dac. As for power generally speaking the more power the better, under-powered amps can fry your tweeter if you try to push them too hard cause it wont be able to delivery clean power. Its always better go with a more powerful amp. Power amps will generally have better authority over the speakers and much less likely to fry your speakers then a under powered amp.

 

[Winged Creature]

So I just went to my local dealer and ordered the B&W CM5 with the black gloss finish. I did alot of testing of a wide range of speakers and for the price i found these the nicest. The fact i got to test them with the amp I use was a plus. What i found really interesting was that the B&W 805s were very underwhelming when used with my amplification, while the CM5s sounded fantastic. I didnt get them right away since they had to order the finish I wanted, should get them in a few days. Pics soon, in the meantime here is the stock photo

 

[nitewulf]

beautiful. placing rear ported stand mount speakers is a pain though. i had to play around a lot to find a nice balance.

 

[Winged Creature]

Im using rear ported speakers right now so i know the pain it took to get it sounding right. Gonna be fun breaking these babies in when i get them

 

[Darkatomz]

So I'm about to venture into getting some Swan m200mkii's sometime within the next few months or so. After doing a bunch of research, it seems that they've gone for $180 a few years ago, but now they retail for $230. What gives? Any one have any idea if the price will drop a little before Christmas?

 

[nitewulf]

probably the economy, dropped value of the dollar and so on. everything increased in price.

 

[kevm3]

Harmon Kardon HK3490 receiver blew out after only a month with it, so I'm rolling with a separate Pre and amp combo. Went with the Emotiva XPA 2 amp and USP1 pre... Can't wait to hear how they sound.

 

[Winged Creature]

Blew out after a month....damn harmon isnt as good arent as good as they used to be. Let us know how the pre/power amp are with the speakers. I should be getting my B&W's today

 

[kevm3]

Blew out after a month....damn harmon isnt as good arent as good as they used to be. Let us know how the pre/power amp are with the speakers. I should be getting my B&W's today

Most definitely will let you knwo. Let me know how the B&Ws go.

Main reason I went for the combo is that Emotiva is having a sale. $100 off the amp and $50 off the preamp. Should be here next month. B&W make some of the best looking speakers I've seen. Wish I could hear a pair.

 

[Winged Creature]

pics are here!

 

[nitewulf]

how big is that mid-woofer? how do they sound so far?

 

[Winged Creature]

There sounding great so far, even not broken in they kick the crap out of the RC-10. Im waiting for after the break in, thats when there really supposed to shine. The driver is a 6.5 inch kevlar driver.

 

[rykomatsu]

Looks very nice and clean except for the bird's nest on the ground

 

[nitewulf]

There sounding great so far, even not broken in they kick the crap out of the RC-10. Im waiting for after the break in, thats when there really supposed to shine. The driver is a 6.5 inch kevlar driver.

it'll take a while, maybe 200 - 300 hours. my dyns sounded sweet initially, then they sounded like shit in the middle, as if the woofer was made out of charred bamboo...then ultimately they ended up sounding stunning.

 

[kevm3]

Definitely a nice set-up. Next week can't come soon enough.

These are the speakers I will eventually end up with:
Salk HT3

From an aesthetic standpoint, these are some of the best looking speakers I've seen:
Avalon Ascendants

These are nice looking as well:

 

[pj]

I'm sure those speakers sound great for whatever exorbitant amount of money they cost, but they are but ass ugly. Most of the speakers posted in this thread are much more attractive

 

[Death Dealer]

on the other hand, you can directly connect the coax/optical output from your sound card to whatever amp combos you are using. but then, you will be severely limiting your dynaudios' capability, as you will be relying on the onboard sound card DAC which is basically a piece of crap, as far as audiophile standards go. basically if you do that, you won't be using the revealing potential of the dynaudios, so they'll be a waste.

If you directly connect from the optical output on the soundcard, you're not using the sound card's DAC. The computer is acting as the transport only.
The easiest thing to do is digital out from the soundcard into a receiver with its own internal DAC. Although I think he'll need a pretty heafty receiver to drive them properly without sacrificing dynamics and transients. But maybe not. I don't think audience is as demanding as the countour line. Or else soundcard digital out, into an external DAC feeding a receiver or int amp.

If you need a cheap but good quality power amplifier, check out the Behringer A500 or E1500. They are rack mounted pro units with balanced inputs and very beefy power supplies, high current and fast slew rate design. The E1500 is rated at 700 watts into a 2 ohm load. It measured better than a Bryston 4B SST and costs about 1/10th the price. My next system will have an active digital crossover. I plan to purchase two and vertically bi-amp using passive volume controls and no preamp at all for my digital sources.

 

[nyprimus2]

I'm sick of my Z-5500 and they aren't very practical for college. I'm living at home for the fall semester but in the spring I'm transferring and living in a dorm so I think I'm going to sell the Z-5500s.

I'm thinking about a 2.0 system to use in conjunction with my laptop and from what I can gather the Swan M200MkII's are the unanimous choice bang for your buck self powered 2.0 system.

I think I can sell my Z-5500's to make up the cost for the Swans but now I'm reading DAC's are a device that is going to show me what "real sound" is like.

I found this http://www.audiophileproducts.com/fubar2 through a google link. Can this connect to my laptop? And can someone explain the whole concept of what DAC's are and if they are worth it for what I'm doing (laptop and Swan 2.0 speakers)?

 

[Death Dealer]

DACs covert the 1s and 0s into an analog wave form.
I'd say it's worth trying in your case.

Digital out to that DAC into your swans has got to sound better than using whatver built in sound chip comes with the laptop. The S/N ratio should be much better and it will likely sound more detailed/resolved.

 

[waxer]

About a week ago I picked up some wharfedale diamond 9.1 speakers.

Hooked up to a denon avr-1907 we had lying about. Currently using a clark synthesis shaker on the back of a lazyboy style recliner. While that helps make things sound a little more deep I think I will probably need to invest in a small subwoofer at some stage.

Man its good to have something better than the tvs internal speakers. I had plenty of gear and ditched it for headphones due to space/noise requirements. Its good to start getting something a bit better again.

I have always wondered why so few people put shakers/tactile transducers in their gaming setups. Really adds alot to the experience. I assume the forza team use them or at least had them in mind because you can feel all the little bumps in the road you would normally have never known were there. Its quite an amazing experience. Movies are sweet with it to. I feel like something is missing when I go to a theater and you cant feel it.

 

[Winged Creature]

it'll take a while, maybe 200 - 300 hours. my dyns sounded sweet initially, then they sounded like shit in the middle, as if the woofer was made out of charred bamboo...then ultimately they ended up sounding stunning.

what im noticed immediately is the much better midband that these speakers have they sound so much more natural and the top end is incredibly smooth much cleaner then the RC-10s, there is additional weight due to their size.

 

[Winged Creature]

About a week ago I picked up some wharfedale diamond 9.1 speakers.

Hooked up to a denon avr-1907 we had lying about. Currently using a clark synthesis shaker on the back of a lazyboy style recliner. While that helps make things sound a little more deep I think I will probably need to invest in a small subwoofer at some stage.

Man its good to have something better than the tvs internal speakers. I had plenty of gear and ditched it for headphones due to space/noise requirements. Its good to start getting something a bit better again.

I have always wondered why so few people put shakers/tactile transducers in their gaming setups. Really adds alot to the experience. I assume the forza team use them or at least had them in mind because you can feel all the little bumps in the road you would normally have never known were there. Its quite an amazing experience. Movies are sweet with it to. I feel like something is missing when I go to a theater and you cant feel it.

the diamond is a very nice speaker but from what i hear they are a bit hard to drive, there supposed to really shine at 100wpc+

 

[nitewulf]

what im noticed immediately is the much better midband that these speakers have they sound so much more natural and the top end is incredibly smooth much cleaner then the RC-10s, there is additional weight due to their size.

yeah, the holographic mid band is something you notice right away, and the smooth highs of the silk dome tweeters caught me off guard, to be honest. i didnt realize that my previous speakers were so aggressive and screechy, which i thought to be crisp and clear and good treble....till i heard the silk dome tweeters of the focus 140s. i could turn the music way, way loud, and if the recording is good...they wont hurt your ears a bit. you could hear every damn nuance of the music.

 

[Winged Creature]

I like silk dome tweeters they are very smooth sounding but i dont like the generalization that metal dome tweeters are harsh, alot of speakers ive heard including the ones i have, have a nice smooth metal dome tweeter

 

[nitewulf]

yeah, i wouldn't think all metal dome tweeters are inherently harsh, plus sometimes manufacturers may design forward sounding speakers...as some people would prefer that sound. i just had no idea how good silk dome tweeters could sound. or dome tweeters in general actually, as my previous speakers were just regular pc speakers with cone tweeters. smooth is the word for these yeah, they sparkle all right, but smooth.

 

[kevm3]

Wow the XPA 2 is a beast. I finally see what was meant by that. I am barely turning the dial and the volume is already very loud. The USP1 and XPA 2 was a good deal of an upgrade over the HK3490. The sound is more clearer and seems to come out the speaker more as opposed to be playing 'from' the speaker. Definitely worth the money.

I hear more nuances in voices and instruments. Everything just sounds much more effortless. Having all of this reserve power is wonderful.

 

[Winged Creature]

Thats the same change in sound i got when i went from integrated amp to power amp, its awesome! Lets hope u got some pics kevm3

 

[thesoapster]

Just got my new setup hooked up today. Only one picture at the moment.

A comparison with covers off of one of my old Klipsch speakers (powered, 2.1 system) next to my left channel Dynaudio Audience 42. Lighting was minimal, so my aperture was lower than it should have been (should have just moved the Dynaudio forward more). Will get better pictures later.

Setup is: MacBook > V-Dac > Yamaha A-S700 integrated amp > Speakers.

Result: Holy shit. I really cannot believe how amazing these are. It feels like the sound swirls around me. Everything is so clear. Songs that made my old speakers buzz shine brilliantly on these. I really could not be happier.