This is a solid choice, and it’s A/B and it’s got power and it’s got a secret sauce headphone jack to boot!
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and to the question of if its worth starting at 2.1? yes it is. your 2.0 for music and 3.0 for movies are the heart of it all.
but do not over stretch your budget. there is nothing wrong with the s 803’s and for 90% of people on the planet they are end game. i was the one promoting the jamo 5.0 while music direct still had them at 200$/set. half a dozen of my RL friends and i do not know how many on these forums have ordered them. everyone i have talked to loves them. I listen to them at my neighbors couple times a week rocking out. I almost picked up a set myself many times just because of the price at the time, even though i have more then enough speakers and do not need them at all.
oh and i almost forgot, if you plan on getting 5.0 down the road, i would look at avr’s and not power amps.
with your budget in life atm, you will get more bang for the buck out of an avr. 5.0 with power amps and pre-amp processors for 5.0, are expensive. You can get a nice dennon or onkyo or yamaha for much cheaper over all. I have a sony and love it, but they do not get the best reviews compared to the 3 mentioned above.
edit: most of the base 5.0 avr’s from those companies go on sale for 200$ or less through out the year. Unfortunately last fall, just about all speaker/amp prices jumped about 20% due to inflation and new taxes from china.
+1 For Emotiva.
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For surrounds you can really take it easy. I use these pioneer and they are excellent and will do double duty as very good desktop speakers.
Sp-bs22
https://www.newegg.com/pioneer-sp-bs22-lr/p/N82E16882117424?item=9SIAMA9A624232&source=region&nm_mc=knc-googlemkp-pc&cm_mmc=knc-googlemkp-pc--pla-pioneer+home+usa--home+audio+speakers-_-9SIAMA9A624232&gclid=Cj0KCQjwiYL3BRDVARIsAF9E4GdKNZHcV_KAC13ZcKdXZdEibNJlisHEhQJTw7juFlq1xwZ1Dou70mAaAmLYEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
I am not going with a receiver yet because I am planning to be able to use passive speakers on a desk… Yes, I am planning on going 5.1 down the road, but that is not going to be for a while. I have a car to get first, and until then, I will be sticking with 2.0 in a smaller room. I have yet to decide on what amp to purchase, but I now want to do it sooner rather then later so I can actually enjoy the dam things, rather then have giant paperweights, never knowing if they arrived DOA or not.
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Unfortunatly, the Emotiva is an excersize in: how much do I fuckin hate my wallet? Already went with the C93 ii… Now I have $280 in the bank to go for the next couple weeks… I would rather have something to fuckin play with…
I think you chose the wrong hobby to be friendly to your wallet. I keep telling myself, “I am done for a while”. Meanwhile, I have $800 in audio stuff I don’t need in my amazon cart.
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Right now Im considering these:
Used SMSL SA300 off Amazon
and Topping PA3
Came across this deal this morning:
Dude…
Not to mention when I finally get around to setting up a home theater, that receiver does not have any inputs beyond RCA. Unless you can explain how this could be more desirable then HDMI inputs, and having ARC connected to the TV
I read that as you’re not going with a SURROUND receiver yet, which does make sense. This Yamaha is a stereo receiver. I wasn’t thinking you would move it to your HT system some day. You could keep it in some hypothetical office 2.0 system or a music listening room if you every have such a thing. My biggest concern for you is the Jamo’s sensitivity. They’re rated at 88dB/W, which is on the lower end for speakers. I tried running my Def Tech SM55, which are rated at 87dB sensitivity, off a Micca OriGain and it did not sound so hot. I realize the SA300 and the PA3 have more rated power than the OriGain, but they’re not very muscular either. Yamaha has also been known for having higher quality amp stages in their receivers. I just think this will make your nice Jamos sound better. Since the PA3 is also on your list, I also figure you don’t need a DAC. This Yamaha gives you plenty of power for just a few dollars more than the PA3 and a larger footprint. It also comes with a remote. If it doesn’t fit on your desk, put it next to your desk and use the remote to control the volume. It’s really up to you, but I do have reservations with pairing these insensitive Jamos with a low-power desktop amp.
Got mine here and love it
DAC is JDS Labs OL DAC. SQ was a dramatic step up from my fairly new Onkyo 2 channel receiver. Great clean sound for a starter 2 channel amp.
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So from my understanding, you are concerned about there not being enough power from the PA3 or SA300? What if I held off for another two weeks (giant paper weight route) and got the Emotiva A-100?
That is correct. I have a Zen DAC I am planing to use for now.
The Emotiva will give you plenty of power too. It’s 40W rating is probably closer to an actual 40W. Plus it’s class A(/B?) topology will freak out and distort less if you’re pushing it close to its max. Another bonus is you can jumper it and have that massive headphone amp if you want. The Emotiva is also most likely the best sound quality match for the Jamos. The Jamos were something like $650 before the sale, right? The Emotiva is much closer to being on the same sound tier. The Yamaha won’t be far beyond, probably. So if you want to move now I think the Yamaha is your best bet. If you’re happy waiting, hold out for the Emotiva.
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Happy with waiting? No. Can I deal with it? Sure.
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Dude, you pull that off…I’m jealous. That’s a hellavu starter HiFi system.
I’ve been considering swapping my TA-10 with a TA-20 and running it balanced from the Zen. Perhaps down the road I’ll invest in a full blown tube amp.
Either way, I now get to wait for everything to arrive.
My consideration right now if I do go with the BasX is grab a desk like this:
rip out the drawer, and put the A-100 in it’s place (either find a way to rack mount it, or build a shelf there, if I don’t grab a different desk that uses shelves instead).