Haha, roger that. I hope it all works out. If it’s as good as people say, the Q5 dac/amp leaves your friend with a less painful upgrade path for DAC/headphone amp.
Oh, and regarding the SMSL SA98E, plug in the barrel connector to the amp and then the cord to the power brick. Otherwise it makes a spark and people get surprised.
Best bet would be to save the $ on the speakers, look locally for used bookshelves or even powered monitors. There are always good deals to be had on klipsch, Elac, the Andrew jones pioneer, jbl, etc. on Facebook marketplace and craigslist.
Towa, why not the SMSL AD18 with RB42s ?
I’m running a Topping MX3 with MB42Xs on Desktop and Pretty Happy with it - although I’ve Only had the setup 1 month…
Bad measurements. Otherwise it has good IO. The MX3 is probably the better choice if not for its lower speaker output power.
what is Bad measurments?
what about a DAC with Powered speakers like Fluance Ai40.? around $300ish.?
Opening a can of worms here, but Amirm at ASR does measurements of various audiophile equipment. You do get diminishing returns toward the top end of measurements, but when something ranks in the bottom quartile of all tested gear, odds are you can tell on a listening test.
His friend also needs a headphone amp to come with that DAC. In which case you’re looking at a single unit with DAC/headphone amp/preamp abilities + powered speakers. It’s a viable option. For instance, you could grab the Fluance Ai40 for $200 + the Fosi Audio Q5 for $270 total.
Not sure how the Fluance speakers compare to the Micca RB42’s.
I originally wanted the Fluance Ai40’s but didn’t know of less expensive DACs that would work as I also needed a Headphone amp. . Had I known of the Fosi you linked I probally would of went that way…But the MB42Xs fit my Small desk area better…
That also looks like an attractive option. I have no idea how it sounds good without a port, but they seem to be the exception. I’m sure the MB42’s have more bass.
Thanks everyone for the help, I have made the purchase.
I went with the Micca RB42 + Fosi Q5 + SA-98e setup.
needless to say I will be keeping this setup at my house for at least a week before I hand it over to my friend. for umm… testing purposes of course. yeah let’s go with that haha
Let us know How you Like it…
in case anyone is still on the fence about getting a pair of these speakers. right now amazon only has 6 left in stock.
It is too late for now. They are gone. It did not take very long.
They run very well. I am please with it. I can not turn the volume know past the 1/3 mark without hurting my ears. Not bad for $75.00. With the $130 speakers, it is a very good system. I do not think you can get a better system for $205.
Would agree with this. I’m getting the SU-8 to output into my THX 789 and the SA-98e.
I cannot believe it…got on second amazon sale. It seems I have bad speaker. One speaker is muddy sounding, less volume. I have ticket into micca. Hopefully it can be resolved without waiting a month for the new amazon listing…
yes, i tried different cables, amp, and reversing polarity. and the simple switch speaker test.
I am in almost the exact same situation. I got in on the recent restock at Amazon and finally got to try them on my desktop for the last two days. Very muddy out of one speaker. I swapped out cables, used a different amp, etc, its definitely the speaker. Sending back today.
micca support said there was loose connection in speaker and is sending back to me. hopefully this isn’t sign of widespread QC issues.
Topping PA-3 or Emotiva BasX A-100? to drive the RB4s?
So been using the SA-98e with RCA input from SU-8. Definitely not very clean, there’s an audible noise floor when you put your ears close enough it. But i can’t think of other power amplifiers powerful enough and cheap enough to power these. Perhaps Emotiva A-150.