Am in a room 10x13ft and am looking to upgrade everything. I currently have no speakers and for headphones I use AKG 712 pro and fiio fh7 with Schiit modi multibit to a magni 2. I play games, watch films and listen to electric, rock, jazz, blues and classical so basically everything. My plan at the moment is a SMSL M400 DAC, Topping d90 to ZMF Auteur and Emotiva basx A-100 to Emotiva S8 to Dynaudio evoke 20 (which i think might be too big for the room).
Any feedback on whether this system is completely wrong or ideas to swap out some with others that make much more sense would greatly help.
Personally I think you are really skimping on the speaker amp for that specific set, dynaudio is really revealing, and you might want to give it a higher quality source to actually get good performance out of those speakers. Otherwise your headphone and speaker choices look good to me. Generally I’m not a fan of the a90 or the higher end smsl dacs, but I don’t think they are bad or anything, just feel like they are a bit mediocre for their price. What type of sound signature are you going for btw, so far you have a more neutral setup planned. Also are the dynaudio going on a desk? Nearfield they can be a bit overly forward in the treble imo
I was thinking that amp was a bottleneck in the system but couldn’t think what I would use instead. The DAC was chosen as I heard it was good for detail but still a little “musical”. I was looking at the Ares II but thought it had only 1 output but now i see it has 2 so might go for it instead. It’s the same with the a90 as I heard it was very good for detail. As you said I was thinking a more neutral system and isn’t too much treble or bass. The speakers would be on a desk roughly 2.5ft from a wall and I think about 3ft from myself.
I like parasound amps with the dynaudios to give them a bit more body and take the edge off the treble a tad, but generally well balanced imo. Also some of the used adcom amps are neutral and impactful, yet well refined imo
I personally wouldn’t say that based on other higher end smsl dacs but I have not heard the m400 yet so I cannot really comment
A note with that, on the ares ii it can only output via xlr or rca without quality loss, it cannot do both at the same time without sacrificing quality, but it is a very good dac imo. Actually perhaps look at the bifrost 2 as it sounds pretty excellent both single ended and balanced and can be run at the same time. Generally the ares ii is more detail forward, a bit more narrow but with more depth, a more w shaped signature almost, where the bifrost 2 is more neutral warm, slightly smooth, but still very good detail retrieval, more spacious but with a tad less depth, but more organic timbre and presentation
It’s good for surface level detail imo, but you miss out on some of the nuances and lower level detail, also spatial recreation is decent but not as good as other options in the range imo, the impact on the a90 is very good though. Generally with the auteur I like it with something like the lake people g111 for something neutral, clean, with great impact, but has very unique presentation and control that the a90 didn’t for me. I think if you wanted something neutral but a bit sweeter sounding and more organic, the hagerman tuba is really good in this regard, keeping things neutral but giving it a good tone and more organic response, but you lose out on a bit of slam and impact (but not too much imo)
Hmmmm, you have plenty of space from the wall, but 3ft might be a tad close, in that case you would want something with smoother treble, otherwise the dynaudios might have a bit too much treble imo
For a parasound amp, would you suggest the hint 6 which from what i can find is about 3k or the p6 preamp and a23+? With it would I get a drop in quality if I used the balanced out to go to a headphone amp and would everything lose if I did that or is that just the ares? Schiit stock in the UK and EU has been nonexistant in the last 5 months which caused me to stop looking at them. I can’t find any reviews or mentions of the lake people g111 but I am assuming its a german version of a RNHP?
Both are pretty good, imo the p6 with a23+ is more flexible and is slightly higher preforming
So you would just want to split the xlr out of the ares ii to the parasound and one to the headphone amp, and you should have no issues
Hmmm where are you at? Schiit has been lacking in the non us retailers. If you are not in the US, is parasound still viable over there?
It’s a very very well known and respected company, I’m surprised you can’t find any reviews on it.
The rnhp vs lake people is an interesting one, the rnhp is going to have more true to life timbre, the g111 is good but not great timbre wise. Detail wise they are on equal footing with the g111 potentially being a bit cleaner and more forward, the g111 is more studio neutral in signature where the rnhp is more natural/neutral I would say. The g111 has more power and control over headphones that are harder to drive, with more impact and slam in the bass, whereas the rnhp shines in the midrange and treble control. The g111 is more spatious than the rnhp, although the rnhp has a bit more depth. Generally both great amps, for the headphones you have and plan to get, honestly both would be very good pairings. I think if you wanted more slam, bigger stage, a more cool tilted sound, the g111 is the pick. If you wanted something a bit more natural sounding with more depth and a bit more crafted sound but not super impactful or large sounding, the rnhp is very good.
I’m in the UK with 1 parasound dealer and ye I was being stupid and forgot I could just get a splitter rather than using multiple outputs to go to different components. I think the lake people g111 sounds more of what i’m looking for and I can only find reviews of their other amps but not that model.
So my system is now looking much better but also much more expensive with those parasound amps.
The g109s would a closer example of the g111 but the g111 is an upgrade in quality
That is true, but imo it’s very worthwhile with those dynaudio, they are pretty picky on what source you feed them, and you need something quality to get the most out of them. In the uk you might be able to get better deals on some power amps from arcam, audiolab, and creek imo, which all pair well with the dynaudios imo