I’m going for an upgrade to my source gear and have narrowed it down to a few options, wondering what the hive mind thinks.
My phones and speakers for info:
T60rp Argon (planned, guarantee, no changing on this)
Hyland Jupiter One
Beyerdynamic custom one pro plus
Vokyl erupt
KPH30i
Wharfedale Diamond 9.1
Source options:
Modius - Magnius - SMSL DA-8S
Klipsch Heritage - SMSL SA300
XDuoo XA-10 - SMSL SA300
Which do you think will be best? Or something completely different? There’s some aesthetics in my decisions but all look to have enough power for my needs, just can’t decide between the three. In the UK so import charges will be a bitch no doubt (thanks Brexit) but has been taken in to account for my £600/$850 budget.
Currently is use an xduoo xd-05 plus and then an old Cambridge amp to power the speakers. The xduoo is my baby and will be staying for away from desk listening but the Cambridge amp is for the glue factory.
I can’t help you decide, but did you look at Lake People’s amps? They’re based in Germany and maybe you could find a UK distributor rather than importing Schiit. They have a few amps that would fit nicely in that price point, starting from the G103
There is a UK distributor but I’ve never really used them or heard much about them. The aesthetic doesn’t make me moist but I may look. They are more expensive than importing schiit too. Or importing xduoo. Being in the UK sucks sweaty balls at the best of times but especially at the minute!
I’d really look to Jot2 over Magnius as you appear to like balanced, but have headphones you’ll also be using as single-ended. Magnius has SE as convenience, but is not great. Jot2 considered a much better listen on both outputs. Better control over external devices as a preamp also vs Magnius. Could do built-in DAC if desired, or phono input.
This new SMSL speaker amp linked below will upgrade over the SA300, and accepts XLR too. I wonder about a simpler (no BT) speaker amp on this setup might be good idea though. You won’t be likely to use that functionality here, right? I guess for a party it would have an added convenience.
I looked at the jot but it takes me over budget. Increasing the audio budget means less in the gpu budget. I love music but love tarkov more! If I do end up with schiit then it’s da-8s, but da-9 is something I’ve been looking at since it was released too. Is just a fair chunk more than the da-8!
I’ve gone for the three options so far as they fit in budget, have the powaaahhhh for all my headphones and the dac portions have the inputs needed for pc, console and set top box on my desk (single dac card on a jot is not enough either). Bluetooth isn’t a requirement on either the dac, amp or speaker amp tbf as it’s desk use only but always a free bonus is good.