Hi,
I have started assembling my stack, for now, I have
- DAC : Denafrips Ares II
- Speakers : Klipsch RP 600M
- Headphones : Aeon RT Closed and Sivga Phoenix (and SHP9500 as a beater for gaming)
- Amp : Vintage Pioneer SX 680
Now I need a headphone amp and a new amplifier (the Pioneer is gonna be my living room amp with some vintage speakers) and I was thinking about buying the Topping A90 as a headphone amp and use it as a preamp with a nice and compact class D amp
As for the amp I have two in mind, the XTZ A2-300 and the DIY UcD400, I have no problem assembling the UcD400 and the price is not far apart, my idea is this
PC → USB → Denafrips → XLR → A90 → XLR or RCA → Speaker amp
I looked at those amplifiers because they had good reviews, lots of power (if I ever upgrade to less sensitive speakers) and they are very compact (as I want to literally stack the components to take the less amount of space in my desk)
As I can see it
XTZ EDGE A2-300
Pros :
- Already assembled, less chance of screwing things up
- Maybe better than a cheap DIY kit?
- Auto power on
Cons :
- No balanced input
UcD400
Pros :
- Balanced Input
- Supposedly better performance over ICE modules
Cons :
- I can screw up and kill the thing assembling it wrong
- Looks like it does not have an auto power on
What do you guys think? You have any recommendation or critique?
Thanks!