2.1 amplifier recommendation

[Firulais71]

Hello friends.

I'm looking to build a simple audio system for my office. For this project, I have two Elac bookshelf speakers and a passive subwoofer that I salvaged from an old home theater system.

¿What 2.1 amplifier would you recommend?

A built-in DAC would be even better.

Thanks!

 

[kyuu]

The easy recommendation is the Wiim Amp Ultra. If that's too pricey, then the Wiim Amp Pro.

 

[popej]

It is a passive subwoofer, it needs amplification. Something like SMSL DA100 could work, but I have no idea of device quality:

DA100

Foshan ShuangMuSanLin electronics Co., LTD. founded in 2009 which located in Shenzhen, China. And our branch company VMV Technology(HK) Company Limited registered in HK in 2013. Our company is specialized in the audio DAC, stereo headphone amplifier, power amplifier, and with own R&D...

www.smsl-audio.com

 

[kyuu]

Ah I didn't notice the passive subwoofer bit. What home theater system was this salvaged from? Did it include an amplifier that may have had built-in DSP settings for the subwoofer? If so, that may make trying to reuse the sub impractical unless you're willing to invest in measuring it and generating and running your own DSP.

But otherwise, that SMSL seems a decent option. No DAC though. You could still use a Wiim for the DAC/streamer/EQ/room correction functionality, just get a separate mono amplifier for the sub. I'd probably want the sub to have its own power supply anyway.

 

[popej]

But otherwise, that SMSL seems a decent option. No DAC though.

3 digital inputs: optical, usb and arc. But true, no separte DAC

 

[kyuu]

3 digital inputs: optical, usb and arc. But true, no separte DAC

Ugh, two failures in one thread.

 

[Firulais71]

Ah, no me fijé en el subwoofer pasivo. ¿De qué sistema de cine en casa se sacó esto? ¿Incluye un amplificador que pudiera tener ajustes DSP integrados para el subwoofer? De ser así, intentar reutilizarlo podría ser poco práctico, a menos que estés dispuesto a invertir en medirlo y generar y ejecutar tu propio DSP.

Por lo demás, ese SMSL parece una buena opción. Sin embargo, no tiene DAC. Podrías usar un Wiim para la función DAC/streamer/EQ/corrección de sala, simplemente consiguiendo un amplificador mono independiente para el subwoofer. De todas formas, probablemente prefiera que el subwoofer tenga su propia fuente de alimentación.

Hey man, thanks for your attention.

The passive subwoofer I want to use to complement the Elac speakers is from an old Samsung 5.1 home theater system (Blu-ray player) that was gathering dust in my storage room. The system didn't have a DSP, but it did have a very basic sound configuration menu where I could raise or lower the bass level.

Aside from that, there weren't many sound configuration options.

That said, I admit that for a home subwoofer, it sounded pretty good. I also used that Blu-ray player to listen to music from CDs or via USB (it only supported WAV and MP3 files), which is why I want to reuse that bass unit.

Regards.

 

[Firulais71]

3 digital inputs: optical, usb and arc. But true, no separte DAC

Brother, following your recommendation, I looked up information on the DA100, and it does have a DAC. It supports digital inputs up to 24-bit/192kHz via SPDIF (optical) or USB-C, which is how I want to use it, since all the music I'd listen to in my office would come from a PC (FLAC files).

https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/detail/id/938.html

At the moment, I think that SMSL fits my needs perfectly. I just need to know how good it sounds to make a decision about buying it, unless you recommend another option.

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[CptKaos]

cant think of anything else with a built in DAC and power for a passive subwoofer, but an Aiyima A80 DAC/AMP and an Aiyima A3001A subwoofer amp works great in one of my shop systems

 

[popej]

I looked up information on the DA100, and it does have a DAC.

It uses power amp chip with digital input. It should have ADC for analog input.

 

[truth_soldier]

It uses power amp chip with digital input. It should have ADC for analog input.

yes it has analog input. The question is, how much fidelity is lost with that or is it not audible the difference/loss?

 

[truth_soldier]

Brother, following your recommendation, I looked up information on the DA100, and it does have a DAC. It supports digital inputs up to 24-bit/192kHz via SPDIF (optical) or USB-C, which is how I want to use it, since all the music I'd listen to in my office would come from a PC (FLAC files).

https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/detail/id/938.html

View attachment 512428

At the moment, I think that SMSL fits my needs perfectly. I just need to know how good it sounds to make a decision about buying it, unless you recommend another option.

Thanks for the suggestion.

drivers for Windows an issue?

 

[DVDdoug]

drivers for Windows an issue?

I'm not 100% sure but most of these things are class compliant so they work with the USB drivers supplied with Windows (or other operating system).

HDIM and optical don't normally need special-specific drivers for the attached device.

 

[Firulais71]

drivers for Windows an issue?

Hello, i haven't bought the DA100, so I can't answer whether it needs a proprietary driver for the integrated DAC to work perfectly in Windows.

And since there's no driver for this amplifier-DAC on the SMSL support page, I assume Windows 10 or 11 should detect it automatically; that is, no driver installation is necessary.

Unless, of course, you need to install the driver for the D-series DACs, for which a driver is available.

Regards.

 

[truth_soldier]

Hello, i haven't bought the DA100, so I can't answer whether it needs a proprietary driver for the integrated DAC to work perfectly in Windows.

And since there's no driver for this amplifier-DAC on the SMSL support page, I assume Windows 10 or 11 should detect it automatically; that is, no driver installation is necessary.

View attachment 514052

Unless, of course, you need to install the driver for the D-series DACs, for which a driver is available.

Regards.

yes, the question arises because I've seen people complain about other gear that works on Windows but they are not getting the full hi-res support on the USB input as they do via optical input. And since we don't know what chip they are using there's no way to go to the chip maker for the driver like there is when the device uses a XMOS chip for example.
I use Linux which usually doesn't have this problem that Windows can sometimes have. Hopefully in this case they used a chip that doesn't need a proprietary driver for max resolution support via USB input.

 

[Firulais71]

yes, the question arises because I've seen people complain about other gear that works on Windows but they are not getting the full hi-res support on the USB input as they do via optical input. And since we don't know what chip they are using there's no way to go to the chip maker for the driver like there is when the device uses a XMOS chip for example.
I use Linux which usually doesn't have this problem that Windows can sometimes have. Hopefully in this case they used a chip that doesn't need a proprietary driver for max resolution support via USB input.

Hello friend, ¿what Linux distribution do you use, and could you recommend a media player similar to Foobar that allows you to control it from your phone?

This is how I use Foobar on Windows: the files are on a PC, but I control the program and playback from my phone using the Foobar mobile app.

Since I have several computers at home, I could use one with Linux. I'm familiar with the system; I have experience using Ubuntu, but for wireless auditing, not for audio.

Greetings from Peru.

 

[truth_soldier]

Hello friend, ¿what Linux distribution do you use, and could you recommend a media player similar to Foobar that allows you to control it from your phone?

This is how I use Foobar on Windows: the files are on a PC, but I control the program and playback from my phone using the Foobar mobile app.

Since I have several computers at home, I could use one with Linux. I'm familiar with the system; I have experience using Ubuntu, but for wireless auditing, not for audio.

Greetings from Peru.

I use a less popular distro called Pop!_OS which uses Ubuntu under the hood. There are lots of different players. Use google/AI to find out what is closest to Foobar.
I have the Clementine, Audacious, and Qod Libet music player apps installed but I used the Qobuz streaming service in the Vivaldi browser much more often than any of those apps. Pop video >>

 

[truth_soldier]

DA100 vs A50 Pro --> https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...l-a50-pro-amplifier-review.68882/post-2531499

 

[Firulais71]

I use a less popular distro called Pop!_OS which uses Ubuntu under the hood. There are lots of different players. Use google/AI to find out what is closest to Foobar.
I have the Clementine, Audacious, and Qod Libet music player apps installed but I used the Qobuz streaming service in the Vivaldi browser much more often than any of those apps. Pop video >>

I'll take a look at it in a virtual machine and see how it is.

Regards.

 

[truth_soldier]

I use a less popular distro called Pop!_OS which uses Ubuntu under the hood. There are lots of different players. Use google/AI to find out what is closest to Foobar.
I have the Clementine, Audacious, and Qod Libet music player apps installed but I used the Qobuz streaming service in the Vivaldi browser much more often than any of those apps. Pop video >>

keep in mind Linux could also have issues with supporting max resolution, maybe even more than Windows (I don't know?) since I'd guess more companies support Windows than Linux.