I've started looking into power amplifiers, DACs, pre-amps, and such for the first time. As you can imagine, it's a bit overwhelming with the options available... I think I currently have about 40 tabs open from Amir's testing (thank you!), Amazon, Aliexpress, and various manufacturers.
I'm hoping to get some advice specific to my situation. I'm hoping some of you all with experience with the A07 (and other equipment) can help me out.
My desktop computer is my music source. I also game competitively, so I need extremely low audio latency.
What I have now:
-A bunch of various headphones both for gaming and listening to music. My favorites are probably my Philips SHP-9500 (in the winter when my window AC isn't running/being loud) and my Beyer DT 770 Pro 250 Ohm in the summer when I need some isolation.
-Some bookshelf speaker stands
-Audioengine D1 DAC/headphone amp (sounds "fine" with my headphones but not crazy about the fact that it bugs out sometimes and has to be power cycled)
-Audioengine A2+ speakers (very meh. looking to significantly upgrade)
What I'm pretty sure about getting:
-Creative SoundBlaster AE-5 (Amir's testing shows a pretty clean line out and great headphone amplification for the money. Also, it has ) $150
-Either ELAC Debut Reference DBR-62 or Revel M16
Where I'm pretty lost: Amplification options
-Aiyima A07 with an upgraded power supply? Looks like that would be about $110 with the amp and a Mean Well (or similar) 7.5A power supply. I'd just have to learn how to wire the power supply to the amp? Sounds from the review and this thread that I'd get better performance with that rather than a brick adapter/supply
-Aiyima A08. Looks to have a built-in power supply so it sure would be a lot less hassle. I'd probably also use the bluetooth time to time. However, I can find very little about its performance. Is the built-in PSU any good or is this a bad option? $115 or so.
-I can't seem to find anything after this until about the $500 range that seems like it would be worth spending the extra money unless I build something myself, and I don't know if I'm capable of doing that. If I'm up into the $500 range then I'm looking at the Buckeye 2 channel NC252MP. But then I'd need a pre-amp with XLR output, right? It doesn't seem like I can go from the AE-5 line-out to the Buckeye unless I'm just clueless.
I've done a lot of reading but I feel like I might be more confused/conflicted than before I started going down the rabbit hole of looking at things that aren't just AVRs. I'd appreciate any guidance.