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New desk 2.1 audio setup

chuplustoby

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Hello! I'm new to this forum. I need your help to set up my new audio setup for my new desk since I have move to a more open space on rooftop. My audio setup is mainly for my computer, from which I listen music, and my PS4. Currently, I am powering a pair of Monitor Audio Monitor 9 Gold MkII with a SMSL SA300. But since I am going to have far more space for my new desk, I am in a dilemma where I can fit larger old equipments from my father, and I am not sure whether a switch to those equipments will be an upgrade or not.

I could find a TEAC UD501 DAC and an Onkyo TX DS939 Integrated Amp from the storage. So I have a few options and I cannot decide:

A: Keep my current setup: PC+PS4> SMSL SA300
B: PC+PS4 > UD501 > SMSL SA 300
C: PC+PS4 > UD501 >RCA> Onkyo TX DS939

I have trouble deciding since I'm not sure whether my speakers are going to benefit from a more powerful Amp. I mainly use my PC to play music and I might put on my headphones if I do serious gaming.
 

Kalessin

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Hello, and welcome!

At a desktop listening distance between you and your speakers, and even in a larger room, the SMSL amplifier should still be able to go loud enough, offering something like 40 watts RMS into 8 ohms. You could try swapping out equipment and see if you hear a difference, but you may not hear much of one. For many years, I never owned a stereo amplifier that put out more than 60 watts RMS, starting when I bought my first small Technics receiver when I was in high school. Some of what I've owned:

Technics SA-101, 18 watts per channel RMS into 8 ohms, 1979
Pioneer SX-737, 35 watts per channel RMS into 8 ohms, 1984
NAD 3020 integrated amplifier, 20 wpc RMS into 8 ohms, 1996
Sansui Eight receiver, 60 wpc RMS into 8 ohms, 1996

You don't need high wattage to get room-filling sound with small speakers. These amplifiers and receivers could all go louder than I was willing to listen, in whatever apartment I was living in, with speakers up to the fairly large Polk Monitor 12 (which would have been too much for the SA-101).

Unless your room is bigger than about 4m by 6m, keeping the smaller-sized amplifier may be far more convenient for stereo sound than swapping in the large Onkyo, with no loss in sound level or hearable sound quality.
 
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chuplustoby

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Hello, and welcome!

At a desktop listening distance between you and your speakers, and even in a larger room, the SMSL amplifier should still be able to go loud enough, offering something like 40 watts RMS into 8 ohms. You could try swapping out equipment and see if you hear a difference, but you may not hear much of one. For many years, I never owned a stereo amplifier that put out more than 60 watts RMS, starting when I bought my first small Technics receiver when I was in high school. Some of what I've owned:

Technics SA-101, 18 watts per channel RMS into 8 ohms, 1979
Pioneer SX-737, 35 watts per channel RMS into 8 ohms, 1984
NAD 3020 integrated amplifier, 20 wpc RMS into 8 ohms, 1996
Sansui Eight receiver, 60 wpc RMS into 8 ohms, 1996

You don't need high wattage to get room-filling sound with small speakers. These amplifiers and receivers could all go louder than I was willing to listen, in whatever apartment I was living in, with speakers up to the fairly large Polk Monitor 12 (which would have been too much for the SA-101).

Unless your room is bigger than about 4m by 6m, keeping the smaller-sized amplifier may be far more convenient for stereo sound than swapping in the large Onkyo, with no loss in sound level or hearable sound quality.

I see. That sounds very reasonable. I have read something about the SMSL can benefit from an external DAC. Do you think I should give the TEAC a go and see if it really enhances the performance?
 

Kalessin

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To my ears, all DACs sound roughly equivalent. They decode signal according to their codecs, and pass it on to be amplified.

Start reading the reviews here and learning about what is being measured, and you'll find that unless a DAC is poorly designed (and some of the cheap ones are) or something is interfering with the signal (like a defective cable), you won't be able to hear the difference of one over another.

The internet loves gear-swapping and reviews of audio equipment that aren't based in measurement or testing. This website is one of the few antidotes to this kind of thinking.

While I might borrow a DAC someday to try feeding various digital files to it for decoding, I'm entirely happy with the DAC in my Macbook Pro and its headphone output into an Aiyima A07 (about 40wpc RMS into 8 ohms, miraculous for such a small box for those of us used to full-sized class AB amplifiers) which is driving a pair of Anthony Gallo Micros (3" drivers in a 4" spherical enclosure that go down to about 120Hz) with a matching passive 8" subwoofer. This system sounds great in my little office, and even pretty good in my 4m by 7m living room.
 

AdamG

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I see. That sounds very reasonable. I have read something about the SMSL can benefit from an external DAC. Do you think I should give the TEAC a go and see if it really enhances the performance?
Welcome Aboard @chuplustoby.
 
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chuplustoby

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Thank you guys! That's very kind of you. I will read more reviews and I think I will just stay simple with my setup!
 
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