Question about Dac/Class D Amp Combo.

[MrSix18]

Hey guys, Im new as a member i suppose but ive been reading reviews and posts on here for months! some of the content on here is second to none as well as the reviews by amirm! but now i have a question of my own from someone recently brought into the never stop purchasing better stuff audio world lol

currently as a starter setup, im running a JDS Labs Atom Dac+ amp as they are made within 10 miles of my home right outside st louis Missouri, into a SMSL SA300 crapdac but solid amp, into jamo S803's. ive found this setup more than adequate and for a young-ish fella with not much of a budget (just purchased my first big boy item, in the form of a house and 60 acres of hunting land/4acre lake so safe to say my 9 years of 60+ hours a week bank account is non-existent at 29 years old) but i went ahead and bought some KEF 150's off amazon and moved the jamos to the garage.

since im now using somewhat higher tier speakers, i feel like i should be getting a bit of an upgrade to what powers them and decodes the music coming out of them. Im mainly on the PC using Tidal, or with my iphone running IEMs and Audelix 5k driving them due to the customization.

with a limited budget, any dac/amp combo or separate dac/amp out there that is going to help these speakers reach their full potential? i would gladly move my current setup to my shop out back (4 car garage/shop) as it needs a new audio friend out there and properly torch the few decade old CD system. but all i can really find are the likes of a DAC and aiyma A07 to power them. my knowledge is slim to none as again, im new here and apologize ahead of time but im getting there lol or trying!

also have been looking at a DAP, are any of them worthy as doubling as a PC Dac as well to kill to birds??

TLR -- need a pocket friendly Amp/Dac combo or separately bought to power new KEF150 desktop speakers, as i always jam out to my music, i want something that is going to support the louder side and not crap out like the Jamos and SA300 did. im sure that's partly for not having a subwoofer and cramming all that bass into the speakers, and if itll make that much difference as far as DB goes, ill gladly add one. but for now looking to upgrade from 32bit/384 and dsd128 to something maybe even MQA ready if you guys think its worthy, if not just higher bitrate for tidal

THANK YOU and sorry if this is too long, first post and im trying to get everything out without leaving a half-worded post for people to wonder what im truly asking lol sorry if its in the wrong place as well!

 

[Helicopter]

I like the Loxjie A30 as a little integrated amp with DAC. What is your budget?

Congrats on the property!

 

[MrSix18]

I like the Loxjie A30 as a little integrated amp with DAC. What is your budget?

Congrats on the property!

so sorry for the late reply man, this covid had me down and out cold for a few days. but all is good now after a little monoclonal antibody and some other drip drips and day 4 I'm back to normal with ALL smell and taste back. insane!!

anyway, loxjie was part of the list I created to find out what I was wanting to go with. my biggest issue is A) it has the same chip as the SMSL SA300 I have, but does the DAC itself score better? because besides the SDB setting, this sa300 DAC is a joke over USB. and the Bluetooth/RCA in's are easily blown out of the water by the JDSLABS Atom Dac+ for 100$. the one that caught my eye but does not know anyone with one to post their thoughts of, is the SMSL A200. but seeing as the SA300 I have puts out around 35-ish watts @ 8ohms and it has 2 chips versus one in the SA300, why is it only pushing 50 watts @ 8ohms? is that power supply restraint?

there's so much that I don't know about and pry sounds dumb so my apologies, but I'm basically looking for around 300$ a solid amp/DAC or even a separate amp and DAC. I'm just looking for something that will allow the KEF's to reach their limit and I feel like I'm limiting their ability to be great with mediocre equipment,

-ALSO... I'm almost always eating everything, and I HATE equalizer APO with a passion (too much to explain) but anyway, I've been using the qudelix 5k as a desktop DAC on these games solely for the PEQ (and I know it basically fails in all aspects as a desktop DAC so i get it im losing the quality department) but what I was able to make those games do with some EQ testing and from well-respected internet EQ guys on Reddit that helped out as well, is nothing short of amazing! really brought them to life!! if there is a DAC or anything out there in the sub4-500$ range that allows me to have my onboard EQ customizable versus pre-determined settings, that would be something id shell out cash for as it's all in the higher-priced equipment!

THANK YOU for the congrats on the new purchase! was a long time coming! ill shut up now lol