Small desk amp advice

[Bleib]

I agree, but not in the way you might think. The science bit shows good engineering, or bad engineering. After you know you have something fine, all that really matters is looks and features, these are also hard facts. Subjective twaddle on sound is just that, twaddle.

Again a yes and no. Topping's own measurements so far from what I've seen haven't been lies.

https://dl.topping.audio/usermanual/mx3s.pdf

 

[xrqp]

For a desktop amp, I would want many functions all in one piece, like: amp for speakers, amp for headphones, DAC.

Possibly also: EQ, sub out, sub management, bluetooth. Nice to have built-in power supply if available.

Maybe Wiim has something you may like.

Since you wanted lowest cost possible, do you have room for a used 50 to 100 watt class AB receiver which are $50 to $75 on craigslist?

 

[rongon]

Hi, I am stuck in a similar situation. Reworking on my WFH setup for near field listening in a small room 12-13 sqm. Source is a WiiM pro and Topping e30 II for Spotify/radio paradise/local storage flac, speakers are Lonpoo lp42mx (a Kind of Micca MB42 for EU markets). Now shortlist is about Topping mini 300 and Aiyima a20, first one is a step up looking at measurement, second one is more flexible with hpf and sub out and powerful (not really needed anyway considering my small room) . They have also different footprint with Topping asking for less space…another point to consider is: very soon I will need to add a turntable. No one of the amp has 2 rca input so in the end a pre will be needed

Since these desktop amps all have built-in volume controls, you don't even need a preamp; not even a 'passive pre.' You could use a simple stereo switchbox to accept the outputs from your DAC(s) and phono preamp. Cheap, simple, really hard to do badly (the switch and jacks would have to be truly awful to degrade the signal or introduce hum/noise).

For headphone listening, a simple 2 in/1 out *passive* switchbox can be wired 'backwards' to become a 1 in/2 out switch to switch between inputs to the speaker amp and headphone amp. Perhaps ungainly, but it would work.

Some of these desktop amps have built-in Bluetooth too.

The sub outs on the cheap desktop amps are often not useful, e.g., the one on the Fosi V3 stereo is full-range, so your main stereo speakers will still be playing below 100Hz or so along with the subwoofer, which is not desirable. You would need to add some kind of a high-pass filter to your main speakers (like a large value, non-polarized capacitor in series with each speaker). Not desirable, so the 'sub out' on the V3 stereo is essentially useless for a sub. It's also not useful for a headphone amp, since turning down the V3's volume control to mute the speakers also mutes the 'sub out'. Again not desirable.

Adding all these capabilities will run up the costs or reduce the quality, no matter how you slice it.

Re: used stereo receivers:

Good ones are physically large, because they used linear power supplies, which need to be large in order to deliver the current required for high output power from the amplifier stages. Switch-mode power supplies were not commonly available in the 1970s and '80s.

The vintage 1970s Made In Japan 'silver face' receivers are now considered collectible, so those are usually not cheap unless they need significant refurbishment. Those from Marantz, Sansui, Onkyo, Kenwood, Sony, JVC, Yamaha and the like that are ready to be used can be surprisingly expensive these days (like $400 and up). That leaves us with 1990s and later 'black face' receivers, which are usually made in China or Malaysia. How well does one of these perform if it was made 25+ years ago?

How bad (or good) is a current made in China, Best Buy type stereo receiver, like this one? ($249) - https://www.bestbuy.com/product/son...t-for-turntables-black/J7XSRH42PL/sku/6187501 - or this one? ($219, but no phono input) - https://www.crutchfield.com/p_022RS202/Yamaha-R-S202.html and https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/yamaha-r-s202-receiver-review.52587/

FWIW...
I once bought a pre-HDMI Onkyo home theater (5.1) receiver to use on the cheap as a stereo system. It (SUBJECTIVELY) sounded dull-yet-harsh in that peculiar 'cheap hi-fi' sort of way. I was thinking this could be a result of multiple cheap class AB amplifier ICs implemented with a bare minimum of design care, being that there needed to be 6 of these amps in the one chassis, along with all the video switching, tuner, phono EQ, tone control, S/PDIF input and DAC, etc. circuits. Not surprisingly, one channel went weak intermittently, so I eventually gave it away. It seems a lot of those home theater receivers were not made and/or designed to last.

Oh, that reminds me -- if you can do without the phono input, there were a couple of pretty good home theater receivers made circa 2005 with early implementations of HDMI and Class D amplifier sections that seem to perform well. I have a cheap-looking, ugly Panasonic AV receiver like that which still works. (I think it's this one -- https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-sa-xr57-multi-channel-receiver-review.10480/.) It sounded pretty good to me for digital sources (SUBJECTIVELY - NO TESTING PERFORMED- my OPINION ONLY). No phono input, though. I can't say that I would recommend this kind of thing, but I figured I'd mention it as an option to consider if you find one for cheap at the Goodwill or whatever, and you can live with these kinds of measured specs.