What are the highest-quality speakers suggested combining with an Aiyima A07?

[ovi]

I'm new to audio, have decent speaker wires, a good-enough DAC and an Aiyima A07 amp. Lets assume the amp is the weakest link in the chain.

Can someone give me some examples of “highest-level” bookshelf speakers to pair with this amp?

What I am trying to figure out is where the balance lies, I mean I could pair 5-figure speakers with this amp as well as below 100$ speakers.
I am sure there is a limit where better speakers will not be noticeable because I reached the “quality-limits” of this amp.

Can I get some examples where I would not be spending money on high quality speakers when I could get the result with cheaper speakers?

i.e. I could power a pair of Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2 or a pair of KEF R3 - if the difference isn't audible with this amp, obviously I'd go with the cheaper ELACs.


Does that make sense? Looking forward to some feedback.

 

[fpitas]

As long as the amp has enough power to push the speakers you choose to the volume you need in your room, the sky is the limit. The speakers will almost certainly be the sonic limitation.

 

[fpitas]

AIYIMA A07 TPA3255 Review (Amplifier)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the AIYIMA A07 desktop amplifier based on TPA3255 class D amplifier chip. It was kindly purchased new by a member and drop shipped to me. The cost is US $72 on Amazon including prime shipping. And as of this shipping, it also included a 32 volt, 5...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[MaxwellsEq]

It's a good amplifier. It's not particularly powerful. I think desktop or small bookshelf speakers will be fine. If it was me, I'd probably look for a more powerful amp if I was planning to spend 500 or more on speakers.

 

[Steven Holt]

That's a pretty spartan amp, my guess it's for desktop use. You'll want a speaker with a fairly small footprint. If I were you you, I'd take a look at the Q Acoustics 3020 (not the 3020i). Right now, they're on sale on Amazon for 199US which is quite a good deal. And welcome to ASR!

 

[Steven Holt]

It's a good amplifier. It's not particularly powerful. I think desktop or small bookshelf speakers will be fine. If it was me, I'd probably look for a more powerful amp if I was planning to spend 500 or more on speakers.

Yhea, I noticed that too. He really needs that 48V power supply. I was going to tell him to sell it and buy the PA3s, but he has to work with what he has.

 

[Joe Smith]

Yeah, I wouldn't advise going to higher speaker costs with the A07. I currently rotate (for example) between Polk Monitors, KEF Q series and Elac Debut 2.0 B 6.2 speakers with it. All play nicely, and with just a 32v power supply (medium sized room, medium volume levels).

I do think in terms of current production below-$500 speakers, the Elacs are pretty good.

But your choice I think should come down to speaker characteristics more than price per se. If you don't use a sub (and sub integration is less than ideal with these small amps), then getting decent bass extension may be important to you. You also need to consider what kind of bass porting to get depending on where you will place them in-room (no port, back port, front port). Another issue is getting the right height of the drivers relative to your listening position(s).

 

[DVDdoug]

Lets assume the amp is the weakest link in the chain.

The only thing "weak" might be power output.

With awesome speakers and an awesome recording your setup will sound awesome, unless you push the amp or speakers into distortion.

The amplifier may be audibly perfect unless it's over-driven into clipping (distortion). Or sometimes there is audible noise (hum, hiss, or whine) in the background If you aren't hearing noise it's unlikely that any other amplifier is going have better sound quality. Frequency response and distortion are almost always better then human hearing (unless an amplifier is over-driven). That's pretty-much true with any analog electronics... Noise is usually the only "sound quality" concern. Digital electronics are usually "digitally perfect", unless you get bad data corruption or glitches-dropouts, etc.

With speakers, headphones, and room acoustics, things get "more interesting".

See Audiophoolery.

 

[Steven Holt]

Noise is usually the only "sound quality" concern. Digital electronics are usually "digitally perfect", unless you get bad data corruption or glitches-dropouts, etc.

Yes, correct -- except for one thing : Dynamic Range. If you want the full effect of DR, you're gonna need a strong amp, there's no way around it. That's one reason plenty of guys on this forum like big, strong, mean amps! More power is better than less power, all else being equal.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

I own one of the A07's and use one channel to power a KEF HTC 3001 SE, which is a 2010 version of their egg shaped center channel speaker. If I turn everything all the way up and place my ear right against the driver, I can hear some very faint noise, so really AFAIC, not really an issue. You would certainly hear a lot more noise (and I mean a whole lot more) from a $5k plus audiophile tube amp, or even some multi kilobuck vintage amps from the '80's and '90's which would still fetch a price 20-40 times higher than the Aiyima. As for power, you can increase that by selecting the right power supply. Look for a 48v, 5 amp supply which will have a theoretical 240 watt (120 wpc) output. While it will fall somewhat short of that, it will deliver enough power, I think, to drive something like a Kef LS 50 (OG or Meta) or a Revel 105 in a modest sized room.

And you should be spending your money on the speakers like that, at least initially, because that will make, by far, the greatest contribution to the enjoyment of your experience. If you still want to, at a latter point in time, you can revisit the amp decision and consider something like a Hypex N-Core or a Purifi for quite a bit more money.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

Magico M9 is 4 ohm nom. and they suggest min. 20 W.

 

[TheWalkman]

Magico M9 is 4 ohm nom. and they suggest min. 20 W.

View attachment 325366

If the M9s are out of stock, let me suggest the Elac DBR62’s as your second choice alternative.

Seriously, I have a pair driven by an A07 and the combination works very well.

 

[Power Pop 23]

I am using an Aiyima A07 with the 32 volt power supply to drive OG KEF LS50's and the combination can get very loud in a listening space of about 4,000 cubic feet. There are a lot of options for loudspeakers but within the choice between an ELAC Debut 2.0 B5.2 and a KEF R3, I would choose the KEF - as long as the combination of the Aiyima A07 and KEF R3 can get as loud as you want.

 

[ovi]

Thanks everyone, I think I get it: just go for the speakers I like listening to, apart from volume, noise or disstortion at high volume there's nothing to pay attention to.


The longer version is that I borrowed a pair of Monitor Audio Bronze 100 and listened for a few weeks in my room which is somewhere between 15-20 square meters (not a square, rather rectangular). I am now trying to find a pair of speakers and was worrying that my amp won't be able to bring out all their glory if they were too “high-quality”.
TBH the A07 is perfect for my needs. If I turn it to 5 out of 10 the walls are shaking and the neighbours complaining ;-)
Most of the time I used it somewhere in the range of 2-3 out of 10, and it was sounding great.

Now I'm off to a local store to listen to some speakers available here, and then we'll see what I end up with (Black Friday coming up this Friday here in Germany where I'm currently located). I might even score a bargain on the second-hand market if someone's replacing their speakers during Black Friday

 

[Svet Angelov]

Thanks everyone, I think I get it: just go for the speakers I like listening to, apart from volume, noise or disstortion at high volume there's nothing to pay attention to.


The longer version is that I borrowed a pair of Monitor Audio Bronze 100 and listened for a few weeks in my room which is somewhere between 15-20 square meters (not a square, rather rectangular). I am now trying to find a pair of speakers and was worrying that my amp won't be able to bring out all their glory if they were too “high-quality”.
TBH the A07 is perfect for my needs. If I turn it to 5 out of 10 the walls are shaking and the neighbours complaining ;-)
Most of the time I used it somewhere in the range of 2-3 out of 10, and it was sounding great.

Now I'm off to a local store to listen to some speakers available here, and then we'll see what I end up with (Black Friday coming up this Friday here in Germany where I'm currently located). I might even score a bargain on the second-hand market if someone's replacing their speakers during Black Friday

My suggestion for cheap, good bookshelves will always be the Wharfedale Diamond 220. You can find 'em for around 100 euros here, so I imagine it will be the same in Germany. Or you could also look at the 12.2's (maybe they will be on sale at some online retailers for the upcoming Black Friday)

 

[ovi]

I'm not looking for cheap, rather for the best bang for the buck.

To give you an idea of what is available around me (prices are for pairs):
- Elac Debut B5.2 for 160€
- Elac Debut B6.2 for 230€
- MA Bronze 100 for 300€
- Elac Debut Reference DBR62 for 420€
- Focal Chora 806 for 450€
- Elac Uni-Fi Reference UBR62 for 850€

And then I saw a pair of second-hand KEF R3 for 750€.

Like I said, I'll wait for Black Friday and also keep an eye on the second-hand market. Anyway, the point of my question wasn't about which speakers to get but rather to figure out what exactly should or would limit my speaker choice given the existing A07 amp.

 

[ninetylol]

I'm not looking for cheap, rather for the best bang for the buck.

To give you an idea of what is available around me (prices are for pairs):
- Elac Debut B5.2 for 160€
- Elac Debut B6.2 for 230€
- MA Bronze 100 for 300€
- Elac Debut Reference DBR62 for 420€
- Focal Chora 806 for 450€
- Elac Uni-Fi Reference UBR62 for 850€

And then I saw a pair of second-hand KEF R3 for 750€.

Like I said, I'll wait for Black Friday and also keep an eye on the second-hand market. Anyway, the point of my question wasn't about which speakers to get but rather to figure out what exactly should or would limit my speaker choice given the existing A07 amp.

look at spinorama.org ratings and divide by price would probably be the most objective. Although DBR62 are one of the highest rated speakers on this forum. KEF R3 are probably awesome too, but not a fan of used stuff from random people.

 

[fpitas]

Magico M9 is 4 ohm nom. and they suggest min. 20 W.

View attachment 325366

That's going to take a big desk. But worth it.

 

[Joe Smith]

I think the main thing is to shoot for good efficiency in the speakers you choose, depending on how loud you want to play without distortion. The original A07 amp can get pretty loud but you'd still want speaker efficiency above ~87 dB probably.