mhardy6647
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I am starting a thread with an actual question -- although I know I could read reviews and threads here and probably find good answers myself! 
Our son & daughter-in-law bought their first house this past autumn. He asked me to set him up with some 'real' loudspeakers for what is in essence a desktop hifi (he's got a fairly serious desktop computer, as his avocation is comp sci). I knew (well... I assumed) he wanted to keep things small.
For starters, I set him up with one of those little Lepai "20 watt" Tripath chip (supposedly) amps sold by PartsExpress (and still available, ostensibly with a modern TI amp chip), a cheap little FXAudio DAC (a cheapie 'buyout' also from PE) and an early pair of Cambridge Soundworks Model Six loudspeakers. I was pretty pleased with the way the combo sounded here, and he is, too -- although he said he's getting some noise from the USB and/or the DAC.
DSC_0935 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
He should really have something a notch nicer than either the Lepai or the FX DAC, but I hit analysis paralysis when I look at the myriad little desktop amp boxes, with or without built in DACs.
Ideally, I am looking for a small, inexpensive (maybe $100 to 150 USD) Class D amp, ca. a 'real' 40 watts per channel into 8 ohms (negotiable on that, though) and, again ideally, with a decent quality DAC that can take signal direct from a computer USB.
As an aside, if there's a better way to get 'quiet' signal from his 'pute's USB, that would be of interest, too.
I prefer a US vendor although Amazon is OK.
I am pretty agnostic in terms of brand, though.
Thanks for any and all advice/suggestions!
For reference: Here's a photo of their unhinged yet completely adorable cat Felicitous (his friends call him "Felix") providing a CAT scan of one of the CSW Sixes last week in Alexandria, VA.
Our son & daughter-in-law bought their first house this past autumn. He asked me to set him up with some 'real' loudspeakers for what is in essence a desktop hifi (he's got a fairly serious desktop computer, as his avocation is comp sci). I knew (well... I assumed) he wanted to keep things small.
For starters, I set him up with one of those little Lepai "20 watt" Tripath chip (supposedly) amps sold by PartsExpress (and still available, ostensibly with a modern TI amp chip), a cheap little FXAudio DAC (a cheapie 'buyout' also from PE) and an early pair of Cambridge Soundworks Model Six loudspeakers. I was pretty pleased with the way the combo sounded here, and he is, too -- although he said he's getting some noise from the USB and/or the DAC.
DSC_0935 (2) by Mark Hardy, on FlickrHe should really have something a notch nicer than either the Lepai or the FX DAC, but I hit analysis paralysis when I look at the myriad little desktop amp boxes, with or without built in DACs.
Ideally, I am looking for a small, inexpensive (maybe $100 to 150 USD) Class D amp, ca. a 'real' 40 watts per channel into 8 ohms (negotiable on that, though) and, again ideally, with a decent quality DAC that can take signal direct from a computer USB.
As an aside, if there's a better way to get 'quiet' signal from his 'pute's USB, that would be of interest, too.
I prefer a US vendor although Amazon is OK.
I am pretty agnostic in terms of brand, though.
Thanks for any and all advice/suggestions!
For reference: Here's a photo of their unhinged yet completely adorable cat Felicitous (his friends call him "Felix") providing a CAT scan of one of the CSW Sixes last week in Alexandria, VA.
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