Hello, I just joined, primarily for the audiophile products. Looking at purchasing the NHT C3 speakers for our new living room. Space is about 15 feet wide by 33 long and they will fire long ways. Space is just for general listening, music room with all equipment is downstairs, so hoping they will fill it with sound nicely. Cheers.
Mar 18, 2024
Or just get the Aune T1, this blog discussion; a hybrid DAC/tube buffer/SS, essentially a tube DAC with enough of an amp for cans, for $179,, not a bad deal.
Tubes are hot again...
Trust an Engineer, they make things work, and many times work exceedingly well. A reputable audio equipment manufacturer will be crawling with them. They and the good components they choose (made by other Engineers) cost a lot of clams, so here's the same pinch as all over... the good stuff comes at a price. When I bought my DAC I was looking at all the sub-components I could besides the DAC itself, and saw Rubycon thin film caps, NJR op-amps, before choosing it. Look at all the specs & read reviews & blogs, THD and the like, as well as the undefinable i.e. 'musicality', set your budget for solid state, or tube, or hybrid and dive in. Blogs like this are great sources of help, just post a few basics; your budget, the cans you intend to use, music/listening preferences, and you will get lots of good advice.
Quick choices budget minded, desktop:
SS: Massdrop x THX AAA™ 789 Linear Amplifier & the new MD DAC? Hybrid: Aune T1 (DAC/amp) or Massdrop x Alex Cavalli Tube Hybrid Amp (CTH) & the new MD DAC? Tube SE: APPJ 1502A Tube Headphone Amplifier (needs upgraded caps & tubes) & the new MD DAC?
Have $1,000+ for an amp? The world of HiFi starts to become your baby oyster...
Again I will say; don’t buy on power, buy on quality, but don’t under-power.
My son works events and found a pair of M50’s in the trash, the pads and headband were, well, beyond trashed, they had worked a long life. But, they sounded just fine, so his sister just got him some new angled Brainwavz pads and a wool cover for the band, for his B-Day, another set of fine cans. For the shiits, if they meet your price point, this will make a fine rig, or the T1. Buy good USB & RCA cables, start w/o weak links, put in a driver, get some 24/192 music and enjoy.
I bet these are the folks that make the Furutech GT-2 USB, a safe gamble for the $: https://m.ebay.com/itm/HIFI-USB-Cable-DAC-A-B-Alpha-OCC-Silver-Plated-Digital-AB-Audio-A-to-B-high-end/202219608393?var=502185080379&hash=item2f153a5949:m:moTHgw8OtgX7m8I367XOc_A