off-tha-grid Posted July 23, 2021 Posted July 23, 2021 (edited) Hello I've got a friend who is on solar with a small battery. I'm planning on gifting them a small setup to replace some PC type speakers which sound terrible. Their living/kitchen area is large (4x8m) with high ceilings but I don't expect they'll want to crank it. Mainly for music, also some TV/radio. I think a loxjie a30 is probably a good go. It's class D, goes to about 30w. Apparently the DAC performs well & they've got toslink out. Picking speakers is a harder endeavor. Wharfedale Diamond 220 seems good value, is slightly warm, which they'll probably prefer over flat/bright. But I don't know if there are more efficient options out there. Here's a bit of a shortlist I've looked into. I imagine listed sensitivity values aren't a be all and and ell, but I gathered them, so I'll include them. Have stuck to bookshelf so far but floorstanders would be an option. Does anyone have experience or opinions with these or anything I've missed? Speaker (sensitivity) $AUD Wharfedale - Diamond 220 (86) $ 326 Q Acoustics - 3020i (88) $ 495 Polk Audio - RTi A1 (89) $ 500 ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2 (87) $ 477 KEF Q150 (86) $ 745 Wharfedale - Diamond 12.1 (88) $ 650 That's probably a rough order I'm leaning towards as well. A NAD D 3020 V2 or even a AIYIMA A07 could be other amp options. Edited July 23, 2021 by off-tha-grid added amp options 1
anandpkumar Posted July 23, 2021 Posted July 23, 2021 If you're looking at the NAD, here's a v1 in the classifieds if you want to save some money. The same bloke has a pair of John blue JB3 speakers on sale if you're interested. Maybe work out a package deal. I have no affiliation to the seller - just felt like a good deal. You might also want to check out speakers from Adelaide audio. The owner (Edward) makes a range of speakers that are suitable for valve amplifiers - so high efficiency ones. Might be worth having a chat https://www.adelaidespeakers.com/ 1
rjz Posted July 23, 2021 Posted July 23, 2021 Thanks @anandpkumar but the amp has now sold, though there is another one just listed:
anandpkumar Posted July 23, 2021 Posted July 23, 2021 Hmm.......that's a bummer - the ad was still showing as not sold when I was browsing a couple of hours ago. There is a brand new V2 currently listed if you're looking for the newer version. It does not have USB input on it though - V1 does have it.
Graywulf Posted July 23, 2021 Posted July 23, 2021 I'm going to add these as an option. They are poorly advertised, and it took me a while to even find a review? I can agree with this 'website discussion', I set up my ex wife with a small system (she decided to size down from her existing {one of my old systems} stereo to something to fit on a TV stand shelf. I set her up with one of the 'black board' TP3116 class D amps, media player, and was looking for some small bookshelf speakers, and 'stumbled' upon these little pods on a local 'online auction' site. There was/is? A New Zealand Hifi distributor who sold them, but these were S/hand (not even unboxed) as they were not required (Think they had been purchased with a built up system). Anyhow, I liked the look, and reading spec's they seemed 'ok' and from the weight I anticipated they'd be pretty reasonable build quality. I can honestly say testing the wee 25 watt class D and these 'pods' before taking them round was quite interesting. I'd agree with the discussion, these are 'unknown' gems, for bookshelf application. https://rockgrotto.proboards.com/thread/7144/fantastic-little-mistral-dt-307s
SIK Posted November 9, 2023 Posted November 9, 2023 @off-tha-grid I know this thread is a little old but I'm just curious to know what amp you went with? Between the Loxjie A30 and the NAD D3020: Loxjie A30 18w @ 8 ohm 39w @ 4 ohm NAD D3020 58w @ 8 ohm 68w @ 4 ohm
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