Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Thinking of assembling a stereo setup

For the last few years in college, I've been listening t music on my klipsch 4.1 speaker system that is connected to my computer. Now that I've graduated, and moved to an apt, I'm thinking of assembling a new stereo setup and moving away from pc speakers. I've never been quite thrilled with the sound of my klipsch. I've been spending a lot of time looking around at different setups and ran into the axiom speakers. But I need some feedback on what I'm looking to get so far. My room is very modest sized, if you can imagine fitting 3 full sized beds side by side, so I really don't need anything very very powerful. But here is what I'm thinking of getting. My budget is probably around 1k - 1.5k.

I'm thinking of getting the m3 or perhaps the m22. I'm not as sure about the amp. I've been looking at parasound (750a, 1000a, a23), some nads (can't find them anywhere), the Odyseey Stratus, or the musical fidelity 3.2cr. I'm hoping to spend most of my budget with the amp for future upgrades, because I plan to keep the amp for a while. Now, are the more expensive amps overkill for my room and for the axioms? How would it be affected by the fact that I'll be using a lineout from my pc to the amp. Do I even need to get a preamp, or can I get away with just an amp? I have a lot of questions, hopefully someone can give me some advice.

Thanks

Yes, I would say a Musical Fidelity amp is overkill for the Axioms, at least in a small room where you don't need much power. Also, if you use your computer as a sound source, it will probably be the weakest link in your system, by far. That is, unless you have a super-good sound card.

I understand that the M22's are more neutral than the M3's. I own the M22's, and I can definitely attest to their accuracy. I highly recommend them. If you listen to a lot of CDs, I would also recommend a dedicated CD player: Cambridge Audio, Denon, or Yamaha are just a few good ones.

It is technically possible to connect a sound card straight to an amp, using the Windows volume control, but it might not provide enough gain. You should have a preamp anyway. I got a Harman Kardon HK 3470 stereo receiver because it has preamp-out / main-in jacks. This means that it can be plugged into a surround receiver as a dedicated amp, in the future.

-Cooper

If you plan on using your computer as the source (I do the same), then I would highly recommend you buy a new soundcard.

I personally use the M-Audio Delta 44, and it's sound quality is truely amazing. I use it in my home studio, so an average listener would probably not need something like it (1/4" 4 in/ 4 out). But, I would still recommend other M-Audio products.. The M-Audio Revolution 7.1 is definately a good card, at a very reasonable price of $120.00 USD.

In reply to:

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I'm hoping to spend most of my budget with the amp for future upgrades, because I plan to keep the amp for a while.

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I understand your logic. But are you firmly set on the 2-channel stereo for the foreseeable future and don't intend to go for multi-channel? Yes, you can always add a 3-channel or 5-channel amp later to construct a multi-channel system, but it may well be more cost-effective for you to buy a multi-channel amp or receiver now, if a 5.1 or 7.1 is already in your sight.

Or another way of skinning the cat when using your PC as the primary source, especially if the recordings are MP3s on the hard drive, is to use the Digital HIfi link by Xitel. It's a USB device that installs easily and lets you send a digital stream to your preamp. I'd probably buy an intergrated AVR, with pre-outs on all channels. Just make sure it has an optical digital input. Then use the DACs in the AVR. The PC becomes a true music data server, which is what it's good for. The pre-outs insure your upgrade path so that, in the future, the AVR acts as a preamp and surrpound processor only. For now it's enough power. Like some bottom end? Add a powered sub to the M22s. It's cetainly in your budget. You even get easy bass management with the AVR. Good luck.

If your in the US, you can get NAD from www.yawaonline.com i bought my C370 there. they will give you a good price and have superb service and support (i know) However, i think if you were going to spend enough to get an moderatly expensive amp like you mention, maybe the money would be better spent on speakers because they will give you more improvement for your money.

Thanks for all the advice. I've done a lot of research in the last couple of days, and was just about to buy an amp, (YSB integre alpha 1), but then research some more and found out about digital amps. I saw the sony s50es a while ago and was intrigued by it, but I couldn't find a lot of reviews online. But I believe digital amps have much better price/performance than tube or solid. Now my question is, what is the best integrated digital amp under 1k, preferably one that comes with a cd or sacd/cd.


James

Well, I don't know if the digital amps have really come to its age. Yes, it does have an enormous potential especially with respect to size/cost reductions for a given power output. But my understanding is that the budget digital amps may still have some residual problems in S/N and distortions. The problem is, there are quite a few multi-grand high-end digital amps, as well as "microsystem"-level budget products, yet there are very few in-between yet!

That said, I've never seriously listened to the Sony S50ES or C70ES all-in-ones -- so if you liked them, I guess these may be a good value for you. They are definitely "new kids on the block," so if you are a new-gadget freak, and want to have everything compact, these may be attractive options.

But I would still listen to them first, with the Axioms or other speakers with equivalent resolutions. You might discover that these digital receivers don't quite deliver it yet...