[H]ardOCP Spec Bookshelf Speaker Setup

I used to use a Klipsch PC 5.1 system until like a lot of other people the amp in the sub blowed up.

I said the hell with it and bought a real Surround receiver and took my Home Theatre Klipsch set up and put them in the computer room.

I can make the walls shake now.

It's a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll.
 
geok1ng said:
TYVM. high frequencies are not a problem at my age- i hear up to13-15Khz only.
After investing $60 on this amp + speakers, is there any subwoofer to cover low frequencies? i am still able to hear low frequencies...
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There are always subwoofers, but subwoofers are always more money for some reason, even for the smaller cheaper ones.

I use an 8" Dayton SUB-800 in my kitchen, and it does an admirable job for the price, but it is borderline for a that room. For closer desk based listening, it is more than enough. Parts Express actually have deal on restocked SUB-800's right now for only $60
 
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Decibel said:
The basic b652's get loud and low, have strong midbass and decent mids. The tweeters are trash.

BUT, if you're spending $70 on Daytons, have a gander a Fluance. They've been selling the SX6 in its least popular color for $80 - http://www.fluance.com/sx6-high-definition-two-way-bookshelf-loudspeakers

Then you're $10 from the Phillips on Amazon.
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Yep, there are definitely some good options for not very much more than the B652's. It all depends on the budget.

This is the problem with audio, it easily becomes a slippery slope to crazy-budget land, because everything is only just a little bit more than everything else. :p

That's how I wound up spending almost a grand on my home theater setup, when I started out with a $200 budget :p
 
I've been using these Alesis monitors for over 12 years now. I really like them.
IMG_1042.JPG
 
DeathFromBelow said:
I was the same way until I got my own house, I didn't want to make noise in an apartment/duplex.

Now I have a 6.1 channel mini-mancave/projector room setup. Headphones are great, but a surround speaker setup is a lot of fun for games.
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On RE7 its dam scary the first time lol! It got my heart racing a few times.
 
Wow, glad you got your AUDIO setup, now please do something with your desktop... what a bunch of chaos. I recommend Stardock's Fences... cheap, and GREAT for larger screens.
 
What would you guys recomend for a laptop setup? I have some Martin Logan bookshelf speakers that I would prefer to use over the cheap 2.1 setup I have now. The laptop only has MIC/Headphone jacks, would I be better off getting a USB DAC + a Dayton Audio DTA-120 amp?

Thanks,

Chris
 
geok1ng said:
Another amazing value!. $60 for a 80w 40Hz sub. I found out that the 12" Monoprice has a 8" 60w brother for $47
But i guess your suggestion has more bang for the buck.
On the 12" review i found instructions on how to connect a sub to a PC setup.
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Yeah, I like Dayton's subs better than the ones from Monoprice. They seem to go a little deeper, and have more fully featured connectivity options on the back.

If using the Sub-800 with an amp that doesn't have pre-outs (like the Lepai T-amps discussed above, or the Dayton DTA-120 Kyle got) the way to do it is to run speaker wire from the amp to the sub's high level inputs, and then from the high level outputs to the speakers. This way your crossovers will work the best.

I find SVS's Merlin Tool to be a great resource to help find a starting point for the crossover settings.

For the B652's you are talking about, they recommend 80hz. I'd start there and tweak it up or down a little bit and see what you think sounds best.
 
Those Andrew Jones speakers are a little ugly / plain / not-flashy looking, but they absolutely can't be beat for sound quality / $$$.
Which is why I have four towers + center in the HT :)
 
drkCrix said:
What would you guys recomend for a laptop setup? I have some Martin Logan bookshelf speakers that I would prefer to use over the cheap 2.1 setup I have now. The laptop only has MIC/Headphone jacks, would I be better off getting a USB DAC + a Dayton Audio DTA-120 amp?

Thanks,

Chris
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I think it depends. The DAC's in computers are pretty decent these days, unlike the bad old days, so from a sound quality perspective you are unlikely to hear much of a difference on most cheaper speakers by going with an external USB DAC. The exception - of course - is if you experience noise from inside the computer over your audio. You know, like hearing a tone whenever your hard drive reads, when your fan spins, or when you move your mouse. External DAC's are very good at helping to eliminate these.

I'm not familiar with those speakers, so I don't know how well they would pair with the Dayton AMP. Do you have a link with specs?
 
Cantroy said:
Wow, glad you got your AUDIO setup, now please do something with your desktop... what a bunch of chaos. I recommend Stardock's Fences... cheap, and GREAT for larger screens.
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Never had issue with it, but that looks pretty damn nifty.
 
Edgar said:
How would the headphone amp on the dayton compare to my fiio E10K?
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I have one of those amps, but I have never plugged in a set of heaphones to it. My gut feel is that unless you are a serious audiophile, you probably won't notice a difference.
 
Decibel said:
Nice bargain setup, their recommendations were on point.

The FiiO is a solid starter DAC and is probably the closest thing to a weak point in the system. The amp will distort like mad if you try to use all its power, but for near field/small room listening why would you do that?

I'd probably add a sub to get down into the 30s, but I need to be able to hear the bass note on a five string bass.



You can't beat them for $30. The air's are worth the extra money.

I'd use neither for near field listening.

The basic b652's get loud and low, have strong midbass and decent mids. The tweeters are trash.

BUT, if you're spending $70 on Daytons, have a gander a Fluance. They've been selling the SX6 in its least popular color for $80 - http://www.fluance.com/sx6-high-definition-two-way-bookshelf-loudspeakers

Then you're $10 from the Phillips on Amazon.
Click to expand...

The Fiio is just a DAC. What we designed for Kyle was a way for him to use the optical out on his motherboard into the Fiio DAC. Then the DAC runs into the Dayton amp. By doing this he avoided all noise from the PSU, motherboard, mechanical spinning drives activating, etc.

Here is the DAC we chose. Could have gone more expensive, but we were over budget. Trying to stick to the budget was part of the fun designing it too. You can see the optical in on the left.

Fiio DAC.jpg
 
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Zarathustra[H] said:
I think it depends. The DAC's in computers are pretty decent these days, unlike the bad old days, so from a sound quality perspective you are unlikely to hear much of a difference on most cheaper speakers by going with an external USB DAC. The exception - of course - is if you experience noise from inside the computer over your audio. You know, like hearing a tone whenever your hard drive reads, when your fan spins, or when you move your mouse. External DAC's are very good at helping to eliminate these.

I'm not familiar with those speakers, so I don't know how well they would pair with the Dayton AMP. Do you have a link with specs?
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They are either the MOtion 2 or 4, can't remember off the top of my head

Motion 2

Frequency Response 110–25,000 Hz ± 3dB
Sensitivity 86 dB/2.83 volts/meter
Impedance 4 Ohms. Compatible with 4, 6, or 8 Ohm rated amplifiers.
Crossover Frequency 2800 Hz
High Frequency Driver 1 x 1.4” (2.6 x 3.6 cm) Folded Motion Transducer with 5.25 x 1.75” (13.3 x 4.4 cm) diaphragm.
Mid/Low Freq. Drivers 3.5” (8.9 cm) poly cone.
Recommended Amp 20–100 watts

Motion 4

Frequency Response 70–25,000 Hz ± 3dB
Sensitivity 90 dB/2.83 volts/meter
Impedance 4 Ohms. Compatible with 4, 6, or 8 Ohm rated amplifiers.
Crossover Frequency 2900 Hz
High Frequency Driver 1 x 1.4” (2.6 x 3.6 cm)
Folded Motion Transducer with 5.25 x 1.75” (13.3 x 4.4 cm) diaphragm.
Mid/Low Freq. Drivers 4” (10.2 cm) paper cone. Ported.
Recommended Amp 20–150 watts

If possible I would like to bypass the onbaord audio (Creative labs software based)

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Chris
 
cageymaru said:
The Fiio is just a DAC. What we designed for Kyle was a way for him to use the optical out on his motherboard into the Fiio DAC. Then the DAC runs into the Dayton amp. By doing this he avoided all noise from the PSU, motherboard, mechanical spinning drives activating, etc.

Here is the DAC we chose. Could have gone more expensive, but we were over budget. Trying to stick to the budget was part of the fun designing it too. You can see the optical in on the left.

View attachment 19351
Click to expand...

I should have added a line break between talking about the DAC and the amp.

Still, yeah, the D3 is a solid little machine. I keep a spare on hand and have given away more than a few.
 
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DigitalGriffin said:
Except you get broadcasters ear syndrom. Something about the close enclosed nature of headphone causes hearing loss in the long term.
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Yeah my brother has serious problems if he starts to turn his hifi up now, caused by using headphones for years.
Its all high end kit he uses so not caused by distortion.
He's a bit sad so has configured his speakers to give more detail at lower volume levels.
I dodged a bullet by not using headphones, I love the sound of my system when pumped up!

Kyle, glad you have a sound system you are happy with.
If you use it a lot, its worth getting good kit because it lasts many generations of PC.

ps is your ass sore yet?
 
Big fan of Dayton equipment, may not be the best but it looks good and the prices are crazy good.

I think Kyle could use a 12" ultimax at his feet :D
 
drkCrix said:
They are either the MOtion 2 or 4, can't remember off the top of my head

Motion 2

Frequency Response 110–25,000 Hz ± 3dB
Sensitivity 86 dB/2.83 volts/meter
Impedance 4 Ohms. Compatible with 4, 6, or 8 Ohm rated amplifiers.
Crossover Frequency 2800 Hz
High Frequency Driver 1 x 1.4” (2.6 x 3.6 cm) Folded Motion Transducer with 5.25 x 1.75” (13.3 x 4.4 cm) diaphragm.
Mid/Low Freq. Drivers 3.5” (8.9 cm) poly cone.
Recommended Amp 20–100 watts

Motion 4

Frequency Response 70–25,000 Hz ± 3dB
Sensitivity 90 dB/2.83 volts/meter
Impedance 4 Ohms. Compatible with 4, 6, or 8 Ohm rated amplifiers.
Crossover Frequency 2900 Hz
High Frequency Driver 1 x 1.4” (2.6 x 3.6 cm)
Folded Motion Transducer with 5.25 x 1.75” (13.3 x 4.4 cm) diaphragm.
Mid/Low Freq. Drivers 4” (10.2 cm) paper cone. Ported.
Recommended Amp 20–150 watts

If possible I would like to bypass the onbaord audio (Creative labs software based)

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Chris
Click to expand...

Yeah, you could probably get away with one of the cheaper Lepai 2020A+ or 2020Ti amps, but the Dayton is much nicer, and will provide enough power to drive more bass. Thats not to bad mouth the Lepai amps. for $20-$30 they really impress me, but that Dayton DTA-120 is a much better amp.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Yeah, you could probably get away with one of the cheaper Lepai 2020A+ or 2020Ti amps, but the Dayton is much nicer, and will provide enough power to drive more bass. Thats not to bad mouth the Lepai amps. for $20-$30 they really impress me, but that Dayton DTA-120 is a much better amp.
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Appreciate the input, I have the amp in my shopping cart, but would you just go from the headphone out jack on the laptop? (3.5mm to RCA?)

Thanks,

Chris
 
drkCrix said:
Appreciate the input, I have the amp in my shopping cart, but would you just go from the headphone out jack on the laptop? (3.5mm to RCA?)

Thanks,

Chris
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As long as you don't have a lot of noise, as mentioned above, from the on board sound I'd argue that's a perfectly fine way of doing it on a budget.

When it comes to adding a DAC the sky is the limit when it comes to costs of fancy audiophile stuff. Personally I have a $250 DAC from Schiit for my headphone listening, but is it worth it? Well different people have different opinions here.

The great part about this is that you can start by plugging it in to the on board sound using a 3.5mm to RCA adapter, and if you don't like the way it soubds, add a USB DAC after the fact with no negative implications.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I keep hearing good things about those.

When we speced out Kyle's system, we started with a few known good bang for the buck speakers, including the Dayton Audio B652-AIR, the Micca MB42x and the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR Andrew Jones speakers.

In the end the Pioneers won out because they get deeper into the bass, and Kyle didn't want to have a subwoofer.

We also went back and forth between a few bang for the buck T Amps. In the end we settled on the Dayton DTA120 due to it having more power than the rest, and likely being better able to drive more bass out of those speakers. I have that amp with a set of Micca MB42x's and a Dayton SUB-800 in my kitchen, and they all work very nicely together.

I feel like all three of these speakers can likely produce OK bass in a near-field desktop type setup, but the Pioneers win out. In a larger room where you'll be further from the speakers, you'd probably want a sub with all of them.
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Yeah the B652b-air doesnt extend down low very much especially considering the size of the driver and should be paired with a sub. The pioneers are going to definitely be better in a near field setup without a sub.
 
My primary gaming PC is connected to
Pioneer Elite SC-LX701
SVS Ultra Center and Bookshelves
SVS PC-2000 Subwoofer
SVS Satellite rears
SVS Elevation height channels
My monitor is my 75" LG 4K HDR TV

The laptops and desk-use computer my family uses generally just get headphones connected to them but if I build another desk-use computer I'll probably buy towers for my main system and move my Ultra bookshelves to rear channel duty. Then I'd use the SVS Satellites as desktop speakers or pick up another pair of Elevations and pick up another DAC/inexpensive amp.

The Fiio DACs have made me really happy in the past and Dayton's value for the dollar is fantastic... until you have to deal with people on the internet bitching about how other people spend their money. It can get almost as bad as the Ryzen vs i7 talk has been lately.
 
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drkCrix said:
What would you guys recomend for a laptop setup?
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being compact and portable matters. Try this Y-adapter
you will isolate MIC and speakers, then pick a 3.5mm to RCA adapter, connect it to your AMP, connect your amp to the sub and connect the sub to the speakers.
Gratz, now you are $130 poorer.:(
now look at the mess over your table and you will realize why there is a market for a $130 headphone. :p
 
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DigitalGriffin said:
Except you get broadcasters ear syndrom. Something about the close enclosed nature of headphone causes hearing loss in the long term. Don't get me wrong. I have my own set of nice cans (sennheiser), but I only use then for critical listening when I need to isolate outside sounds and only with my really good amp. (The small drivers in good headphones have a notoriously high resistance which is hard to drive by most amps)
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This - I love my Senn HD650's, but really only use them when playing an FPS (which is becoming more seldom) because the soundstage feels bigger for tracking.
 
I went a little over budget
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HAAHAAA HAA HAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! Hehehehe!! Chortle, chortle!! Guffaw, guffaw!! Yuck yuck yuck!!

Wow.. that was the BEST laugh I have had all week!! Just glad I wasn't drinking anything or else my nose would have been flushed!! Kyle on a budget!! INCONCEIVABLE!! How un-[H] is that?? Doesn't your middle initial stand for RICH?? Thanks for joking around with us Kyle!!

Budget..



HAAAAAAAAAAA!!



That's a good one!!



kyle_and_credit_cards_cash.jpg
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
There are always subwoofers, but subwoofers are always more money for some reason, even for the smaller cheaper ones.

I use an 8" Dayton SUB-800 in my kitchen, and it does an admirable job for the price, but it is borderline for a that room. For closer desk based listening, it is more than enough. Parts Express actually have deal on restocked SUB-800's right now for only $60
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What do you recommend to power 2 Andrew Jones pioneer satellites, a 600 ohm beyerdynamic dt 880 and has optical input all in one amp?
 
NickJames said:
What do you recommend to power 2 Andrew Jones pioneer satellites, a 600 ohm beyerdynamic dt 880 and has optical input all in one amp?
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I'm getting a little outside my knowledge area here. I haven't tested the DTA120's headphone output yet. I could run over there and plug something in, but I don't have any 600 ohm cans to test with, so I have no idea how it would do with high impedance headphones.

I'm the worst when it comes to assessing amps. I know when I have a system that sounds good, but I'm terrible at A/B comparisons, because it takes me a while to switch between them, and by the time I'm done I can't remember what I was listening for :p

Personally for my headphones I use a separate headphone amp, and hook up an amp for my speakers separately or use active monitors. I really like my Schiit Jotunheim headphone amp, but it's a little bit above the price ranges we've been talking about in this thread.

Right now I have really shitty desktop speakers, but my plan is to at some point get a set of monitors and hook them up to the pre-amp output of the Jotunheim as it is volume controlled.

Combination headphone speaker amps that are good seem rare. If you really want to blow your budget by an order of magnitude, there's always the Schiit Ragnarok :p
 
dergreg said:
My primary gaming PC is connected to
Pioneer Elite SC-LX701
SVS Ultra Center and Bookshelves
SVS PC-2000 Subwoofer
SVS Satellite rears
SVS Elevation height channels
My monitor is my 75" LG 4K HDR TV

The laptops and desk-use computer my family uses generally just get headphones connected to them but if I build another desk-use computer I'll probably buy towers for my main system and move my Ultra bookshelves to rear channel duty. Then I'd use the SVS Satellites as desktop speakers or pick up another pair of Elevations and pick up another DAC/inexpensive amp.

The Fiio DACs have made me really happy in the past and Dayton's value for the dollar is fantastic... until you have to deal with people on the internet bitching about how other people spend their money. It can get almost as bad as the Ryzen vs i7 talk has been lately.
Click to expand...

Svs is quality gear, I have a pb-1000 for my living room home theater system and it is by far the best sub I've ever owned.
 
Chaos Machine said:
Svs is quality gear, I have a pb-1000 for my living room home theater system and it is by far the best sub I've ever owned.
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I'm fairly new to the brand but almost immediately fell in love with them. I was running Definitive for everything previously and made the total switch after hearing the Elevations and some of their subs. But now I need to get an amp in place... The 701 is good for handling 11 channels(9 amplified) but I'm definitely getting amp clipping from time to time when it gets loud. Thinking about a Monoprice Monolith 7 channel amp and calling it a day, but who knows. Maybe I'll get mixed up in balanced connection pre/pros and end up selling my body for audio gear.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I'm getting a little outside my knowledge area here. I haven't tested the DTA120's headphone output yet. I could run over there and plug something in, but I don't have any 600 ohm cans to test with, so I have no idea how it would do with high impedance headphones.

I'm the worst when it comes to assessing amps. I know when I have a system that sounds good, but I'm terrible at A/B comparisons, because it takes me a while to switch between them, and by the time I'm done I can't remember what I was listening for :p

Personally for my headphones I use a separate headphone amp, and hook up an amp for my speakers separately or use active monitors. I really like my Schiit Jotunheim headphone amp, but it's a little bit above the price ranges we've been talking about in this thread.

Right now I have really shitty desktop speakers, but my plan is to at some point get a set of monitors and hook them up to the pre-amp output of the Jotunheim as it is volume controlled.

Combination headphone speaker amps that are good seem rare. If you really want to blow your budget by an order of magnitude, there's always the Schiit Ragnarok :p
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Good god, yeah quite a bit out of my range. I guess a separate amp will be fine, I see that's how most setups go. What would you recommend for just the speakers then? I try to minimize my cabling so if it could just be an all in one unit without needing a separate optical adapter would be great.
 
Insula Gilliganis said:
HAAHAAA HAA HAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! Hehehehe!! Chortle, chortle!! Guffaw, guffaw!! Yuck yuck yuck!!

Wow.. that was the BEST laugh I have had all week!! Just glad I wasn't drinking anything or else my nose would have been flushed!! Kyle on a budget!! INCONCEIVABLE!! How un-[H] is that?? Doesn't your middle initial stand for RICH?? Thanks for joking around with us Kyle!!

Budget..



HAAAAAAAAAAA!!



That's a good one!!



kyle_and_credit_cards_cash.jpg
Click to expand...
You crack me up brother. Love the cards. Is that Gary Busey?
 
cageymaru said:
Our objective was to get Kyle on optical to eliminate possible noise from the PC.
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I have been running optical to my AV receiver from my PC for years now. I definitely prefer it to traditional analog setups. When I was forced to use a PC without an optical output for audio I remembered why I went optical in the first place.
 
NickJames said:
Good god, yeah quite a bit out of my range. I guess a separate amp will be fine, I see that's how most setups go. What would you recommend for just the speakers then? I try to minimize my cabling so if it could just be an all in one unit without needing a separate optical adapter would be great.
Click to expand...

I've always gone separates myself, so I don't have any experience with combined DAC/Amps. It's possible someone else in this thread can help you there. My experience is that there are lots of them, but that they tend to be pricier than what we have been discussing here.

It doesn't necessarily have to be messy with separates if you get short cables and do your cable management right. An added benefit of the separates approach is that you can upgrade either component independently. It allows for a lot more flexibility down the line.
 
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