Advice wanted: Looking for some external PC audio amplimacation (external amp)

[jimthebob]

So through some rearranging of my PC room, I now have a 50" tv mounted above my dual monitors. I am planning on getting a set of bookshelf speakers to flank the TV on either side but I have no way to power them. Looking for some suggestions for a simple, small, cost effective (preferably $50 or below but I have been known to be impulsive at times...) external amp for a pair of bookshelf speakers with a sub-out option for future expansion. Any suggestions guys?

I nabbed this little guy in the past to power some nearfield bookshelf speakers at work but obviously high quality wasn't my top priority at the time. It works well for what I want it to do but I'm looking for something a little better this time around, I'm just using this for reference so y'all know kinda what I have in mind.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007TUSXEY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

My advice is to shop used and/or vintage.

Old amps sound surprisingly good. When they were launched they were held back by terrible low quality sources and speakers that don't live up to modern standards, but use them with modern speakers and modern high quality inputs and they sound really good.

That's all I can recommend at that pricepoint. Otherwise, new at the $50 or below level you are looking at cheap Chinese T amps. They will do in a pinch, but they are nothing to write home about quality wise.

I don't know where you live, but around my neck of the woods interesting audio hardware shows up used on Craigslist and on Facebook all the time. Salvation Army and other thrift stores often have good stuff too.

It can be difficult to know if they have good pre-amp outs. Some have none at all, others have just straight passthroughs. The best have volume controlled pre-amp outs you can use for a sub. As long as you buy the right sub, it doesn't matter as you can always use speaker level inputs. These subs take a small portion of the amplifies signal, drop it down in power and feed it to their own amps. Most of the popular affordable Dayton subs do this.

 

[IdiotInCharge]

Topping, SMSL- the NOT cheap Chinese brands- all start out well above $50.

What do you think about studio monitors instead?

 

[jimthebob]

My advice is to shop used and/or vintage.

Old amps sound surprisingly good. When they were launched they were held back by terrible low quality sources and speakers that don't live up to modern standards, but use them with modern speakers and modern high quality inputs and they sound really good.

That's all I can recommend at that pricepoint. Otherwise, new at the $50 or below level you are looking at cheap Chinese T amps. They will do in a pinch, but they are nothing to write home about quality wise.

I don't know where you live, but around my neck of the woods interesting audio hardware shows up used on Craigslist and on Facebook all the time. Salvation Army and other thrift stores often have good stuff too.

It can be difficult to know if they have good pre-amp outs. Some have none at all, others have just straight passthroughs. The best have volume controlled pre-amp outs you can use for a sub. As long as you buy the right sub, it doesn't matter as you can always use speaker level inputs. These subs take a small portion of the amplifies signal, drop it down in power and feed it to their own amps. Most of the popular affordable Dayton subs do this.

My only "issue" with this kind of setup is space: I don't really have the desktop real estate for something that large. Otherwise, I'd probably just have gone used Onkyo/Denon/Marantz/etc receiver and been done with it. I'm really going for something compact as in my current setup, I'm basically combining two PC's on one desk to space is freely available.

Topping, SMSL- the NOT cheap Chinese brands- all start out well above $50.

What do you think about studio monitors instead?

Budget could be stretched, I just didn't want a bunch of several hundred dollar options popping up as that much isn't really an option.

As far as studio monitors, I'd definitely consider some as long as they could be wall mounted (I'd prefer not to put them on little shelves) and still retain a sub pre-out.

 

[jimthebob]

Quick thoughts post: I think I'm going to go with this Dayton Audio 2.1 amp. It'll provide plenty of power for two bookshelf speakers (2x50 watt) since they'll be pretty close to my face plus it provides a 100 watt out for an unpowered sub which happens to work out perfectly since I have a 10" Klipsch sub sitting on my floor at work that has a bad amp. Rewire it to bypass the amp and violla: perfect fit. Then I'd just have to wait for a nice deal on a good used pair of bookshelves locally and that should do the trick...unless [H] comes up with a better option, of course.

https://www.amazon.com/Dayton-Audio...Dayton+Audio+DTA-2.1BT2&qid=1582466130&sr=8-2