Since early 2011, I've been running a pair of low-end bookshelf speakers (Klipsch B2) at my desktop, and I'm quite happy with the results for the price. They're sourced through a Maverick TubeMagic D1 DAC and -- here's the sketchy part -- a cheapo Dayton DTA-1 T-amp.
As I said, the setup sounds fine for my basic music-listening needs in an untreated room. The amp has some channel imbalance issues until you crank it up to listening volume, and a bit of crackling when turning the volume pot, but otherwise seems fine to me. However, I've never really experienced better. I've seen some $100-200 T-amps recommended in other threads here recently, and was wondering if some of y'all with experience in the matter think something like this make a noticeable difference for me. Note that I'm in an apartment and don't need party-filling sound; all I care about is quality at reasonable volumes.
When I chose the DTA-1, I did so with the rationale that my speakers are fairly small and efficient (and certainly not high-end audiophile grade), so would likely not be bottlenecked by any functioning amp. Am I on the right track there?
As I said, the setup sounds fine for my basic music-listening needs in an untreated room. The amp has some channel imbalance issues until you crank it up to listening volume, and a bit of crackling when turning the volume pot, but otherwise seems fine to me. However, I've never really experienced better. I've seen some $100-200 T-amps recommended in other threads here recently, and was wondering if some of y'all with experience in the matter think something like this make a noticeable difference for me. Note that I'm in an apartment and don't need party-filling sound; all I care about is quality at reasonable volumes.
When I chose the DTA-1, I did so with the rationale that my speakers are fairly small and efficient (and certainly not high-end audiophile grade), so would likely not be bottlenecked by any functioning amp. Am I on the right track there?
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