General Asylum

General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories.

Use this form to submit comments directly to the Asylum moderators for this forum. We're particularly interested in truly outstanding posts that might be added to our FAQs.
You may also use this form to provide feedback or to call attention to messages that may be in violation of our content rules.

You must login to use this feature.

Inmate Login

By default, logging in will set a session cookie that disappears when you close your browser. Clicking on the 'Remember my Moniker & Password' below will cause a permanent 'Login Cookie' to be set.

Moniker/Username: The Name that you picked or by default, your email. Forgot Moniker?	Examples "Rapper", "Bob W", "joe@aol.com".
Password:	Forgot Password?
	Remember my Moniker & Password ( What's this?)

If you don't have an Asylum Account, you can create one by clicking Here.

Our privacy policy can be reviewed by clicking Here.

Inmate Comments

From:
Your Email:
Subject:

Message Comments

Original Message

Help with amp choice for a beginner HiFi system

Posted by sineast on March 28, 2024 at 10:51:09:
This is my first post, so I'm a beginner in this forum as much as one in the hifi world. I hope I'm posting this thread in the right place.

I would like so much to get into the hobby so I started planning on how to assemble my first system. I did a lot of newbie research, learning the basics, trying to develop the sense for what I would prefer.

I decided to make a choice on my amplification first. After that I will consider speakers and a DAC. My budget for the pre/amp, speakers and DAC is around 1600$.

I will be doing most of my listening near-field while I work and the speakers I would prefer atm, based on the reviews would be QA 5020s, Lintons or Sonus Faber Lumina IIs. I will be playing music from my PC mostly via USB.

I wanted to go separates at first, but after looking at the options on the used market I had to include integrated options too, later to be upgraded with a dedicated DAC.

I have 3 options for amplification that I like, all of these are priced very similarly, around 850$:

1. Musical Fidelity M3si (+ DAC I would buy later)
2. Standalone Rotel A14 mkII without a separate DAC
3. Topping Pre90 preamp + Wadia A102 power amp (+ DAC I would buy later)

What should I choose? My goal is to have the most value for my budget first and develop my listening tastes over the next few years.

Something tells me Wadia + pre90 is the way, it's hard for me to explain why. I think I'm getting the most value that way and I also have a lot of flexibility in the future with separates. The negative is that there are only a few Wadia reviews.

I need some guidance. Can anybody share any info/experiences on the Wadia amp or the Wadia brand? Im rather informed on the Rotel and M3si but have no clue how each of these 3 options compare to each other.

What would you choose?

All and any ideas are much appreciated! I'm losing sleep over this and I need to make a choice and make peace with the call. Thank you.