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Hi! I am a traditional 2-channel guy and my son asked for guidance.
He uses a MacBook and streams most of his music from Spotify. He says their stuff is lossless. I don't know. He doesn't use cd's anymore--pretty typical of the millenials.
I do have a pair of older Legacy stand-mounted speakers that I can give him. That would, I assume, require a receiver with usb ports or an integrated amp of some kind.
He sent me a list of equipment that Spotify recommends/markets to link to their streaming including receivers and wireless speakers from Pioneer, Yamaha, etc.
Wondering if this is the best way to go and what the cost/benefit mix is because his budget is not enormous. I initially suggested that he just get a better pair of computer speakers like the AudioEngine products and forego fancier gear.
Would appreciate your take on this.
Follow Ups:
After writing this up, I really see what an old school perspective I have!
Luckily both my kids are into music, playing and listening. What really snagged their interest in "quality" listening was getting them better sound than portable powered speakers... I dusted off old NAD integrated amps (a 32020i and 3225PE) and got recent model set of passive speakers that can really do justice to non-compressed sources (I got Paradigm Cinema 90s from eBay - Very musical!) that perfectly fill their listing rooms. As for portability, does a medium sized cardboard box count?!
Even using whatever headphone socket DACs are in tablet/phone/laptop the lossless really shine and the music is engaging... You can hear the difference from even high data rate compressed sources.
My thinking, the key is decent amp and quality speakers... then the sources will be exposed. My kids are more appreciate, better listeners, and players, of music... for little money.
My son is into audio too. It's kind of difficult to bridge the generation gap and I figure I've learned as much from him as he has for me.
He listens mostly to some nice headphones and has a pair of AudioEngine A2 loudspeakers. He's been listing to his A2s via the analog out on his sound card. He just ordered a Maverick DAC / headphone amplifier.
I think he is making the right move.
One thing he knows for sure, based on his experiences with his stereo and his car stereo is that lossless sounds much better.
A thing I realize is that what's worked for me in the past isn't going to work for him. I struggle with this new technology and have known for several years to be careful about the advice I give him.
One thing I believe is that he should never buy a pair of passive loudspeakers, a receiver or an integrated amp. IMO it is the right direction for him and it is also the right direction for me.
Give me rhythm or give me death!
Unless he has a larger room, (which my son does not), I decided that the NAD VISO or comparable blue tooth ipod driven unit with good sound would be best. He uses the viso constantly, controlled via blue tooth from the computer. The unit fills up a reasonably sized room very well.
My son also listens to Spotify and Pandora. I doubt he pays, so he is using the low res and the bluetooth transmission sounds fine to him.
Sadly, so far he has resisted higher sound quality - his CDs are at my home as he almost exclusively listens via streaming.
Good luck.
I'd go new school. Either a pair of powered blue tooth speakers like
http://www.aperionaudio.com/allaire-bluetooth
or a pair of powered speakers with Apple Airport Express driving them.
Both eliminate laptop tethering.
The simple way would be those AudioEngine powered speakers. I have the A5+'s and think they sound pretty good and this is coming from an SET owner/lover. The A2's are less expensive but bet they sound pretty good also. Headphone out of the MBP sounds better than I thought. The MBP's headphone out is also a optical out (with adaptor), so a "better than the Mac's internal DAC" DAC with "optical in" is an upgrade option and AE has those too.Does your son want things simple and good or more complex and better?
fwiw, I'm enjoying Spotify Premium. I use it one way thru Sonos and another way with my iDevice docked> digital stream> DAC> main system. The Sonos way gets the most use because, with it's free app) it's like having a fantastic remote via my iPad to control all the music right at the listening position.
Edits: 08/07/14
My thanks for all your helpful comments. Much appreciated!
My two cents: Lossless streaming is coming soon (Qobuz) so invest in the source. Lot's of very good cheap usb sacks out there. Audioengine, Dragonfly, iFi (althoughI haven't heard any of them) Heck you can even find a used Centrance dacport that JA loved for around $150.
Use the Legacy's and find him a decent used integrated. There's tons of stuff out there....I bet he could do it all for under $400.
This way when the source improves so will his enjoyment.
Have fun..wish I could get my girls to listen to anything but their apple earbuds!!!!
My son uses a MacBook Pro into an iFi USB Dac into an Audio Note Meishu 300B intgerated into Audio Note Speakers. He listens to a lot of Premium Spotify files and loves the SET sound!
The highest resolution I've seen on the NET is Naim Radio, but have forgotten what that is.
I also have a computer Audio system with a Mac, USB Dac, tube preamp and SET amps (headphone and power), but i listen only to AIFF files.
Observe, before you think. Think before you open your yap. Act on the basis of experience.
Their premium service is 320 kbps Ogg-Vorbis, free is 160 kbps. A decent stereo system would be overkill, at least until they start streaming at CD quality, or your son migrates to a lossless platform. See linked discussion.He'll need at least an amp or receiver to play his laptop through the Legacys (not necessarily a usb-capable one - you could run a patch from the headphone output to the aux input on the amp, though the sound wouldn't be the best - you'd be using the computer's sound card). Start out with the computer's volume turned down low, then raise it gradually to avoid overloading the circuits. A dedicated DAC would be better, but, again, it would be overkill for lossy files. A search of the archives here should give you some guidance if that's the route you take.
FWIW, a decent pair of powered speakers, like the Audio Engines, might do the trick.
Spotify at 320 kbps ain't that bad!
Depends on what you consider 'decent'.
I use a 'decent' USB DAC and 'decent' headphones and certainly notice a difference.
For Spotify, I'd recommend something along the lines of a SONOS system, excepting I have no way of knowing exactly what the SONOS system does with the stream.
However the link below would seem to indicate that SONOS claims they decode the 320kbps Vorbis feed.
Link below:
An inexpensive DAC like the AQ Dragonfly and a pair of powered speakers like the Audioengines would be a good starter system. All the kids listen to Spotify or equivalent so it is not worth sopending any more money than what I have suggested.
The Audioengine speakers are fantastic for the price . . . . and then some.
Neal
See what I wrote about my son's use of computer audio + an SET amp to listen to Spotify.
Observe, before you think. Think before you open your yap. Act on the basis of experience.
My office Klipsch 2.1 system went kaput and I replaced it with a pair of Pioneer SP-BS22 bookshelf speakers ($130 from Best Buy) and a Dayton Audio DTA-1 amplifier ($35 from Parts Express). Sounds wonderful in near field low-level listening and plays plenty loud when my co-workers have left! It's a low-price starting point and has an upgrade path - if your son catches that bug - to a better amplifier and then to better speakers.
The speakers are small, as speakers go, but are a large for a desktop system. The amplifier is tiny.
Regards
13DoW
ps. The speakers are the ones designed by Andrew Jones of TAD and the amplifier is basically a Tripath switching amp chip plus a few components (hence the low price). DIY mods are available but it sounds nice out of the box - no noise or hum.
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