I planto setup a system to be used with my computer for movies and music in my room. Currently i inherited a pair of Infinity speakers (sm 115). Can you bros reccomend a setup for me? What amp shd i look for. I also have a center speaker... might or might not be using it... depende on your inputs. Thanks!



Attached thumbnail(s)

these speakers are loud (lots of distortion). You probably can simply get a used dolby prologic amp should work. I doubt it will be worth investing in the new AVR coz i doubt the power will be enough to drive these speakers.
i used to own a pair of these and managed to sell it two years back n the guy uses it for karaoke using china karaoke amp.

Thx bro, do you know where can i find a good used dolby prologic amp?

If u wan to find a 'GOOD' prologic amp it still will cost u alot...

erm... how bout an okay one then...lol!

First off, your Infinity SM115 is very efficient - meaning it doesn't need a lot of power to go loud. So an integrated amp with about 20W to 30W per channel will be good for it.

Power rating: 10-175Watts
Frequency Response: 35Hz-27kHz + 3 dB
Crossover Frequency: 900Hz/5500Hz
Efficiency: 100dB SPL, 1 Watt/1Meter
Impedance: Compatible with 4 to 8 Ohms
Drivers: 10"Polypropylene-Coated Woofer
1" High Output Polycell Tweeter
Cabinet Finish: Black Ash
Dimensions: 12" wide x 21" high x 12" Deep.
http://www.audioreview.com/mfr/infinity-sy...34_1594crx.aspx

My recommendation is - get a used integrated amplifier - like a NAD or Cambridge Audio

http://www.mudah.my/li?ca=9_s&th=1&q=integ...lifier&cg=0&w=1

http://www.mudah.my/NAD+3020+Integrated+Am...ner-5998453.htm
NAD 3020 (20w per ch) for RM650 OK deal, great sounding amplifier. The NAD 3020 is one of the most revered amps

the luxman L1 (35w per ch) looks interesting for under 300
http://www.mudah.my/Luxman+L+1+Integrated+...ier-6039838.htm
http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/6698.html

for RM250 the Denon PMA250 might be a good option
http://www.mudah.my/Denon+PMA+250III-5658393.htm

If you are adventurous, you can go for one of those Tripath amps - even at 15w per channel it will sound sweet with these speakers. check this one out http://hllyaudio.com/tripath-amplifier/top...dac-ta2024.html

This post has been edited by SiriuslyCold: May 17 2010, 11:05 AM

Thx bro! you're such a nice person doing all the research for me. Very much appreciated

you're welcome. there's one thing I didn't mention... you have to go out there and listen, listen, listen .... to as many systems as you can. try the shop in Sungai Wang (CMY or something) they have a Naim setup with Usher speakers playing outside so you don't even have to go in. just to get a feel of the sound, you know...

Hi SiriuslyCold, after going thro the amps you suggested, i was quite surprised that some old amps still have good market value here. Anyway, i was quite keen on the Tripath amps you mentioned.

I do see a seller in lowyat offering the Topping TP21 T-Amp.
The specs: http://www.p-macaudio.com/ProductDetails.a...&Show=TechSpecs

Will it be comparable to the one you suggested?
http://hllyaudio.com/tripath-amplifier/top...dac-ta2024.html

I think the amp section will be similar; the one in my link is also a Topping, but it has a USB DAC built in.

now if your primary source is your computer, I would recommend the one with the USB DAC - otherwise you will have to depend on the DAC on your PC sound card (not sure of the quality).

More importantly though, the computer environment is somewhat electronically noisy and could affect (distortion, etc) analog audio that is being passed to your amp. Sending digital audio to an outboard DAC isolates the analog audio from this electrical noise. Plus the chip in the outboard DAC is probably better than the one on the soundcard...

Anyhow, you can do this in two stages - just get the amp only and connect using the headphone out first; later on you can add a USB DAC (or replace your first amp with a amp+DAC)

whichever you get I would like to listen to the Tripath amp with your speakers... I think they will match well.



This post has been edited by SiriuslyCold: May 19 2010, 12:26 AM

Thx for the explanation on the DAC. I'm learning abit more.

Well... I can't decide which to go for? the Tp 30 which comes with the DAC
http://hllyaudio.com/tripath-amplifier/top...dac-ta2024.html

OR

the Tp 21 without DAC which appears to be more powerful (2 x 25W @ 4ohm, 2 x 14W @ 8ohm) VS (15W * 2-ch(4Ω，THD 0.03%)
http://hllyaudio.com/tripath-amplifier/top...mp-adapter.html

I'm gonna place the order after getting some advce

as far as the Tripath amps went, the lower powered ones sounded better than the higher powered ones. Not sure what the situation is with Tripath currently, but you rarely see implementations above 25Wpc.

check out this rundown on the different amp types/modules
http://www.tnt-audio.com/ampli/tripath_amps_e.html

as for how much power you really need - lets say you are sitting 2m (~6ft) away from the speakers, and you want to listen at ~90db*, this calculator says only 1W, even allowing for +3db peaks. Even if you want to listen at 100db (not advisable for long periods) it still only needs 8w per channel. So 15w or 20w from the amp is more than enough...

so, it boils down to whether you want a built-in DAC, or whether you want to just use the headphone out for now and get a DAC if and when you feel like it.


___________________________________________________________________

* how loud is 90db?

Whisper 20dB
Normal Conversation 60dB
Busy Street Traffic 70dB
Vacuum Cleaner 80dB
Large Orchestra 98dB
Walkman at Maximum Level 100dB
Front Rows of Rock Concert 110dB
Threshold of Pain 130dB
Military Jet Takeoff 140dB
Instant Perforation of Eardrum 160dB

more reading about amp power levels, decibels and limits

This post has been edited by SiriuslyCold: May 19 2010, 11:45 AM

Thanks buddy! thx for sharing your knowledge on the subject ... I'll do more reading later on.

I've placed the order on the one with DAC as you pointed out. Now I hope it arrives w/o any issues with the customs. I'm excited!

I paid the amount below for it.


Attached thumbnail(s)

congrats! now the waiting

the price seems quite reasonable actually - more so when compared to the 30-year old NAD 3020 in the earlier post.

When it arrives, are you going to invite us to come and listen?

Wah, very shy lar, want to visit for such a basic setup... but if you're interested, sure why not... after burning in the amp

that will be something like 400hrs

I hope your source files are decent (not 128kbps MP3s haha) if not it's time to rebuild your library

This post has been edited by SiriuslyCold: May 19 2010, 09:47 PM

Seriously? 400 hrs? I thought something like 100 hours was already more than enough (info from reading only).

Really? I thought that 128kbps was in the decent range . Apparently not! Erm... so what would be the standard?

any indication of ETD OR ETA?

well I may have been exaggerating ... slightly. about 100 hrs would do fine


sorry, 128kbps is sh!t. especially if you have a good amp and speakers, all the artifacts will be heard very clearly.

Disk space is cheap nowadays, just encode as FLAC and you can put your CDs in storage. However, if you insist on having MP3s they should be at least 192kpbs VBR; which you can convert from FLAC quite easily to put on a portable device.

It's going to be a good sounding system, so long as you feed it with a good source

Thats great! Thanks to you, I shall venture into better quality source. Hopefully the amp/speaker setup will motivate me!

---

Added on May 20, 2010, 2:46 pmATM no ETA, but apparently they ship within 2 business days after pmt being made.

This post has been edited by flowerhorn: May 20 2010, 02:46 PM