A little system to play with for a week or so...

[hifilover]

So, thanks to Jerry (JANDL100) and his loan of the little Amptastic t-amp on the Wam, as well as an SMSL DAC I bought via 'SPM' on here and the little Q Acoustic 2010's I bought via eBay; I've a little system to toy about with until my brother is back from holiday later on next week...

I've got the DAC connected to my i7 Mac Mini running iTunes via BitPerfect using optical and that into the amp via a Black Rhodium Rhapsody interconnect feeding the Q's via some QED Silver Anniversary cable I had lying around in the loft...

Just blasting out all sorts, but Colter Wall is on currently and the dirty deep guitar plucks sound fantastic!

Yes; it's very much a near-field system with it being on my desk; but it's still managing to belt out some sound. The Q's aren't the last word in bass depth, but they still belt out a good, punchy sound!

I've got an MA A100 amp and some MA BX1 speakers on their way to me and they should land tomorrow; will see how they fair side by side and with a bit of speaker swapping; it'll be an interesting weekend ;-)

Some pics to show what the little system looks like:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a226/danbutterworth/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-04/IMG_20160407_101454_zpszh5ktcu3.jpg (http://s12.photobucket.com/user/danbutterworth/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-04/IMG_20160407_101454_zpszh5ktcu3.jpg.html)

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a226/danbutterworth/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-04/IMG_20160407_101509_zpsuei7hvrf.jpg (http://s12.photobucket.com/user/danbutterworth/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-04/IMG_20160407_101509_zpsuei7hvrf.jpg.html)

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a226/danbutterworth/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-04/IMG_20160407_101516_zpsco09lp7j.jpg (http://s12.photobucket.com/user/danbutterworth/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-04/IMG_20160407_101516_zpsco09lp7j.jpg.html)

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a226/danbutterworth/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-04/IMG_20160407_101526_zps6qivjlnz.jpg (http://s12.photobucket.com/user/danbutterworth/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-04/IMG_20160407_101526_zps6qivjlnz.jpg.html)

[hughandella]

Some of these 'cheap and cheerful' components can be surprisingly good --- Amptastic is well known ( good man Jerry for sharing --- personally I'm also a fan of the Trends T amp and I urge people to give the little Mistral tube hybrid amps a go too ) and just about everything I have had from SMSL has been really good ( DACs & T amps ) ..... I had a similar system with Eclipse TD speakers and again for nearfield it was all I needed.

Right now I am trying an alternate option --- I have consciously given B&O gear a try and in my experience there are some decent bits of kit that you can pick up relatively cheaply now ( I could never justify new prices ) and I've been pretty happy with a couple of bits of recommended kit 'across the decades' -- from 1970's/80's I have a Beomaster 4000 and 80's/90's a Beomaster 5000 & MCP and from the 2000's and relative to this thread ---- right now I'm using a (great and cheap) Schiit Audio Passive pre with a pair of Beolab 4000 active speakers and it's very decent sound for £325 ! .......... anyway enjoy your system I've just watched Diana Krall live in Paris on YouTube and with decent audio and a good screen it's a very nice way to spend the morning !! ... Paul Weller up next

then time to move B&O on ...

[Conan]

Let us know what do you think of the MA A100.

[Arkless Electronics]

Any MF A100's, A1's etc still working will be in need of a total rebuild in order to work correctly...

[Conan]

Any MF A100's, A1's etc still working will be in need of a total rebuild in order to work correctly...
Not talking about MF but Monitor Audio A100

[hifilover]

^^^

Thanks; yes, it's the Monitor Audio A100 I've bought; not Musical Fidelity ;)

I'm looking forward to it landing; it has everything I need to partner some good speakers and having my Mac as the source; no need to faff about with DAC's etc :D

I do like the Q's that are here currently; but I know already that they're a bit bass shy for my tastes... I may look out for some B&W 686s or 685's or maybe some MA RX1's, if I can find them at a sensible price!

[brian2957]

Nice one Dan . How does the Amptastic compare to the SMSL ?

[hifilover]

The SMSL is a DAC; I haven't heard their amps, but they can be bought for £35 via eBay, so I'm tempted to order one to have a play with!

[brian2957]

Ah.. OK How's the SMSL DAC then Dan :D

[hifilover]

Haha; it's very good!

I'd say a good step up from the likes of the Fiio D3 or Lindy DAC's, but not as good as the MF VDACII etc... But it is only around £30, so it's at that level where they all probably sound the same haha

[brian2957]

Thanks Dan . Filed for future reference :D

[hifilover]

No worries...

It may be up for sale again soon if the MA A100 amp is as good as it's reviews, I'll let you know if that's the case :)

[brian2957]

The MA amp has been on my radar too Dan , it gets very good reviews so I'd be interested on your opinion of it .

TBH with you the Young DAC which I recently bought 2nd hand has proved to be a big upgrade and is all the DAC I'll ever need for the foreseeable future .

[jandl100]

Thanks for putting up the pics, Dan - the Amptastic looks right at home. :)

I am looking forward to your thoughts on it vs the MA A100.

[hifilover]

No worries Jerry

I'm looking forward to getting the MA A100 and BX1 speakers too; but with MyHermes being as shit as they are (don't understand why people use them still); looks like I won't have those bits until Monday now :(

[hifilover]

One thing I will say re a little change I've just done with speaker cables (waiting for the 'cables don't make any difference etc) is I've gone from some QED Silver Anniversary to some QED Original cable and it's calmed the top end down!

The treble was a little 'bitey' at times, made my eyes water a bit with some stuff, but the good ole' original cable has backed that off :)

[hifilover]

Another update on this little system...

The Monitor Audio A100 integrated amp landed with me as well as a nice little pair of on itor Audio BX1 speakers...

Very, very good IMO! The amp really has some clout about it, but it has overall better control of the BX1's than the Amptastic amp does, but the Amptastic amp makes the little Q's sound better than the A100; just seems to suit their tonal balance better overall! The A100, for me & for my needs, is a better suited amp and will work well for my desktop system.

Colter Wall's rolling voice is blasting out nice currently ;) If you haven't heard his stuff, I'd highly recommend it!

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a226/danbutterworth/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-04/IMG_20160409_114213_zpsd08yk0ho.jpg (http://s12.photobucket.com/user/danbutterworth/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-04/IMG_20160409_114213_zpsd08yk0ho.jpg.html)
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a226/danbutterworth/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-04/IMG_20160409_114203_zps0pe771ft.jpg (http://s12.photobucket.com/user/danbutterworth/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-04/IMG_20160409_114203_zps0pe771ft.jpg.html)
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a226/danbutterworth/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-04/IMG_20160409_114158_zpsiqxg96mm.jpg (http://s12.photobucket.com/user/danbutterworth/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-04/IMG_20160409_114158_zpsiqxg96mm.jpg.html)
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a226/danbutterworth/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-04/IMG_20160409_114154_zpswxtv6fc0.jpg (http://s12.photobucket.com/user/danbutterworth/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-04/IMG_20160409_114154_zpswxtv6fc0.jpg.html)

[skimminstones]

Id be interested in how the MA 100 sounds with the BX1's. I was thinking of that when they came out as i had some BR2's at the time, currently got the BX5 but interested how a monitor audio amp matches with their own speakers.

edit: probably should have noticed there was a second page to this thread answering my question lol

[hifilover]

Haha... ;)

Well, they sound great! You'd always expect speakers/amps of the same company to work well together and these do :)

[Macca]

One thing I will say re a little change I've just done with speaker cables (waiting for the 'cables don't make any difference etc) is I've gone from some QED Silver Anniversary to some QED Original cable and it's calmed the top end down!

The treble was a little 'bitey' at times, made my eyes water a bit with some stuff, but the good ole' original cable has backed that off :)

That seems to be what everyone finds with the QED SA. It's an odd one.

[hifilover]

Yeah; was exactly the same with the MA amp and both sets of speakers; great overall soundstage, but just too bright on some vocals etc...

Back to the Original cable and all is well!