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So, what's everybody here using for their audio front end? Whether you're listening to a T-Amp, a receiver, pro audio stuff, or separates, with all the speaker-talk that goes on around here, I figured it was time for a thread to put the focus on the other gear in our systems, so this is that thread.
Post pictures, descriptions, or just a list - it doesn't matter. I'm just curious to know what everyone else here is using.
Here's some of my gack, at least the part that's seeing regular use these days:
Dayton APA150 Stereo Integrated Amp
For as many dollars as watts (75 per channel into 4 ohms), this amp was a no-brainer, and is still an amazing value. It's got a solid toroidal power transformer and a large internal heatsink with a temperature-activated fan at the rear that's only run once - when I wired the dual 2-ohm coils of a bass driver in parallel for a brief excursion test, presenting one channel of the amp with a 1-ohm load. It stayed stable into the load, though I wouldn't try driving anything at super-high volume that way. It can definitely take a pair of 4-ohm nominal speakers without issue. I generally drive this from the headphone output of an el-cheapo 5-disc changer and it does well.
Harman/Kardon AVR 335 7.1-channel Receiver
This receiver delivers 55W RMS into all 7 channels at once, or 75W from the front two channels in stereo mode. It's got a great, relaxed sound that's not 'warm' or 'cool' - just very nicely in the middle. The ability to route the three optical and three coaxial digital inputs to any of the selectable sources is a great feature, but the receiver lacks HDMI switching, which could leave me with some upgraditis soon. This receiver takes optical digital inputs from a home theater PC (Asus Xonar DX), the aforementioned el-cheapo CD changer, a PlayStation 3, and a 40" Samsung LCD HDTV (550-series).
Silverstone EB 02
After using my second-gen SI T-Amp for two months driving my Whetstones speakers in a hotel room in Connecticut, I took a chance on this amp from a company that's better known for their elegant aluminum PC cases than for audio equipment. With its 60-watt power supply, it's definitely a step up from the SI T-Amp (and the Dayton DTA), but for a step up in price ($139). I plan to experiment with an input-cap swap fairly soon. The first amp I bought had a sketchy channel that revealed itself within the first 30 minutes of playing, so I bought a second (rather than fool with any warranty that might have existed), since even for the elevated price the sound quality has been incredible. The internal circuit board is an off-the-shelf T-amp board, with a TA2021B chip-amp under a blue aluminum heatsink that keeps the impossibly tiny chip plenty cool. It sounds great driving the Whetstones, and it's made me want to pursue a high-efficiency two-way design using the Tang Band W6-789E, so that's on the horizon. The amp is currently used at my PC, where it takes analog input from an Asus Xonar D2 sound card via an AudioQuest 3.5mm-stereo RCA cable.
Post pictures, descriptions, or just a list - it doesn't matter. I'm just curious to know what everyone else here is using.
Here's some of my gack, at least the part that's seeing regular use these days:
Dayton APA150 Stereo Integrated Amp
For as many dollars as watts (75 per channel into 4 ohms), this amp was a no-brainer, and is still an amazing value. It's got a solid toroidal power transformer and a large internal heatsink with a temperature-activated fan at the rear that's only run once - when I wired the dual 2-ohm coils of a bass driver in parallel for a brief excursion test, presenting one channel of the amp with a 1-ohm load. It stayed stable into the load, though I wouldn't try driving anything at super-high volume that way. It can definitely take a pair of 4-ohm nominal speakers without issue. I generally drive this from the headphone output of an el-cheapo 5-disc changer and it does well.
Harman/Kardon AVR 335 7.1-channel Receiver
This receiver delivers 55W RMS into all 7 channels at once, or 75W from the front two channels in stereo mode. It's got a great, relaxed sound that's not 'warm' or 'cool' - just very nicely in the middle. The ability to route the three optical and three coaxial digital inputs to any of the selectable sources is a great feature, but the receiver lacks HDMI switching, which could leave me with some upgraditis soon. This receiver takes optical digital inputs from a home theater PC (Asus Xonar DX), the aforementioned el-cheapo CD changer, a PlayStation 3, and a 40" Samsung LCD HDTV (550-series).
Silverstone EB 02
After using my second-gen SI T-Amp for two months driving my Whetstones speakers in a hotel room in Connecticut, I took a chance on this amp from a company that's better known for their elegant aluminum PC cases than for audio equipment. With its 60-watt power supply, it's definitely a step up from the SI T-Amp (and the Dayton DTA), but for a step up in price ($139). I plan to experiment with an input-cap swap fairly soon. The first amp I bought had a sketchy channel that revealed itself within the first 30 minutes of playing, so I bought a second (rather than fool with any warranty that might have existed), since even for the elevated price the sound quality has been incredible. The internal circuit board is an off-the-shelf T-amp board, with a TA2021B chip-amp under a blue aluminum heatsink that keeps the impossibly tiny chip plenty cool. It sounds great driving the Whetstones, and it's made me want to pursue a high-efficiency two-way design using the Tang Band W6-789E, so that's on the horizon. The amp is currently used at my PC, where it takes analog input from an Asus Xonar D2 sound card via an AudioQuest 3.5mm-stereo RCA cable.
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