My Wharfdale Crystal 20s just came! I was going out to walk the dog at 10pm and they were at the front desk - bah, not there at 8 but there at 10? anyhow i brought them back and the wife said *big box....* but the speakers are actually the perfect size for my desk. no speaker wire...so i took my crappy FM antenna wire, cut it in half, stripped the ends, and voila, speaker wire! Hooked them up to the sony reciever and tried a few makeshift preamp cable alternatives (settled on the magwires rca to mini with rat shack mini to 1/4 adapter going into the headphone out of the solo to the sony cd line in) and i was off!

yeah it sounds bush league the way i set it up, but man i'm not kidding, they sound great! Let's put it this way - it got the wife's head bob and watusi dance of approval. even the MS-1 only got the headbob of approval, and all other cans after that didn't even get a wife listen.

these speakers are the perfect size to fill up the space of my small apt with some big sound - detail is crystal clear in the mids and highs, and the bass, tho not super low reaching, has a nice punch without being bloated. when tracy chapman's acoustic picking has bass reverb, you know it's going to be all good.

thanks for the recommendations guys, i'm happy and done - these speakers will be my speakers for my Study - when i eventually get a house lol! until then no need to upgrade to a home theater surround sound thing at all until i get a bigger place.

LAFF my darth beyers actually have a more immersive kickin deep bass than the bookshelf speakers! and stereo imaging is better - maybe i'm just not used to listening to speakers, but i like the soundstage i'm getting from the beyers more - but then again it's 11pm and i can't crank up the speakers, but with closed cans i'm wailin...

...the Infinity Primus 150's to the list of budget speakers listed here. They list for around $190, but can be found new on ebay for $100 a pair. Heck, I even saw one seller listing them for $75 for the pair (right after I paid a $100). These are a steal at list price, if you can get 'em for a bill it's practically a sin. Great bedroom or computer/MP3 system.

Headphones will always sound like speakers costing 3-4X the price.

You can't expect 90$ US speakers to sound like (I don't know how much your cans are worth).

It's like if I buy the m72i speakers that now sell for 170$US,(were 350$ before being discontinued), of course, they will not sound even close to my grado SR-125. For that, I'd have to pay at least 1000$ I guess.

Plus, headphone drivers are way smaller, and they are rignt on your ears. It's wayyyy easier to be cleaner and more defined and have more bass.

So um, that's it.

Here is a list of <$300 speakers I would suggest:

Axiom M2i and M3ti. The cheapest way to get them is to buy from the Axiom outlet store (tiny cosmetic belmishes) in Canada.

Athena AS-B1 and AS-B2.

Woohoo, glad the WAF factor is high The wood finish looks great on your desk!

Jahn,

Sounds like a great deal. Believe me, positioning of the speakers is half the equation in making ANY speaker sounding good. The Wharfedales will sound much better once you get them away from the reflective surfaces of the desk and monitor. And burn 'em in!

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That's just laughably wrong.

listening to the as-b1 through the t-amp right now, speakers are such an incredible experience.

Very different from headphones, though I don't think anyone could argue which is better beyond personal preference, like headphones vs. canal phones.

I agree....speaker and headphone listening are 2 entirely different experiences.

Maybe, but even in that case there are too many people around here blithely stating "Headphones are better than speakers at 3/4/5/10 times the cost" without having heard a good speaker system. I was even one myself at one point. Then I got speakers and promptly downgraded my headphones for lack of use.

Same here. Once I heard decent speakers, it was game over

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What is the advantage of using the headphone amp as a preamp? Is it just volume control or does it improve sound quality and/ or power too?

Should i use my Pimeta as a preamp for the SI T-Amp?

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pre-amping is a mystery to me. Lan suggested it, so me did it. but honestly i'm going to keep with it, since i lost the Sony's remote, and therefore the Solo's volume control is easier to reach for. even quicker than using the mouse to lower the 0404's volume.

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Didn't I PM you that? That advice was only for you for your convenience. I make no mention of actual sound quality. It's not as if you could set up any other how.