Is this for speakers? I have settled on Pass Labs XA60.8 after trying many including the Chord SCM 1200 Mk2 power amp.
I recognize that this is a headphone forum, but I respect and value the opinions of those who have the Chord Dave amplifier and seek to have input on a potential speaker amp pairing with the Chord Dave. I should stay in advance that my ““ listening room is a, ahem, unique one. As pictures speak louder than words, Above is the picture of my rig. You will notice that it is adjacent to, thing of all things, exercise equipment! Specifically it is a Precor AMT, an adaptive motion trainer - which is an elliptical which is easier on the knees, but for the purposes of this forum, puts myself in a listening position between seven and 8 feet in height. You may notice the Abyss 1266 headphones, which is excellent in its own right,
Recently, I have made some modifications to my rig which facilitate some listening to speakers as well, which is useful when I’m using my exercise equipment to read a book or surf the Internet. The monitor you see there is not a TV but actually a touchscreen computer - A Microsoft surface studio two, which is kind of like a giant iPad and it is glorious. (Sidebar - you know what I missed about the newspaper - it’s the actual size of the newspaper which makes it so easy to read. Using a tablet or, heaven forbid, An iphone gets weary on these aging eyes and reading on the surface studio is truly a delight. Plus you can stream xbox, play computer games, or, if you fancy, actually get some work done!) And don’t worry, the computer is tucked into a security case into custom made wood stand so it won’t move unless you strike it with a baseball bat. The reason for this kooky set up is, to be totally honest, in the name of fun but also in the name of health. My doctor told me last year that my cholesterol was borderline high so I made some changes to my lifestyle. Once I got the M scaler, I decided to dust off an old home theater, a Geneva XXL iPod. Yes, that rectangular black monstrosity is a 200 pound behemoth perched on top of the estate sale cabinets from a neighborhood artist. The fact that it has iPad in this name attest to its age. Even though it looks like an entertainment console, it is actually a sub woofer and with speakers right in the middle of it. Which works pretty great, for watching HBO or Netflix on the computer, but the imaging stinks for music. So I am looking for a quality bookshelf speaker/amp or an active speaker to perch on top of the old Geneva so I can actually listen to music directed at my ears and not my belly button. Moving it from the floor to the elevated stand on top of the cabinets made a a big difference, but it was putting lipstick on a pig - I should comment that the sub woofer is actually quite good and I can use the RCA connection from the Dave to add just the subwoofer if I wished to the new setup. I can also use the master 9 headphone amp for a preamp so additional connections if need be. The low bass extension sounds meatier and deeper than the Kii three speakers I have for my main listening room/ 2 channel home theater. Make no mistake, I find the Kii three speakers to be nothing short of amazing. I have never entertained moving them to this room - because the DAC is also great in the Kii and I want to make the Dave earn its keep.
So in addition to listening to the Abyss, I want to have a proper speaker set up for what is, for all intents and purposes, near field listening. It has to be four figures and no more, or else Mrs Maggotbrain will decapitate the head that is listening to the setup, thus defeating the purpose of listening pleasure.
The options I have come up with so far:
1. Kef Reference 1/Lyndorf SDA 2400 Stereo Power Amp - i listened to a Kef LS50 once and was impressed - I figure the reference 1 would handily beat it’s little brother.
2. ATC SCM25A Pro - like the Kii with an amp inside, but analog inside so the Dave could work its magic.
3. Klipsch Fortes and a Macintosh solid state power amp - for rocking out. I know tat I’m supposed to use tubes with these, but a lot of time I use these at five in the morning and I don’t wanna wait for tubes to warm up without any caffeine in my system
I should note that I live in Hawaii, over two thousand miles away from civilization, so I do not have ready access to a robust audiophile store. Whatever I get here basically has to get shipped here, so I hope to inform my decision with the opinions of the enlightened minds here before wasting hundreds of dollars on shipping on unnecessary returns.
Since pairing the m scaler with Dave, I am happy to say I am down twenty pounds and multiple belt notches - due in no small part to the crazy setup I have that has been enlivened by the Chord duo.
