[venzuel00]

Can the microZOTL be used as a speaker amplifier? Or subwoofer?

 

[dcg]

It can be (and was originally designed as) a speaker amp. However, keep in mind tht at only 1 watt, you need some pretty efficient speakers or to be listening at low levels. A sub amp it definitely is not.

 

[venzuel00]

Is it worth purchasing a portable amp for a portable mp3 player or something like the ZOTL for use with the latter? It does not matter portability. I just need a good amp for my mp3 player. (most probable the Ipod) I also have etymotics er4s but I havent' heard anyone who owns both etys and ZOTL yet.

 

[dcg]

IMO, its a bit of overkill if you're ONLY going to use it with mp3. Even though you say portability doesn't matter, I'd consider having JMT build you one of his famous Altoids amps, with will be far, far, far cheaper than a ZOTL, and with the etys you'll have the option of a great portable package.

Now, as you'll find out soon enough, far be it from any of us here at head-fi to dissuade people from buying headphone gear.

The etys are great phones (from what I hear, I've unfortunately never had the pleasure), and with the right source material would undoubtedly benefit from an amp such as the ZOTL. I don't know that anyone's reported on that particular combination, though I believe someone (markl?) owned etys before the ZOTL and predicted they'd be a very good match. If you're also considering listening to cds from a good source, the ZOTL becomes a much better option.

 

[shivohum]

I second the JMT recommendation for an MP3 player. They sound wonderful, and they are an absolute steal.

 

[venzuel00]

Let's say i use my laptop as a source for my cds. So you are saying that i should not use the ZOTL for mp3s (encoded at 192kbs) or cds on my laptop. What if I use it with a PC with turtle beach sound card or terratec??

 

[dcg]

I'm not saying you shouldn't use it, just that it probably wouldn't yield the best sound for the $ spent. If I personally had $750 to spend and didn't have a seperate cd source, I'd drop around $300-$350 on a Grado RA-1 or Meier Corda (or one of the many other amps at this price point) and spend the rest on the source (maybe a used Marants 6000 OSE or a Cambridge Audio D500SE, or even the Denon 370). I've got the TBSC and it's a good card, but I also have a Cambridge D500SE, and I'll let you guess where I play my cds.

I don't have any experience with the terratec, so I'll leave that for someone else to comment on.

Now, if you're planning to buy the ZOTL now and upgrade your source later, that might be more economical than buying cheaper stuff and then selling and upgrading later. It all depends what you future plans are and what you want to achieve (and how much you want to spend). Tell us more about your budget and we can make better recommendations for you.

(BTW, I hope this doesn't sound at all like I'm slamming the ZOTL, I have one myself and I love it.)

 

[venzuel00]

Ok, this is my situation. I have a pair of decent speakers from Karman Hardon to use for my pc. I was thinking on getting a subwoofer but then I might as well invest my money in a amp/headphone amp. What should I do? Get the subwoofer or get the ZOTL to drive those little speakers. I will also listen with my headphones of course. My budget is $600.

 

[dcg]

A few questions:

- Are your speakers designed as pc speakers or just regular speakers that you're planning on using with your pc? I ask because sometimes pc speakers have weird connection/amps built in/etc. which might make them tough to use with the ZOTL. On the other hand, if they're regular speakers I'd make sure they're shielded before I put them too close to the PC/monitor.

- do you have a sensitivity spec for the speakers?

All else equal, you'll generally get much better sound from your etys and a good amp/source than you will with speakers in the same price range.

 

[MirandaX]

Are the Harman/Kardon speakers you're using with your computer self-powered? (They probably are if you're using them in this way.) In this case, any headphone amp will power them fine (you don't need to go all the way to the ZOTL just to power the speakers).

You shouldn't get a subwoofer in conjunction with most computer speakers. Even $300 computer speakers typically cut off at around 100Hz, so if you get a subwoofer you'll have to set the crossover so high that it will generate directional sound. Not a great sounding combo. You're much better off buying a pair of good mini speakers (Paradigm Atoms ($175 for the pair) or PSB Alpha Bs) and a good, inexpensive integrated amp (the NAD L40 can be had for $375 factory refurbished). Even without a subwoofer, you'll get better (i.e. more realistic) bass performance than you've probably heard before. This won't, however, give you boomy, pounding bass. (As a bonus, the NAD L40 has a pretty good sounding headphone jack.)

 

[venzuel00]

Would it be better off if I buy the sirocco crossfires? I"ve read some good reviews about them.

 

[Driftwood]

hey there venzuel00.

I think the problem here is that you are looking to get one really nice componenet when the rest of your system probably won't be able to take advantage of the additional benefits you will get from it over a cheaper amp.

For example, if you are using an mp3 player as your source, you are already compromising quality, so while the ZOTL will make the mp3s sound nice, you will still have the artifacts that are introduced by storing your music in a compressed format. As a result, a JMT amp would probably be a much better match because its limitations wouldn't be visible anyway, given your source. Plus, a CHA 47 or cmoy amp is much cheaper than the ZOTL.

Also, computer speakers aren't exactly hi-fi. While there are some nice computer speakers out there, they are made for the most part to just produce sound (and without a focus on accuracy!)
I have a pair of harman/kardon speakers that were laying around at the office that I use when I don't feel like wearing headphones, but my Stax SR-001 MK2 they are not. A subwoofer might solve some of their problems, but a good pair of headphones is probably a cheaper and better solution. The etymotics are good phones from everything I have heard (but I have not tried them, so I will not comment specifically about them) but again you are limited by your source.

I think the best path would be to get a nice little pcdp like the sony D-25S (especially if you are not concerned about portability) for $45 from silicon salvage on ebay. Use this with a JMT built amp and the etymotics you have already.

If you don't have cds, and this is why you are getting an ipod or some other mp3 player, go ahead and get it, and use it with the cmoy amp and the etymotics and be happy. It will be portable and will give you just about the best sound you will be able to get from an mp3 player.

On the other hand, if you are looking to buy a lot more equipment soon, maybe the ZOTL is a good idea. But if mp3s are the source, I think the ZOTL will be overkill.

Driftwood

 

[Driftwood]

oh, I forgot to mention -

about the laptop, it is arguable about the sound quality you would get from the headphone output there. Laptops make a lot of sacrifices in order to make them small and light, and shielding the sound card is one of them.

You will probably get a lot of noise on the outputs of your soundcard, so unless you want to get some sort of audio interface that has a breakout box or some other external DAC, you probably won't be getting the cleanest signal.

But it might be better than an mp3 player....

Driftwood

 

[MirandaX]

Quote:

Originally posted by venzuel00 Would it be better off if I buy the sirocco crossfires? I"ve read some good reviews about them.

They're pretty good compared to computer speakers, but they're very overpriced if you judge them by sound quality. A pair of Paradigm Atoms ($175) will absolutely decimate them (and other reasonably priced audiophile speakers will do the same). (Surf over to Paradigm's web site and read the Stereophile review of the Atoms for a subjective opinion of those particular speakers.)

The Sirocco Crossfire satellites have a frequency response from 130Hz to 20kHz, and they don't say whether this is -3db or -10db, so we should probably assume the latter (to cut the technical mumbo jumbo, being -10db down at 130 Hz is terrible for an audiophile speaker manufactured in the last 20 years, but it's not awful for a computer speaker). The Sirocco subwoofer is crossed at 130Hz, which means that you'll be getting mono (non-stereo) directional cues from your subwoofer. To put this in perspective, an average audiophile subwoofer, even a low cost one, in conjunction with good speakers, is typically crossed at 50-70Hz.

As a example to compare, the Paradigm Atoms without a subwoofer go all the way down to 60Hz (-10db). There's just no contest when you compare them to the Sirocco system.

You should really consider the NAD L40, or something similar from an audiophile brand. (Computer hardware is way overpriced for the level of sound you get.) For the price ($379 at yawaonline.com for a factory refurb with warranty, or $600 brand new) you get a very good integrated amp, a tuner, a good CD player, and a good headphone jack. It's a cost-effective way to upgrade your whole system, and you can hook your computer up to it. Others on this board (I believe MacDEF) have the L40 and like it a lot.

 

[venzuel00]

Thanks for all your posts.
Are there any relative differences between buying the NL 40 refurbished or brand new??
Any other speaker/amps you would also recommend?