I just bought the Audioengine A2's and have a question about them:

[shonor6]

But which option will generally be better sounding - 250 Dollars passive speakers with a 20 Dollars Amp or 100 Dollars speakers with a more expensive Amp?
 

 

[tzjin]

More expensive speakers. Just like with how headphones are, you'll hear the largest difference typically by upgrading the sound-producing stage. The T-amps listed are very capable for their price.

 

[OJNeg]

Go ahead and get a cheap Lepai, but be warned, you should be using very sensitive speakers with it. Those Class-T amps don't put out anything close to the rated power output. I was able to drive my TA2020+ into clipping easily with an inefficient 2-way bookshelf.
 
I'm of the opinion that you should lay down a little more money on the amp to start. Spend $100-200 on an vintage receiver or used integrated amp and spend the rest on the speakers, or better yet, spend the rest on a speaker kit and build a cabinet around it. That way, when you decide you want better speakers someday, you already have an amp that can perform and you can worry about focusing your money on more expensive speakers.

 

[tzjin]

If you can, a receiver will be an even better purchase. Otherwise, just upgrade the power supply for the Lepai to 12V 4A or so and you will be fine. They should be drive any speaker above 90db efficiency. The Dayton D100a provides a lot more power, and has a headphone out to boot.

 

[ACDOAN]

Rule of thump is to double the wattage, let say from 50 WPC to100 WPC it only increases 2 DB in perceived loudness. With the Lepai 15/20 WPC, you can double the sound volume by getting the speakers 91 DB instead of 88/89 BD. Also try to avoid those low impedance 6Ohm speakers but using the 8 Ohm load only. The A2 is small 15WPC that's primarily designed for near field listening as the computer desktop speakers, so the A2 serve you best not at partying level listening. I found that with a solid steel stand on either side of the computer desk, the A2s sound better than on the flat surface of the computer desk. My 2 cents.