[Ridai]

I would buy these Wharfedale Diamond 9.1s that are on closeout for £99.95 and combine them with a good t-amp. I recommend the Indeed TA2021; Topping t-amps available from Amazon UK are also good quality. Here's a review of the Diamonds. You'll find many other good testimonials for them on the web. That will be a better setup than any 2.0 desktop multimedia speakers you can buy for close to the same price.

Oh that is a very interesting suggestion. What about a DAC? You mean to use the Sabre U2 + t-amp + diamond 9.1s?

 

[cel4145]

Whatever DAC you want based upon what you and blueangel2323 have been discussing. The difference between this setup and self-powered speakers is that you would connect the amp to your dac instead of directly to something like the A2s. It's the same principle

Those would be better than any self-powered speakers you could buy with your budget. The Diamond 9.1s were selling for a lot more several years ago until they came out with the Diamond 10.1s. I am surprised that Super-Fi still has stock. It's an awesome deal. I would go with the Topping TP31 or the Indeed TA2021 (the Indeed is a China factory direct amp). Those amps have the TA2021 chip which has a little more power output than the TA2020 that is in the Lepai amp you mentioned. Plus, any of the Topping or Indeed amps (Indeed has something similar with a TA2020 chip as well) will have a bit better SQ and better built quality than the Lepai t-amps. Worth the extra.

So Topping TP21 (TA2020 chip) or TP31 or Indeed TA2021 or Indeed TA2020. If your budget can swing it, get the more powerful one with the TA2021 chip.

 

[Ridai]

Whatever DAC you want based upon what you and blueangel2323 have been discussing. The difference between this setup and self-powered speakers is that you would connect the amp to your dac instead of directly to something like the A2s. It's the same principle

....

This is a big help to me, thanks a lot! I'm going to look around for prices and see what I can find, I will most likely end up with the Diamonds, but I'll give you a shout before I make my final decision haha.
 
EDIT: Are Superfi a respectable company then? As in if I had a problem with the speakers, their customer service would be satisfactory?
 
EDIT2: Nevermind, just researched them and it appears their customer service is appauling. Will have to try somewhere else.

 

[cel4145]

I live in the US. I don't know anything about UK audio vendors.

That's too bad if they are not a good vendor. You might look around some more for Wharfedales at other sellers. They are a popular UK brand.

 

[Ridai]

Will do. Also still trying to decide what DAC+Amp combo to use. I mainly listen to dubstep/rock/DnB so I like powerful bass; I'm still looking for some DAC's but will the TA2021/TA2020 t-amps be good for this kind of music with the Diamonds?
 
On another note, I plan on using the DT770 80ohms for my music, will theTA2021/TA2020 t-amps pair well with the headphones? I've done a little research and the DT770's seem to be very favoured, with the 80 ohms version having more bass.

 

[cel4145]

The Indeed t-amps are not headphone amps. They will not work for driving headphones.

The Topping t-amps have built in headphone amps. I have no idea how good they are or what impedance headphones they can drive.

Dacs and amps aren't better for one type of music over another.

 

[Ridai]

I see. In that case, I wonder if I could purchase the Audioquest Dragonfly and simply plug the DT770's straight into that if I decided to listen through headphones, and if I were to use the Diamond 9.1's I would plug one of those amps into the Dragonfly?

 

[blueangel2323]

  I see. In that case, I wonder if I could purchase the Audioquest Dragonfly and simply plug the DT770's straight into that if I decided to listen through headphones, and if I were to use the Diamond 9.1's I would plug one of those amps into the Dragonfly?

 
Yes, the Dragonfly can act as a pre-amp for an external speaker amp.

 

[Ridai]

   
Yes, the Dragonfly can act as a pre-amp for an external speaker amp.

Brilliant. I may well end up doing that then. The Dragonfly is fairly expensive but from what I've read, it seems worth it.

 

[blueangel2323]

It's about the same price as a O2+ODAC combo, with the benefit of extreme portability. The amp is surprisingly powerful too - it can drive most headphones including some planars.

 

[Ridai]

Sounds good. Are there any portable amp's that have similar sound quality as the Topping t-amps?
 
Since I'll be using DT770 80ohm's with a Sansa Clip+, was just wondering if getting a portable amp that can drive the Diamond 9.1's and be used with the Dragonfly would be worth the money. Otherwise, I might just be better off running the DT770's straight into the Sansa Clip+ for portability when not at the laptop/home.

 

[cel4145]

Sounds good. Are there any portable amp's that have similar sound quality as the Topping t-amps?

Since I'll be using DT770 80ohm's with a Sansa Clip+, was just wondering if getting a portable amp that can drive the Diamond 9.1's and be used with the Dragonfly would be worth the money. Otherwise, I might just be better off running the DT770's straight into the Sansa Clip+ for portability when not at the laptop/home.

I think you might be a little confused. There are DACs, headphone amps, and speaker amps. And there are units that combine one or the other. The Dragonfly is a DAC with a headphone amp. The Topping models I listed are speaker amps with a headphone amp (although I suspect the headphone amp is not that good). You will not find a "portable amp that can drive the Diamond 9.1s" since those need a speaker amp.

However, if portability is important, then get a separate DAC and headphone amp. ODAC is a good choice (check epiphany acoustics). Then a FiiO E11 or E12 could be used as a headphone amp with the ODAC when at your computer, or as a standalone headphone amp with the Sansa Clip+ when on the go. Then you still need a speaker amp to go with passive speakers to plug into the ODAC. Or if you get powered speakers, you wouldn't need a Topping or Indeed t-amp.

 

[Ridai]

I think you might be a little confused. There are DACs, headphone amps, and speaker amps. And there are units that combine one or the other. The Dragonfly is a DAC with a headphone amp. The Topping models I listed are speaker amps with a headphone amp (although I suspect the headphone amp is not that good). You will not find a "portable amp that can drive the Diamond 9.1s" since those need a speaker amp.

However, if portability is important, then get a separate DAC and headphone amp. ODAC is a good choice (check epiphany acoustics). Then a FiiO E11 or E12 could be used as a headphone amp with the ODAC when at your computer, or as a standalone headphone amp with the Sansa Clip+ when on the go. Then you still need a speaker amp to go with passive speakers to plug into the ODAC. Or if you get powered speakers, you wouldn't need a Topping or Indeed t-amp.

Oh I see now, thanks for clearing that up! I can make more of an informed decision now I know exactly what kind of things I'm looking for. It may well be possible that the Sansa Clip+ can drive the DT770's alone, and I can invest in a separate amp for that later on down the line.

 

[cel4145]

I demoed the DT770 80s at home, and I wanted a little more power than what my Clip+ offered. Get the headphones first and try them for yourself. Then decide

If you are running the Clip+ at or near full volume with the DT770s with bass heavy music, or using bass boost in the EQ with bass heavy music, then a headphone amp could probably help with better SQ out of the bass since the headphone amp inside the Clip+ could be at it's limits. Although one of the attractive things about the Clip+ is it's small size. You might find that you are satisfied with the SQ over having to also haul around a separate portable amp. Or if you do decide you want a more powerful headphone amp, the better choice might be the FiiO X3, which is a DAP with the headphone amp and DAC components of the FiiO E17.

 

[Ridai]

I demoed the DT770 80s at home, and I wanted a little more power than what my Clip+ offered. Get the headphones first and try them for yourself. Then decide

If you are running the Clip+ at or near full volume with the DT770s with bass heavy music, or using bass boost in the EQ with bass heavy music, then a headphone amp could probably help with better SQ out of the bass since the headphone amp inside the Clip+ could be at it's limits. Although one of the attractive things about the Clip+ is it's small size. You might find that you are satisfied with the SQ over having to also haul around a separate portable amp. Or if you do decide you want a more powerful headphone amp, the better choice might be the FiiO X3, which is a DAP with the headphone amp and DAC components of the FiiO E17.

The FiiO X3 does sound appealing; I may be able to find a used one a little cheaper than the £160 on Amazon which would make it completely worth it to me. I have a FiiO E5 but that is very cheap stuff, probably wouldn't help at all.
 
All in all, I'm currently thinking about getting the Dragonfly (although at this point I'm not too fussed about which DAC to use with my laptop, this one seems to have very good sound and is very small, however I now understand that I need a headphone amp too if I choose something other than the Dragonfly), the FiiO X3 for the DT770's and still not sure about the speakers.
 
One question I have is, if I have the passive Diamond 9.1 speakers and an Indeed t-amp, are they compatible with the Dragonfly DAC? Or would you perhaps you need a DAC on it's own, combined with an Indeed or Topping t-amp, used with the Diamonds 9.1s.