My Very Low Budget Nearfield Desktop Rig (Lepai amp and Dayton Audio speakers)

[StratocasterMan]

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I am thinking abt leaving these Lepai 24/7 but I am concerning with fire hazard when I am away from my place.

Little thump when powering off starts me worry for damaging the tweeters in a long run.

 
I often leave my Lepai on for 12 hours or more at a time. It never even gets warm. I do get a little pop when turning it on or off. I have an active subwoofer connected to it that has an "auto standby" feature. I leave the sub set on "auto," so the sub is powered 24 hours a day. The sub always has power when I turn the Lepai on or off. I've never run into any problem with turning the Lepai on and off or leaving it on. However, I do get a little pop, so it's always set at low volume when I turn it on or off. I don't think I would try turning it on or off with the volume cranked, but I've never had any problems at low volume.

 

[ACDOAN]

2 more Lepai 2020+ arrived today. I found an old pair of el cheapo Yamaha NS-638 with 8Ohm / 91db. They are three way speakers with 10" woofer.
 
This will be fun for old heavy Rock and Roll.

 

[ACDOAN]

This is my take of the Lepai. It goes very well with Polk Audio ( I used the old RT15i and the new RTi 4) . With the old Rt15i, Lepai is at it best. SQ as hi-end tube sound. With the RTi 4, Treble region is a bit bright but sound much more cleaner as SS. With the Mirage FRX1 bookshelf speakers ( 8 Ohm/ 88 db) , the Lepai does not fare well at all while the Mirage FRX1 sounds best with my Onkyo 5V AL.
 
I do not think power is the issue but rather the synergy of the Lepai and the warm speakers as the Polk RT15i. SQ remind me of the more expensive line of Polk Audio, the LSi .
 
IpodTouch 4g, LOD, Lepai amp, and Polk Audio RT15i = organic wonderful tube sounds that audiophile would die for....

 

[Soyabeaner]

...

Aren't you worried about the EMI with all these devices practically next to each other? The speakers are likely not magnetically shielded either since it's not documented in the manual. Never mind audio distortion, won't this affect their longevity?

 

[ACDOAN]

I also tried the Definitive Tech. SM350 ( 8OHM 90DB) with 8" passive radiator, but none of the speakers gave me the SQ as the old Polk Audio. The new RTi lines do not come near as good as my old RT15i speakers. 
 
If you are thinking about buying the Lepai 2020+ try Audiogon or Craiglist for some old Polk Audio bookshelf speakers and you won't be disappointed. The Polk Audio in the 70s are the mi-end speaker lines until Circuit City killed Polk Audio's reputation with the mass selling, mass producing lines. The new Polk Audio lines are geared to home theater application, therefore they are tend to be forward and bright. Frankly, they are not worth buying for audio listening except the LSI lines.

 

[StratocasterMan]

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Aren't you worried about the EMI with all these devices practically next to each other? The speakers are likely not magnetically shielded either since it's not documented in the manual. Never mind audio distortion, won't this affect their longevity?

 
Nope. I'm not worried about it at all. A lot of the worries about magnetically shielded speakers came from the days of them causing problems with CRT monitors, but they don't cause the same problems with LCD displays.
 
With no music playing, I can turn my speaker amplifier up past the point where it would be clipping if there was music playing, and it's dead silent even if I put my ear 1" from the speakers. That's with the volume turned up louder than I ever turn it if music is playing. I can also put on my headphones and crank the volume on the speaker amplifier and the volume on my DAC / headphone amp at the same time, and it's dead silent if there's no music playing.

 

[ACDOAN]

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Nope. I'm not worried about it at all. A lot of the worries about magnetically shielded speakers came from the days of them causing problems with CRT monitors, but they don't cause the same problems with LCD displays.
 
With no music playing, I can turn my speaker amplifier up past the point where it would be clipping if there was music playing, and it's dead silent even if I put my ear 1" from the speakers. That's with the volume turned up louder than I ever turn it if music is playing. I can also put on my headphones and crank the volume on the speaker amplifier and the volume on my DAC / headphone amp at the same time, and it's dead silent if there's no music playing.

Hey, thanks to your thread now I am a Lepai fans. Good music that costs merely nothing. Any time, I turn my Lepai amp on, the music from MOG or Spotify via my Polk RT15i makes me wonder how in the world a $20.00 amp can sound that good.
 
The only time I felt that good was the purchase of the Audio Research LS17 pre-amp and the Bryston 4 BSST after I read the review of John Crossett (?) back in the old day.
 
The Lepai is not in the same and should not be in the same sentence with Audio Research or Bryston but from the cost/ performance ratio, I cannot believe what the Polk Audio RT15i and the Lepai capable of. It's that good. If you guys can find a synergy between the Lepai amp and the right kind of speakers for it.

 

[StratocasterMan]

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Hey, thanks to your thread 

 
I'm glad you took a chance on the Lepai amps. A lot of people wouldn't believe a $20 amp can sound better than lots of $400 home theater receivers that are sitting down at Best Buy, but it can and does! 

 

[ACDOAN]

We better not praise this Lepai amp too much. Some of the folk with plenty working capital may buy them out, upgrade some of the caps and power supply then put a fancy brush alunimum case and rebrand the name and sell the " lepai re-badged" for hundred of dollars more than $20.00 current MSRP.

Back in the 80s, my dealer friend demoed for me an Atoll CD1000a with an MSRP of $999.99. I was lucky enough to find out the Atoll CD1000a was a rebage of the caps$75.00 Technics with a better power supply and a better face plate and a better remote control.

The well known Lexicon $3,000.00 H/T was a rebadge of the Harmon Kardon AVR which was sold for much less than a third of the price.

I am listening to Dave Brubeck " Time out" right now on MOG, at a moderated level , I simply cannot fault the Lepai 2020+ the vintage Polk audio Rt25i and my ITouch 4G.

 

[StratocasterMan]

Yeah, I feed my Lepai from the line-out on my FiiO E17 DAC, which is a cheap DAC, but it's still seven times the price of the Lepai, LOL. 

 
I've also tried plugging my Sansa Clip Zip portable player into my Lepai amp, and that sounds good too...

 

[ACDOAN]

Please play Miles Davis " Kind of blue " either on Spotify or MOG choosing hi- quality streaming and down load, you jazz lovers will see what kind of sq you can buy for $20.00.

I have not touched my big gear since I have the Lepai 2020+ and the Polk audio RT 15i. Not to say they are in the same league but for near field listening, this is IT. You can do much better but also you will have to spend hundred times more mula.

 

[rickdohc]

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Yeah, I feed my Lepai from the line-out on my FiiO E17 DAC, which is a cheap DAC, but it's still seven times the price of the Lepai, LOL. 

 
I've also tried plugging my Sansa Clip Zip portable player into my Lepai amp, and that sounds good too...

 
 
I feed my Lepai with my Fiio E11,  setting the bass boost to 2  

 

[rickdohc]

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I found a pair of Sonys speakers from a Minicomponet i had around, it sounds much better than the Daytons B52, so i am gonna sell them soon to a friend.
 
Also bought this:
 
Lepai 2.1    Not bad at all!!
 

 
 
 
Cmon guys,  some1 give this little Lepai a chance,   not bad at all for $20.00,  the bass channel is a nice adition.

 

[ACDOAN]

I may give it a shot iust for kick. I just do not like heavy bass for 2 chanel audio. I want clean mid range and mid bass. But for kick$20.00 with one year warranty, that' s less than $2.00 month. Too cheap for an ear orgasm.

 

[StratocasterMan]

It'd be fun to try, but I'm already doing a little subwoofin' with my Lepai.