[bonami2]

Up ahah this amp look interesting

 

[ACDOAN]

I know ACDOAN will want to hear about this

My office at home tends to warm up a little too much in the summer, especially if I run my HK 3390 receiver. Since I gave away my Lepai 2020+ to someone in need last fall, I decided to get the Indeed TA2021 off Ebay directly from Indeed. Here it is next to my G400 mouse for size perspective




75$ shipped. Much better build quality than the Lepai and looks nicer, too. A brick of a power supply. And if you look at the pictures on their Ebay page, better internal components.

I wish I still had the Lepai 2020+ to compare. So far this Indeed sounds great and produces plenty of volume for nearfield listening with my Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 SEs, clean sound up to volumes louder than I should listen to. Slightly colder than the HK, and I think the HK has a little better bass resolution. But overall, a great little amp

As an audio junkie as I am, I am going to try that next. Just received he Topping tp20 MK II. It look better on display but just like the Audio Engine A1, they are kind of soft and a bit mellow. My bronze ears still prefer the over all sprectum of the Lepai 2020+. That does not means the AE A1 and the Topping TO 20 mk II are bad, They are nice but from the point of diminishing return, Lepai 2020+ is still a best value.
 
 
Question, I got me a brand new brick 120 V, 25V, 4.3 A...yeah you guys can laugh and I admit my stupidity. Anyway, I replaced the el cheapo PS of the Lapai2020+ with this heavy brick. LO and behold, as soon as I hit the power switch, the Lepair 202+ POP and dead. It is only $20.00 a pop and I still have 3 more in the closet but I feel like a electronic abuser. Sorry to the Lepai 2020+ for my mistreatment. Replace the dead Lepai with another back up Lepai and  back to the factory PS . SNAFU!. 
 
I also like the Grace digital amp with bluetooth for its wide sound stage and better instruments separation but it limited itself to a 3.5 mm input aux...
 
Have a happy holidays, guys.

 

[framos917]

Great idea, I read the article and wondered how it would sound. Thanks for posting.

 

[ACDOAN]

I know ACDOAN will want to hear about this

My office at home tends to warm up a little too much in the summer, especially if I run my HK 3390 receiver. Since I gave away my Lepai 2020+ to someone in need last fall, I decided to get the Indeed TA2021 off Ebay directly from Indeed. Here it is next to my G400 mouse for size perspective




75$ shipped. Much better build quality than the Lepai and looks nicer, too. A brick of a power supply. And if you look at the pictures on their Ebay page, better internal components.

I wish I still had the Lepai 2020+ to compare. So far this Indeed sounds great and produces plenty of volume for nearfield listening with my Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 SEs, clean sound up to volumes louder than I should listen to. Slightly colder than the HK, and I think the HK has a little better bass resolution. But overall, a great little amp

 
Ordered the INDEED CLASS T AMP TRIPATH TA2021S 25WX2 STEREO+ 12V5A from E-Bay. Be here on the 23rd. I still want to see which amps can beat my $20.00 Lepai 2020+.  So far , there is none that I have tried. I run two Lepai 2020+ in 1 1/2 stereo mode + Old Pioneer BDP51 FD+ Old Mirage Omin 150. Sweet, and detail for near field listening
 
The Topping T20 and D 20 went back. Not for my ears...The Fiio A1 looks nice with the binding posts but I prefer the fuller sound of ugly Lepai 2020+. I ordered a bunch of the Lepai 2020+ as X' mas gifts for friends.

 

[cel4145]

Good. I had already given away my Lepai to a friend in need before I got the Indeed. It will be interesting to hear your direct comparison.

 

[StratocasterMan]

I'm looking forward to the comparison too. One of these days I'm going to buy some better speakers. I'm thinking of maybe the Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 speakers. At a nominal impedance of 6 ohms and recommended power of 20-100W, I'm thinking my Lepai may not cut it, even for desktop use. I might be able to squeak by with the Indeed, though.
 
If not, I'm probably going to have to get something like the Emotiva Mini-X A-100. I'd like to avoid that though just because it's too big for my desk. 

 

[ACDOAN]

The Indeed 2021S with new PS came in today. I was very skeptical due to some posters complaint abt the "weak" binding posts that do not hold the speaker cables tight enough so the speaker cables got loose all the time.
 
1. Wrong. My unused Monster single banana plugs hold as tight as they can be hold and they went all the way in ( the plastic binding posts looks like kind of short but the took all the lenght of the Monster banana plugs with the 12" gauge speaker cables.
2. I do not have the Radio Shack meter to measure the output decibel but at a bit lower 9 o'clock position, the amp fills my 14X16 nicely. I do not listen loud with the near field gear. They are what they are. If I need to listen loud, I use my living room system which has not been used for a while,
3. The speakers I use are the old, classic Polk Audio ( yeah, Polk, I am not ashamed of the name brand) RT i 14 that I paid less than $200.00 a pair some ten or fifteen years ago. I have four pair of them and would not trade them for the new Polk speakers. ANW, the Polk RTi 14 is 88db little bookshelf speakers.@8ohm.
4. The player is the Onkyo DV-SP522 that I keep not for movie but it can play SACD and I bought on closed out. It has not been used for several years.
5. The build quality looks nice but much lighter than the Fiio A! and the Topping T20 that I have to put a foam stopper underneath the cables so the weight of the RCA cables and the 12 gauge speakers won't pull the Indeed to the back . Nice all black with a little shiny silver ring around the volume knob which i do not like. Cheap looking!.
 
6. The sound : no burn-in. Right out of the box, it is my kind of sound the gives me eargasm, huge vocal, meaty instruments, bass is enough for me. I do not like too much bass. I hate big one note bass. The mid-bass is tight and fast. .
 
God darned it, the guitar licks of Gary Moore is freaking fat and smooth  with no edgy or skinny, tizzy harshness.
 
I am very please with the money I spend. Sorry folks. the Indeed is all around better than the topping amp ( grainy and harsh). God job, Indeed. I need one more for reserve.
 
PS: YMMV. please do not stick a $50.00 speaker pair with virtually no cross-over of PE and expect good sound. Even with the $20.00 Lepai 2020+ , set it up right with a nice quality speakers, you  will rip the devidend. My rule of thumb is never go cheap on speakers or go buy a boom box.
 
cel4145, I owe you one. God darned it. I wish you were here to listen to the full vocal and the tight kick ass, attack mid bass. Love it. Lepai 2020+ may be put back in the closet but for $20.00 the Lepai 2020+ still a darned good amp with aright , quality speakers
 
Merry X'mas.
 
Andrew.

 

[StratocasterMan]

Thanks, ACDOAN!
 
I am considering these Wharfedale speakers for my 2.1 desktop rig:
 
http://www.stereophile.com/content/wharfedale-diamond-101-loudspeaker
 
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-20064619-47.html
 
Now that you have confirmed the sound of the Indeed amp, I am thinking about buying the speakers and the Indeed amp together. I am hoping that the Indeed may be able to drive the Wharfedales in a 2.1 desktop situation where huge power is not required and I already have a powered sub...

 

[ACDOAN]

I have been looking at the same Whaferdale-Diamond series  to but I have 26 speakers in one 14X 16 room. I run out of real-estate. The Whaferdale is 6 ohm, no bid deal there. The 86db will need more juice than my 88 db Mirage or the classic Polk Audio but it will drive it fine just a matter how LOUD you listen to the music. I normally sit about 2 feet the most from my speakers while I working or the desktop. As I said with less than 9 o'clock position, the Indeed gives me plenty of mid-bass punch and LF.
 
My 2 Lepai 2020+ drives the Mirage Omni 150 beautifully at around 9 o'clock. I am listening to The Fourplay- Galaxie right now and I cannot be any happier with either the Lepai and the Indeed. It depends on your music preference too. I listen mostly to small piece of Jazz or Blues. YMMV.
 
My main speakers which is an old Martin Logan SL3. they are 4 ohm with 89 db but it can drop below 1.7 ohm, therefore I have to use the back-breaker Krell amps. For near field listening, at mostly low volume, a 10 clean WPC is more than what I need but reserved power won't hurt for heavy demand tracks.
 
Go with the best speakers you want to spend, your ear will appreciate you more. Sound as cliche' as it can be but it is my way of building any system, start with the speakers and build your amp, source around it. Ten , fifteen years ago to get this kind of sound quality, you will have to cough up at least several grands. Best wish.
 
Merry Christmas.
 
Andrew Doan.

 

[jay628]

Hey guys,
I am very new on desktop audio setup, I been using multimedia speakers but I see all these great setups here and I really wanna try to build my own audio system for my computer. Can I get a basic idea of the setup? How do I set them up? Do I just connect the speakers to the amp and probably get a DAC for better SQ?
 
Thanks guys!

 

[cel4145]

Hey guys,
I am very new on desktop audio setup, I been using multimedia speakers but I see all these great setups here and I really wanna try to build my own audio system for my computer. Can I get a basic idea of the setup? How do I set them up? Do I just connect the speakers to the amp and probably get a DAC for better SQ?

Thanks guys!

You got the right idea. Get a t-amp, some passive speakers, and hook them right up. And sure. A DAC could help with SQ compared to the SQ of most computer motherboard audio.

What's your budget? And what kind of music do you like to listen to? Gaming? Movies?

 

[cel4145]

The Indeed 2021S with new PS came in today. I was very skeptical due to some posters complaint abt the "weak" binding posts that do not hold the speaker cables tight enough so the speaker cables got loose all the time.

1. Wrong. My unused Monster single banana plugs hold as tight as they can be hold and they went all the way in ( the plastic binding posts looks like kind of short but the took all the lenght of the Monster banana plugs with the 12" gauge speaker cables.
2. I do not have the Radio Shack meter to measure the output decibel but at a bit lower 9 o'clock position, the amp fills my 14X16 nicely. I do not listen loud with the near field gear. They are what they are. If I need to listen loud, I use my living room system which has not been used for a while,
3. The speakers I use are the old, classic Polk Audio ( yeah, Polk, I am not ashamed of the name brand) RT i 14 that I paid less than $200.00 a pair some ten or fifteen years ago. I have four pair of them and would not trade them for the new Polk speakers. ANW, the Polk RTi 14 is 88db little bookshelf speakers.@8ohm.
4. The player is the Onkyo DV-SP522 that I keep not for movie but it can play SACD and I bought on closed out. It has not been used for several years.
5. The build quality looks nice but much lighter than the Fiio A! and the Topping T20 that I have to put a foam stopper underneath the cables so the weight of the RCA cables and the 12 gauge speakers won't pull the Indeed to the back . Nice all black with a little shiny silver ring around the volume knob which i do not like. Cheap looking!.

6. The sound : no burn-in. Right out of the box, it is my kind of sound the gives me eargasm, huge vocal, meaty instruments, bass is enough for me. I do not like too much bass. I hate big one note bass. The mid-bass is tight and fast. .

God darned it, the guitar licks of Gary Moore is freaking fat and smooth  with no edgy or skinny, tizzy harshness.

I am very please with the money I spend. Sorry folks. the Indeed is all around better than the topping amp ( grainy and harsh). God job, Indeed. I need one more for reserve.

PS: YMMV. please do not stick a $50.00 speaker pair with virtually no cross-over of PE and expect good sound. Even with the $20.00 Lepai 2020+ , set it up right with a nice quality speakers, you  will rip the devidend. My rule of thumb is never go cheap on speakers or go buy a boom box.

cel4145, I owe you one. God darned it. I wish you were here to listen to the full vocal and the tight kick ass, attack mid bass. Love it. Lepai 2020+ may be put back in the closet but for $20.00 the Lepai 2020+ still a darned good amp with aright , quality speakers

Merry X'mas.

Andrew.

I missed this post over Xmas. So glad to hear you are loving the Indeed.

I agree. I still think the Lepai is a great value for the money, but I do think the Indeed is worth the extra money if someone is going to pair it with good speakers and their budget can afford it.

 

[jay628]

You got the right idea. Get a t-amp, some passive speakers, and hook them right up. And sure. A DAC could help with SQ compared to the SQ of most computer motherboard audio.

What's your budget? And what kind of music do you like to listen to? Gaming? Movies?

Hey cel4145,
Thanks for explaining. I think I can spend around $300-500, I prefer spending around the $300 range but I can spend around $500 if there is a big difference in SQ. I have no idea what can I get in this price range. I mostly listen to Indie Rock music and some dubstep. Some gaming (mostly just League of Legends), and some movies too but I guess music is my main priority. How about getting a sound card? Do I still need a DAC for better SQ?
 
Thanks for answering!

 

[cel4145]

Hey cel4145,
Thanks for explaining. I think I can spend around $300-500, I prefer spending around the $300 range but I can spend around $500 if there is a big difference in SQ. I have no idea what can I get in this price range. I mostly listen to Indie Rock music and some dubstep. Some gaming (mostly just League of Legends), and some movies too but I guess music is my main priority. How about getting a sound card? Do I still need a DAC for better SQ?

Thanks for answering!

The Asus Xonar DX and D1 are very good sound cards that have excellent line out SQ and are reasonably priced, and they will be as good or better than any DAC in their price range. However, they do not have a headphone amp if headphone output is important. On the other hand, they have a Dolby virtual surround sound feature that you might like for games and movies.

Since you like dubstep and then some gaming and movies, have you thought about a subwoofer to go with the setup? A sub will provide deeper low bass response that a set of speakers will not. Something like the Dayton 1000 would still leave you plenty of money to stay in the $300 to $500 range.

If deep bass is not as important and you want to skip the sub for now, then get speakers that have pretty good midbass response. For instance, the Cambridge Audio S30s have good midbass response and are rated to 55hz. Or, if you are willing to spend more of your budget, step up in speaker class to the Arx A1b or the Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 SEs.

 

[jay628]

Hey,
Thanks for the suggestions. What should I do if I want a headphone output? Is there a way to set it up or just get another sound card with it? I am curious to know are the KEFs speakers any good now? Say the C1 or C3 bookshelves? My dad used to own a few floor standing Kefs and loved them.