[sohcahtoa]

I am not sure if this is the right category for this thread, but I thought this would be a place to start.

Reading the title, some of you may be thinking, why doesn't this guy get a Home Theater Receiver? Well, the reason is space. I have a very small "living room" in my apartment, and I am trying to keep things minimal and compact.

Currently, I have a 24" S2409W Dell widescreen LCD monitor connected to my PS3 via HDMI (in a cramped corner of my living room). The Audio is then piped from the Monitor via a mini-to-mini cable to a Fiio E5 amp and then to the AUX-In of Logitech mm50 (ipod speakers). The Fiio E5 amp provides a nice little boost and increases the soundstage/clarity, the problem is, it would be nice if it could get louder. My living room is something like 12x10, but the seating area around the "telly" is within 5-7 feet of the screen. I use the PS3 for watching digital content on it and Blu-Ray or regular DVD discs, and of course, gaming.

After reading numerous threads, I am considering the Travagans Red amp (for its Speakers connections) or the iBasso D10 (for its Optical Out). I consider them good upgrades, because of their compactness, and also they are great headphone amps (for my ipod and for gaming on PS3).

Does anybody have any experience in this kind of setup, or any general opinions. Would the Travagans Red be able to power, say, Paradigm Atom speakers? Writing this now, I realize the Travagans Red is $200 and the iBasso is $300, and an Onkyo TX-SR507 Receiver is $320 on Amazon. Why not make space for a big-old receiver then? For the iBasso I was considering pairing it with a Klipsch SXT (ipod speaker), for like $70 on Ebay.

Anybody been down this road before? I will be moving to a bigger living situation, within the next 6 months.

 

[gochuckster]

I'm doing something similar. I'm running my PS3 to my Samsung Plasma via HDMI and then using the toslink out on the Samsung to my Gamma 2 DAC and then to my NAD pre & power amps. The D10 is probably one of the best portable DACs you can get and you unless you want surround you could get a higher quality stereo integrated amp for about the same price as the onkyo.

 

[FraGGleR]

I am in a similar situation to you, as I am in a single bedroom in a house. I was looking for a super compact solution to have some good speakers, good headphones, and lots of hookups for my desk/entertainment hub but for around $300 without even looking at speakers, there wasn't much that appealed. The Nuforce Icon came closest for me, but it's headphone amp didn't match up to its speaker amp (although it was never considered bad by anyone here, merely average), so I held off as I listen to my headphones way more than speakers now. I considered a HT receiver like an Onkyo or Denon, but their headphone amps wouldn't match up (if they even had them), not to mention they are huge. In the end, I decided to wait (which is my advice to you if you are moving to a bigger space in 6 months). For now, my Logitech 2.1 system provides all the sound I need for when I don't use my headphones. When I have more space and money, I will put the proper amount of time and money into a good speaker setup. BTW, you don't indicate what type of headphone listening you do (if you do). If you use efficient headphones, and don't plan to upgrade right away, you probably don't need anything beyond an E5. I can't argue with a D10 as a DAC/amp combo as it is what I would buy if I could afford it for my portable rig. It could serve as a DAC for powered speakers, but it isn't going to be able to drive real passive speakers. I don't know if it would be an improvement over the E5 for some small ipod speakers. Would be kind of a waste.

I have been compromising for many years now trying to find the sweet spot of convergence so I could have as few things doing as many things as possible, but I was never satisfied. I am much happier now using specialized equipment for the purpose it was made for since it gives me the best experience now, particularly when it comes to quality listening/watching.

For now, I would say, stick with your current setup for just a little longer and get some better active speakers if you really need bigger sound (no more ipod speakers). They won't need amplification and they will run directly out of your monitor's 3.5mm jack. There is always Logitech, but there are some quite nice sounding (allegedly) systems from Maudio, Swan, Acoustic Energy, etc. that will come in under $200 and give you some good sound coupled with great looks. When you get to your bigger space, then you can get a nice HT receiver and build a proper entertainment system for use with your PS3.

 

[sohcahtoa]

Thanks fraggler and gochuckster, for your 2cents! Nice to find people who have been down my road.

Yeah, I just discovered the Nuforce Icon last night, and it looks like a great solution for a good set of bookshelf passive speakers. My main focus is on Speaker-use, I guess you could say. I have dipped my toe in audiophile-head-fi-waters in the past, but just my pinky toe. Currently, I have entry-level headphones (Etymotic er6i, Beyerdynamic DT-235, and Koss PortaPro) which I plug directly into my Fiio E5/Ipod Classic. I can't say I have the most discerning ear, yet. I also have a newborn daughter of 3 months, so my headphone-interest may decidely appreciate in time

Another concern is being able to control volume via remote-control, as if my wife or I am holding baby, we can't just get up and adjust the volume knob. Last night, we were watching Get Smart on bluray, and the Logitech mm50 were not putting out enough volume. So I swapped those speakers out, with the Audioengine A2 speakers (from my computer setup, also powered speakers), and the clarity/soundstage were widened significantly, though the overall volume could have gotten abit louder.

Options like the NuForce Icon or a vintage NAD receiver like Nad 3140, don't have remote controls. Is there any way to add a remote control as an intermediary to an amp/receiver that doesn't have that control built-in?

Also, fraggler, what Logitech 2.1 system do you have?

Thanks for the input!