[McQwerty333]

So next year Ill probably buy a Stax 3100 system. I know it comes with an energizer, so what else do I need to play it? Do i need a seperate, DAC, AMP, or both? Currently i dont have any dac or amps and i just use isine 10 with my lg v20. I would be looking to spend less than $200 for whatever is necessary, and itd also be nice if whatever i bought was good enough to power something like alpha dogs if i decide to get them way later.

 

[Zadok]

The energizer is the amp. All the modern stax energizers are amps, so you don't need a speaker amp like the way older SRD models. They, however, won't power your alpha dogs. A used modi multibit would help you a lot at around 200 for the DAC though

 

[cossix]

+1 for Modi Multibit, and as stated, the energizer is the amp

 

[Music Alchemist]

Since you seemed to be asking about what is necessary to get started, you technically don't "need" anything else besides cables. It's possible to connect a computer directly to the STAX amp via a 3.5 mm to dual RCA cable, though this is a barebones example. Since some computers would have noticeably inferior sound to an entry-level DAC with this method, it's a good idea to get some sort of DAC.

Here are DACs I recommend at various levels within your budget:

$30: Behringer UCA202
$99: JDS Labs OL DAC
~$200: used Schiit Modi Multibit (Yep, I'm a fan too!)

You should be quite happy with the SR-L300. It's my favorite out of the four STAX systems I had.