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my quest for computer desktop speakers

I have a Peachtree Nova in my office. I used to use it with B & W 601S2s that were from my first mid-fi system (plus Rega Planet 2000, Adcom 545MKII, and a Parasound Preamp, later replaced by a Rega Brio) but those are just silly looking sitting on their stands on either side of my desk.

I bought a pair of Audioengine A5+ powered speakers for my desktop. Are they as good? No. But they are close.

All that would be fine except that I was hoping to use a uDAC-HD from W4S for my headphone amp and DAC. I'll be on headphones most of the time so that matters. I use Audio-Technica ATH-W1000X Grandiosos (a big step up from my Sennheiser 600s).

I like my W4S DAC-2 in my upstairs system a lot and I thought this would be a great move up from the Nova since the DAC-2 is slightly better than my Cary Xciter which was a significant move up from the Nova.

But to my surprise the uDAC-HD just doesn't cut it. Not enough bass, not enough soundstage. Time to send it back and move on.

My hunch is that the best way to go is to keep the Peachtree box. It's big, but it's free. I can get about $700 for it I suspect (I also have a Decco and more efficient speakers might be ok with that unit). Now I could just hook the pre out to the Audio Engines, but that seems like a waste.

So, given an amp that is anemic with speakers like the 601s, what would you recommend that would be roughly the size of the A5s? 10.75" high x 7" wide?
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doug99
288 posts
 
The Audio Engine A5 are very good computer speakers.
Personally i liked the bass on on the A5's.
If you dont like the bass, then you should get computer speakers with a sub.
Other computer speakers i like are the Creative Labs GigaWorks T40 and the Bose Companion 20 speakers.
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dangelod
40 posts
 
Adam audio Artist 3 (powered) with schit bifrost DAC and sell the peach tree. I am using this set-up at work (mostly playing hi res files via j river). Very, very good sound. In a very different league than Audio Engine.

Get 700 for peach tree and you can be in this set-up for $400 more ......

http://www.adam-audio.com/en/multimedia/products/artist-3/description

http://schiit.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=0&products_id=7
levy03
442 posts
 
i'll second the The Audio Engine A5's. have had them for a while now with no complaints (for computer speakers that is)
gsm18439
895 posts
 
Ancient Audio has developed a computer speaker that is called "Oslo" and available from StereoDesk. While I have not heard this product, I have heard other Ancient Audio speakers and own their electronics.
onemug
784 posts
 
I'll "third" the A5's.

Originally bought them to use with the desktop but they found their place as speakers for our Samsung 60" plasma.

Intermediatic,
I hooked up a pair of NHT Super Ones that have been sitting for awhile. I forgot how good they sounded. They are an easy load for an amp and have good bass (for its size of course). They are not the most sensitive but if you don't need to crank it, they may work fine for you.
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