Hi, I'm planning to build two 3-way active speakers that will be mounted on the family room wall for listening while standing, mostly when in the kitchen. I've built 5 speakers from kits but can't find a kit that will work for this difficult setup--I also want to try building active. Since my source will be Spotify I've settled on the nanoDigi so I need 6chs of dac and amp.
My question is: how I should divide my budget between the dacs and amps to get the best sound? I'm thinking I should get the best dac for the tweeters, something in the middle for the midrange, and save money on the woofer's dac? I figure the higher frequency sounds are harder for DACs to do well.
For the amps it might be similar but with say 500 lower quality watts for each woofer, say 100-200 for mids and 50-100 for tweeters?
Any suggestions on brands is most welcome. I plan to spend around $1200 on the drivers so I figure $1500 for the other components to get the best bang for my buck? Given a relatively low quality source I don't want to go crazy on the component cost/quality.
Any guidance / thoughts would be much appreciated.
My question is: how I should divide my budget between the dacs and amps to get the best sound? I'm thinking I should get the best dac for the tweeters, something in the middle for the midrange, and save money on the woofer's dac? I figure the higher frequency sounds are harder for DACs to do well.
For the amps it might be similar but with say 500 lower quality watts for each woofer, say 100-200 for mids and 50-100 for tweeters?
Any suggestions on brands is most welcome. I plan to spend around $1200 on the drivers so I figure $1500 for the other components to get the best bang for my buck? Given a relatively low quality source I don't want to go crazy on the component cost/quality.
Any guidance / thoughts would be much appreciated.
The Hypex fusion would kind of rule out using the nanoDigi because it has inbuilt DSP and DACs.
The other option would be to stick with Hypex for the amplification and go with the Khadas Tone Board for the DACs.
The Tone Board can be had for £80 in the UK. I have a 3-way setup using the MiniDSP DDRC-88D (expensive and a bit temperamental with ASRC on inputs 1&2, but Dirac does make a difference now I have it fully working) feeding 3 Khadas Tone Boards via SPDIF. I use a quiet 5V regulated supply direct to each board, but you can just power with via USB.
This then feeds a Hypex NC122MP + Hypex NC100HF per channel. These I pulled from some Hypex plate amps that were on special offer. However I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, voids the warranty and all the ribbon cables are well glued which makes taking apart difficult!
There are suppliers who do 1 NC122MP in a stereo box for EUR369 each. 3 of these would handle your 3-way.
The Khadas Tone Board is really good, I am really enjoying the system. There is a good review over at Audiosciencereview showing its very respectable noise figures against more expensive competition.
I boxed my Tone Boards along with an ADC (for vinyl) and some other bits + power in a HiFi2000 box, but you can get plastic cases for the Tone Boards, which is fine if you are powering them via USB.
Might be more expensive than 2 Hypex Plate Amps, but would work with your nanoDigi and could be done without much work.
The other option would be to stick with Hypex for the amplification and go with the Khadas Tone Board for the DACs.
The Tone Board can be had for £80 in the UK. I have a 3-way setup using the MiniDSP DDRC-88D (expensive and a bit temperamental with ASRC on inputs 1&2, but Dirac does make a difference now I have it fully working) feeding 3 Khadas Tone Boards via SPDIF. I use a quiet 5V regulated supply direct to each board, but you can just power with via USB.
This then feeds a Hypex NC122MP + Hypex NC100HF per channel. These I pulled from some Hypex plate amps that were on special offer. However I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, voids the warranty and all the ribbon cables are well glued which makes taking apart difficult!
There are suppliers who do 1 NC122MP in a stereo box for EUR369 each. 3 of these would handle your 3-way.
The Khadas Tone Board is really good, I am really enjoying the system. There is a good review over at Audiosciencereview showing its very respectable noise figures against more expensive competition.
I boxed my Tone Boards along with an ADC (for vinyl) and some other bits + power in a HiFi2000 box, but you can get plastic cases for the Tone Boards, which is fine if you are powering them via USB.
Might be more expensive than 2 Hypex Plate Amps, but would work with your nanoDigi and could be done without much work.
I have used a Khadas Tone Boards with my nanodigi powering the nanodigi and for dacs from a 6 way anker usb charger.
Details here DSP Crossover project
Edit - @ianc13 beat me to it!
I am then going to use a Rotel RMB 1066. This is only 60w per channel but for me will be plenty. The other alternative is three XTZ Edge A2-300 amps which with the Khadas would be just on budget.
XTZ EDGE A2-300 power amp - XTZ Sound in Balance
If you don’t mind caching in you minidsp then Hypex Fusion would be the way to go.
Hypex Electronics B.V.
Details here DSP Crossover project
Edit - @ianc13 beat me to it!
I am then going to use a Rotel RMB 1066. This is only 60w per channel but for me will be plenty. The other alternative is three XTZ Edge A2-300 amps which with the Khadas would be just on budget.
XTZ EDGE A2-300 power amp - XTZ Sound in Balance
If you don’t mind caching in you minidsp then Hypex Fusion would be the way to go.
Hypex Electronics B.V.
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3 x Khadas TB
3 x IcePower 250A
45V 600W ICEPOWER250A Power Supply Board+ 2PCS ICE250A Amplifier Module + Cables | eBay
3 x IcePower 250A
45V 600W ICEPOWER250A Power Supply Board+ 2PCS ICE250A Amplifier Module + Cables | eBay
Thanks so much, don't know how I had not come across the Hypex 3-way boards in my travels around the internet. Will also take a look at the Khadas and IcePower. Thanks again!