Hi Everyone
I joined the forum in recent past but making a proper introduction-question thread here now. A bit about my audio history, as I feel it's necessary to understand where I'm coming from to get a better idea where I want to go and guide me there or better yet, join me.
It starts off in 2003 when I got my Playstation 2. While a normal 21inch CRT TV did the job for visual experience, TV speakers didn't cut the audio for it. More so when this was the time when I fell in love with music due to Soundtrack of Hitman 2(Jesper Kyd) and GTA Vice City(80s) and it went on to define my taste in music. Coming back to audio hardware, I routed the L-R RCAs to an Altec Lansing 2.1 system.
Fast forward to 2005, it's my first year of engineering and with nascent exposure to Electronics and Workshop classes, I'm a dangerous idiot. With the spirit of DIY possessing my like a woman at "Mata ka Jagrata", I contract a local carpenter to build me 2 enclosures. Each has a 10inch woofer and a horn tweeter, both sourced from local radio/audio shop. The "boxes" are powered by a local amplifier, sourced from anything that would have 3.5mm or RCA output.
In 2007, I finally assemble my first desktop ever, audio duties of which are handled by Creative T6060 5.1 system. So far so good.
2009, I graduate and move out and now the audio function becomes primarily portable so now it's basically IEMs.
Till 2017, I was OK with generic 2.1 computer speaker systems but after my last unit and phone both conked out, I finally decided to upgrade. As for phone I went for LG V20 as it was the only offering in market with an on-board DAC. Being fed up with single-point-of-failure nature of 2.1 systems and such, I decided to go for a component build and that too DIY one. Thinking that if it works for car, it ought to work for room, I bought car audio gear and jerry-rigged them for home use through Chinese amplifiers off Alibaba. After couple of build iterations and, considerable money spent I realized I actually did what I was trying to avoid, spend huge amount and still not be satisfied with SQ.
So here I am today, running a DIY 2.1 setup which includes 2 6.5inch JBL Coaxials(45W@4ohms each) and a subwoofer enclosure containing 2 8inch Polk Audio subwoofers(180@4ohm each). It is being powered by a Chinese Amplifier TPA 3255 unit, powered by a Meanwell 600W PSU.
As my usage is still music listening with occasional movie watching, guide me here.
I joined the forum in recent past but making a proper introduction-question thread here now. A bit about my audio history, as I feel it's necessary to understand where I'm coming from to get a better idea where I want to go and guide me there or better yet, join me.
It starts off in 2003 when I got my Playstation 2. While a normal 21inch CRT TV did the job for visual experience, TV speakers didn't cut the audio for it. More so when this was the time when I fell in love with music due to Soundtrack of Hitman 2(Jesper Kyd) and GTA Vice City(80s) and it went on to define my taste in music. Coming back to audio hardware, I routed the L-R RCAs to an Altec Lansing 2.1 system.
Fast forward to 2005, it's my first year of engineering and with nascent exposure to Electronics and Workshop classes, I'm a dangerous idiot. With the spirit of DIY possessing my like a woman at "Mata ka Jagrata", I contract a local carpenter to build me 2 enclosures. Each has a 10inch woofer and a horn tweeter, both sourced from local radio/audio shop. The "boxes" are powered by a local amplifier, sourced from anything that would have 3.5mm or RCA output.
In 2007, I finally assemble my first desktop ever, audio duties of which are handled by Creative T6060 5.1 system. So far so good.
2009, I graduate and move out and now the audio function becomes primarily portable so now it's basically IEMs.
Till 2017, I was OK with generic 2.1 computer speaker systems but after my last unit and phone both conked out, I finally decided to upgrade. As for phone I went for LG V20 as it was the only offering in market with an on-board DAC. Being fed up with single-point-of-failure nature of 2.1 systems and such, I decided to go for a component build and that too DIY one. Thinking that if it works for car, it ought to work for room, I bought car audio gear and jerry-rigged them for home use through Chinese amplifiers off Alibaba. After couple of build iterations and, considerable money spent I realized I actually did what I was trying to avoid, spend huge amount and still not be satisfied with SQ.
So here I am today, running a DIY 2.1 setup which includes 2 6.5inch JBL Coaxials(45W@4ohms each) and a subwoofer enclosure containing 2 8inch Polk Audio subwoofers(180@4ohm each). It is being powered by a Chinese Amplifier TPA 3255 unit, powered by a Meanwell 600W PSU.
As my usage is still music listening with occasional movie watching, guide me here.
- Should I go for incremental upgrade to my current setup or just chuck it all together?
- In either case, what is the most important part for a setup, the Speakers or the Amplifier/Receiver?
- What would be good budget offerings for both for someone who is starting out in HiFi?
- In case of an amplifier upgrade, should I go for an Integrated amplifier or PreAmp+PowerAmp combo?
- I also have a passive subwoofer enclosure having 2 12inch JBL drivers, which I was thinking of putting to use through Crown XLS2502 power amplifier and rely on it's in-built DSP for signal filtration duties. Should I go for it or reserve it for future car use?
- I often listen to rebassed/lowered music which usually goes down to 20-25Hz range and usually 30-40Hz. Will a home subwoofer be able to handle such tasks? If yes then which one?
