Desktop Speaker Amp with 1/8 or 1/4 Output?

[Purphoros]

Hey everyone,

I'm going to be heading off to college in August and I want to start thinking about how I am going to setup my computer there.  Currently I have an old speaker amp that weighs like 40lbs and I don't want to bring it to college to power my passive speakers.  I'm wondering if there is a reasonably cheap amp that could power my speakers, and while I'm at it my headphones, so that I don't have to bring an anchor with me.

 

Desired specs:

• speaker wire or banana plugs as output
• has a 1/8" or 1/4" audio jack
• <$100 (I'm flexible on price, I don't want to spend too much over this though)
• small (can comfortably fit on a small desk with other computer components)

I haven't bought an amp before, so any guidance is appreciated.

 

If it matters here is what I will be powering with it:

• Klipsch R15M passive bookshelf speaker pair (85w continuous)
• HE-400i headphones

[Derkoli]

18 minutes ago, Purphoros said:

Hey everyone,

I'm going to be heading off to college in August and I want to start thinking about how I am going to setup my computer there.  Currently I have an old speaker amp that weighs like 40lbs and I don't want to bring it to college to power my passive speakers.  I'm wondering if there is a reasonably cheap amp that could power my speakers, and while I'm at it my headphones, so that I don't have to bring an anchor with me.

 

Desired specs:

• speaker wire or banana plugs as output
• has a 1/8" or 1/4" audio jack
• <$100 (I'm flexible on price, I don't want to spend too much over this though)

I haven't bought an amp before, so any guidance is appreciated.

 

If it matters here is what I will be powering with it:

• Klipsch R15M passive bookshelf speaker pair
• HE-400i headphones

I would take a look at this stereo receiver, plenty of inputs and a headphone out aswell. 100W per channel which is plenty enough for klipsch speakers (reasonably efficient) but the amp doesnt sound too bright, a bright amp aint good for horn loaded speakers lol. https://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-Audio-R-S202BL-Stereo-Receiver/dp/B01EMQI2CU/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=stereo+receiver&amp;qid=1559947349&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-4

[Purphoros]

6 minutes ago, Derkoli said:

I would take a look at this stereo receiver, plenty of inputs and a headphone out aswell. 100W per channel which is plenty enough for klipsch speakers (reasonably efficient) but the amp doesnt sound too bright, a bright amp aint good for horn loaded speakers lol. https://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-Audio-R-S202BL-Stereo-Receiver/dp/B01EMQI2CU/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=stereo+receiver&amp;qid=1559947349&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-4

It's got a great feature set, but it seems a bit big.  I'm not sure how big my desk is, but if it's about the size of mine right now then I won't have much space after I put the rest of my computer stuff on it.

[Derkoli]

12 hours ago, Purphoros said:

It's got a great feature set, but it seems a bit big.  I'm not sure how big my desk is, but if it's about the size of mine right now then I won't have much space after I put the rest of my computer stuff on it.

If you want something small i would take a look at the smsl ad18, it also has a built in dac and sub pre out. https://www.amazon.com/SMSL-AD18-Amplifier-Bluetooth-Subwoofer/dp/B071JN7GXN/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=ad18&amp;qid=1559994116&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-1

[Pyramiden]

I got a Topping PA3 to power my Bose Acoustimass system. It is a nice little amp. How much watt per channel would you need?

[Purphoros]

11 hours ago, Derkoli said:

If you want something small i would take a look at the smsl ad18, it also has a built in dac and sub pre out. https://www.amazon.com/SMSL-AD18-Amplifier-Bluetooth-Subwoofer/dp/B071JN7GXN/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=ad18&amp;qid=1559994116&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-1

That seems more in line with what I was looking for.

 

I assume it has an inbuilt DAC because of the optical input, is that right?

[Purphoros]

2 hours ago, Pyramiden said:

I got a Topping PA3 to power my Bose Acoustimass system. It is a nice little amp. How much watt per channel would you need?

The Topping PA3 doesn't have a headphone out, which is unfortunate.

 

The spec sheet for my speakers says 85w continuous.

[Derkoli]

23 minutes ago, Purphoros said:

That seems more in line with what I was looking for.

 

I assume it has an inbuilt DAC because of the optical input, is that right?

Yep a pretty decent dac aswell. But when you use it check you set the output to speakers not headphones so they actually work lol.