I rarely solicit purchase advice, so though I am new on this board - it is not my nature to do this much, and I’ll try to engage more beyond this. Just happens to be timely and this community seems like they can help and will give the hard truths.
Seeking some sage wisdom and create a little discussion about my SEEKING TO UPDATE BUDGET LOWLIFE 2CH setup.
My front room is a space that will always be dedicated to 2ch setup. I am pretty budget and simplicity minded, this situation and rec will definitely be “slumming it”, but use your imagination. A space that is about 15x13. I’ve fallen into the concept of using ultra-simple separates. How simple right now? I have a Schiit Sys for a preamp that accepts a U-Turn Orbit turntable and a Schiit Modius DAC (recently replacing a Modi 3 that was in place previously). Into the Schiit I run an android phone through a Douk U2 Pro (coax), and a CD player (optical). That feeds out to a Sonace 260x3. I previously had three pairs of speakers I would switch between for fast comparison testing, very handy for that! I added a pair of JBL SUB 550P awhile back. I currently am using some Boston Acoustics VR30. I have some other older speakers that need some love, PhaseTech PC800HO, Celestion SL600 - those are on the better end of my giant trove of speakers I have for no good reason. There is also a Darkvoice 336SE in this setup which runs mostly HD600 and DT880-600
As mentioned, I’ve fallen into enjoying the concept of separates. I obviously like Schiit products. (Upstairs I use a Bifrost 2 and an Asgard 3 at a desk setup with a pair of Acoustic Research Holographic Imaging M2 run by an Integra ADM 2.1 and a Crown XLS1000 spitting into a sealed Elemental Designs 13Ov.2 in about 2sq ft sealed enclosure.) Had settled into updating the Schiit Sys (lol) for a Schiit Freya S. People seem to be happy with this unit and feel it represents an upgrade over their Saga models. A remote for volume has appeal for me, that’s the only thing that the simplicity of the current system lacks for me in functionality. It also provides a true balanced topology. Since I now have a balanced DAC in there, I thought “what the hell” even though the cable runs and complexity of the system is fairly low and its aspirations are not very high.
The ol power amp could definitely be more “hifi” than the ol’ Sonace (a champ, btw). If I were to be forced into a new speaker purchase today, Maggies intrigue me a lot - and Schiit’s Vidar seems to be an amp for the price that is known to run them well. Probably would run SL600 well too, I’d think. Unfortunately the Vidar only runs on XLR in monoblock, and I don’t think I need or want to pay for two Vidars. Aegir seems to have some less flexibility due to power and synergy limitations though it seems like a nice amp, again two of them is not something I’m dying to pay for. These amps are also a little less user friendly - not sure if leaving a Vidar on all the time is smart, rear power is cumbersome but I’ll live with it. I admire the Schiit amp simplicity, but they are - simple. SO THEN, what budget power amp solution might rival the Vidar AND run balanced? For $699 a pair of Outlaw Audio 2220 seems like it answers a lot of my questions. I know an argument can be made for an integrated amp in place of this.
Happy with the subs and the speakers will be an ongoing thing, going to do small room improvements. Going to update the Ortofon cart in the turntable to a 2M Blue or red ideally. Trying to maximize this low/mid-end system for the $ the best I can.
There’s an fm tuner room with warm old KEFs, there’s a 3.1 system in a bedroom, another desk nearfield 2.1 setup with a tube pre. There’s a headphone amp in the bathroom, a dac and a tube headphone amp on the porch. It’s a quirky place over here! There’s my incredibly long and fully disclosive introduction to you. What would you do if you were me?
