How to improve the sound of a laptop

robnet77

Hi,

I'd be interested in a Cambridge Audio Minx Go, to use as speaker for my laptop and mp3 player.

I am currently using a pair of cheap Wharfedale through 3.5mm jack, honest but nothing special.

Now, I'm a bit confused about how to really improve the sound of my modest built-in soundcard...
I read DAC devices (eg. Dragonfly or HRT microStreamer) can make a lot of difference, but which speakers would be needed to make the most of it?

My budget is limited, so what would you recommend?

1) Minx Go only
2) DAC + Minx Go or better speakers
4) any other solution??

Thanks in advance!

robnet77

to clarify, I would listen to music and watch movies on my laptop, wireless would be a good option too.

I can't play music too loud but quality/detail needs to be very good!

Not sure whether the Minx Go would be enough, I heard the Soundlink Mini by Bose is similar, and to get better sound I'd need to go for the Geneva Model S or similar products...
Thanks.

Richersounds.ie: Kenny

robnet77 wrote: »

to clarify, I would listen to music and watch movies on my laptop, wireless would be a good option too.

I can't play music too loud but quality/detail needs to be very good!

Not sure whether the Minx Go would be enough, I heard the Soundlink Mini by Bose is similar, and to get better sound I'd need to go for the Geneva Model S or similar products...
Thanks.

HI Robnet,

Thanks for getting in touch, and apologies about the delay in getting back to you.

The Minx Go is a great portable speaker.  Good battery life and sounds great for the size of it.  

For something with a lot more detail and sound quality I'd suggest the Monitor Audio WS100 wireless speakers.  These sounds great!!  Current price on these is £249.95.

Check the link below for more info:
http://www.monitoraudio.co.uk/products/airstream/ws100/

A DAC would also be a good idea.  This could be added on at a later date though.  Cambridge Audio have just released a new DAC and so far the reviews are excellent!  It's match box size so nice and portable.  Current price on this is £99.95.  Check the link below for more info:

http://www.richersounds.com/product/dacs/cambridge-audio/dacmagic-xs/camb-dacmagic-xs

Let me know what you think.

Chris

robnet77

hi,
sorry for taking some time to reply, I have been reading many reviews and although I like the WS100 (it also seems to have a built-in DAC), I'd rather go for a system with less cables (the demo didn't show any but it is quite misleading).

Based on the awards from What Hi Fi, how does the WS100 compare to the Denon Cocoon Stream DSD-501 and the Geneva Model S DAB+? Do you have them for sale?

Thanks,
Roberto

mathepac

Can you use something like this. I have it on a Mac with modest built-in speakers and it's a revelation. About US$7.

Richersounds.ie: Dave

Hi Robnet.

The WS100 sounds much better than the Denon but the Denon has features that the WS100 does not have and is a totally different product.

If you are purely looking these for MAC use, then I would stick with the WS100 over the DSD on the sound front. If you were looking a stand alone product as a speaker, then the DSD is well worth a look.

Hope this helps.

ATB


Dave

robnet77

Are only the products I see on the website available, or can you also find products I don't see listed?

e.g. Yamaha HS 8 or Mackie MR8 Mk3? I'm thinking a wireless solution would not sound that great after all and I might pick an amplifier + decent speakers instead...

Richersounds.ie: John

robnet77 wrote: »

Are only the products I see on the website available, or can you also find products I don't see listed?

e.g. Yamaha HS 8 or Mackie MR8 Mk3? I'm thinking a wireless solution would not sound that great after all and I might pick an amplifier + decent speakers instead...

Robnet,

many thanks for the post and apologies for the delay getting back to you, unfortunately we dont stock the Mackie or Yamaha actives - if you want the biggest improvement for the smallest outlay - a slightly left of centre option would be the amazing new Cambridge Audio Dacmagic XS - its a really amazing little device that plugs into your PC via USB and then you use it as a headphone amplifier or of course as a DAC link to your main hifi - have a look at the spec here:

http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/products/dacmagic-xs-usb-dac-headphone-amp

And the recent 5* What Hi-Fi review here:
http://www.whathifi.com/review/cambridge-audio-dacmagic-xs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjcIz6htimo

For not far off the same money as you are spending on the Mackies - you could get an XS with the matching Cambridge Audio AM5 amp (£199.95) and this would transform your audio quality - if you wanted to add a pair of compact speakers we coudl add the excellent Monitor Audio BX1 to the XS and the AM5 to give you a total price of £299.95 and showing a saving of £111!! This really is a proper system which will enhance the quality of your PC music and also give you the option of being able to connect any legacy sources you have as well ( and its small and goes loud!!)

Keep us posted if this is of any interest and thanks again for the opportunity to quote,

ATVB,

John Mc & Crew

robnet77

hi, thanks for the suggestion, it is a very nice price.
I saw the Marantz 6004 amp on offer for 169£ and was thinking I could upgrade to that, is it still available?

Thanks,
Roberto

Richersounds.ie: Kenny

robnet77 wrote: »

hi, thanks for the suggestion, it is a very nice price.
I saw the Marantz 6004 amp on offer for 169£ and was thinking I could upgrade to that, is it still available?

Thanks,
Roberto

Hi Roberto,

We have the Marantz priced at £199.95.  Still got stock here if you're interested.

Chris

Richersounds.ie: John

robnet77 wrote: »

hi, thanks for the suggestion, it is a very nice price.
I saw the Marantz 6004 amp on offer for 169£ and was thinking I could upgrade to that, is it still available?

Thanks,
Roberto

Robnet,

just to fill in what Chris was saying - some of the branches are clearing their last demo units or ex repair 6004's at £169 - we still have them brand new boxed at £199.95, which is a superb price - when we are clearing out the last one it will also be at £169 or lower..

Keep us posted,

ATVB,

John Mc & Crew

robnet77

Richersounds.ie: John wrote: »

robnet77 wrote: »

hi, thanks for the suggestion, it is a very nice price.
I saw the Marantz 6004 amp on offer for 169£ and was thinking I could upgrade to that, is it still available?

Thanks,
Roberto

Robnet,

just to fill in what Chris was saying - some of the branches are clearing their last demo units or ex repair 6004's at £169 - we still have them brand new boxed at £199.95, which is a superb price - when we are clearing out the last one it will also be at £169 or lower..

Keep us posted,

ATVB,

John Mc & Crew

hi,
thanks once again for your prompt and comprehensive reply.

Apologies, I should have phrased that better: I saw the Marantz 6004 on offer on your website (.com) for 169£ in the last few days (no mention to being ex demo or refurbished, I did not read all details though), yesterday it was gone completely and searching for "Marantz pm6004" would produce an error whereas the same search would previously find that offer.

Do you have alternate speakers for up to 200£ with larger bass drivers than the BX1? I have to say the price you quoted for the BX1 seems really good for the product, I'm just evaluating all possibilities.

Thanks,
Roberto

Richersounds.ie: John

robnet77 wrote: »

Richersounds.ie: John wrote: »

robnet77 wrote: »

hi, thanks for the suggestion, it is a very nice price.
I saw the Marantz 6004 amp on offer for 169£ and was thinking I could upgrade to that, is it still available?

Thanks,
Roberto

Robnet,

just to fill in what Chris was saying - some of the branches are clearing their last demo units or ex repair 6004's at £169 - we still have them brand new boxed at £199.95, which is a superb price - when we are clearing out the last one it will also be at £169 or lower..

Keep us posted,

ATVB,

John Mc & Crew

hi,
thanks once again for your prompt and comprehensive reply.

Apologies, I should have phrased that better: I saw the Marantz 6004 on offer on your website (.com) for 169£ in the last few days (no mention to being ex demo or refurbished, I did not read all details though), yesterday it was gone completely and searching for "Marantz pm6004" would produce an error whereas the same search would previously find that offer.

Do you have alternate speakers for up to 200£ with larger bass drivers than the BX1? I have to say the price you quoted for the BX1 seems really good for the product, I'm just evaluating all possibilities.

Thanks,
Roberto

No problem and there are still about 5 PM6004 units across the UK stores at £169 - but they are all open box / ex demo / ex service etc - ours are shiny new sealed units  

If you wanted a speaker / Amp combo I'd happily do the PM6004 with the Monitor Audio BX2 at £369.95 which is a huge saving or if you wanted something even bassier we could do the Cambridge s70 floorstanders with the PM6004 at £399.95? ( the BX2 would be my choice though!)

Thanks again and keep us posted,

ATVB,

John Mc & Crew

robnet77

hi again, thanks for the recommendations and the nice offers!

I'm interested in buying the Marantz PM6004 with the Monitor Audio BX2 speakers.

Will I need a DAC to hook the system to my laptop, or can I use a 3.5mm connector? I do realize a DAC gives you better sound anyway.

Also, I guess I will need some cables amp-to-speakers, maybe banana plugs?

Finally, is there a choice of colours for the two above products?

Thanks and Kind Regards,
Roberto

p.s. I will be in Dublin from November 30th to December 4th only, I'm currently abroad and will be again from Dec 5th to 12th.

Richersounds.ie: Dave

Hi Rob, no problem.

We have a very small quantity of the PM6004 amplifiers left in silver. This is the only colour we have left.

The speakers can be black, walnut or Rosenut. 

You would only need a DAC if the output from the laptop is digital only, otherwise I would use a good quality 3.5mm to phono cable. I haven't seen a laptop which didn't have a line output.

We have a QED profile 3.5mm which is £15.95 which would give you great sound quality.

On the speaker cable front, I would use the Cambridge Ultra Micro with that system. This is priced at £2.99 per metre and banana plugs would be £4.99 per pair and if you plug both ends then you need 4 pairs.

If you are definite on this, I can reserve it for you.

We don't normally hold items that long, but I'll make an exception seeing as you are not in the country !

ATB


Dave

robnet77

Richersounds.ie: Dave wrote: »

Hi Rob, no problem.

We have a very small quantity of the PM6004 amplifiers left in silver. This is the only colour we have left.

The speakers can be black, walnut or Rosenut. 

You would only need a DAC if the output from the laptop is digital only, otherwise I would use a good quality 3.5mm to phono cable. I haven't seen a laptop which didn't have a line output.

We have a QED profile 3.5mm which is £15.95 which would give you great sound quality.

On the speaker cable front, I would use the Cambridge Ultra Micro with that system. This is priced at £2.99 per metre and banana plugs would be £4.99 per pair and if you plug both ends then you need 4 pairs.

If you are definite on this, I can reserve it for you.

We don't normally hold items that long, but I'll make an exception seeing as you are not in the country !

ATB


Dave

Thanks, I'll follow your advice and get all the cables you mentioned!

Speaker cables... I wouldn't know how long I'd need them, maybe 3/5 metres if it's quite standard... I have no particular plans for the layout and my living room is not too big.

I don't wish to bi-wire these speakers.

The BX2 I'd like them in black please, if natural oak is not available.

I do realize I am allowing little time for the delivery, but I can pay in advance, actually I would feel better and avoid changing my mind again   please pm me when you get a chance with payment details, I will try to reply quickly.

I hope I don't need to pick a colour for the cables, in case it would be black though!

DAC then will come later, not sure how much it is worth investing with this configuration.


Thanks!
Roberto

robnet77

hi again,
unfortunately I need to extend my trip abroad till December 17th.

Could you please deliver before December 5th, as I'm in Ireland till the 4th?

I really don't want you to wait till the 18th, please let me know.

Roberto

Richersounds.ie: Kenny

robnet77 wrote: »

hi again,
unfortunately I need to extend my trip abroad till December 17th.

Could you please deliver before December 5th, as I'm in Ireland till the 4th?

I really don't want you to wait till the 18th, please let me know.

Roberto

Hi Robnet77.

If you PM me a contact number we can give you a bell to sort the order.

robnet77

Richersounds.ie: Kenny wrote: »

robnet77 wrote: »

hi again,
unfortunately I need to extend my trip abroad till December 17th.

Could you please deliver before December 5th, as I'm in Ireland till the 4th?

I really don't want you to wait till the 18th, please let me know.

Roberto

Hi Robnet77.

If you PM me a contact number we can give you a bell to sort the order.

hi,

yesterday I received my order, thanks for the prompt delivery.

The banana plugs were not there, I managed to plug the cables directly without them, I hope I was not charged for them.

I will go through the paperwork later today when I get home.

By the way, the 3.5mm cable is rather short, being only 1m long, but it's my fault as I should have asked before. I've seen QED do 3m cables for much better value, in the future I'll buy one of those.

Richersounds.ie: Dave

Hi Robnet, thanks for the reply.

I have checked the order and there were no banana plugs on the order so you have not been charged.

We may just have omitted them from the order.

If you want to post the 1m cable back, we have the 3m in stock which is £7 more. We can post this out and charge the difference if you need the longer cable.

We can add the plugs into the same bag as the new cable if you would like those.

Apologies for the mix up.

Keep us posted.


ATB


Dave

robnet77

Richersounds.ie: Dave wrote: »

Hi Robnet, thanks for the reply.

I have checked the order and there were no banana plugs on the order so you have not been charged.

We may just have omitted them from the order.

If you want to post the 1m cable back, we have the 3m in stock which is £7 more. We can post this out and charge the difference if you need the longer cable.

We can add the plugs into the same bag as the new cable if you would like those.

Apologies for the mix up.

Keep us posted.


ATB


Dave

hi,

thanks for the prompt assistance... never mind, I'm going abroad for a couple of weeks and I guess I can live with my current setup