Dont know what amplifier to get for svs ultra bookshelf speakers

[noobcake1111]

https://www.svsound.com/products/ultra-bookshelf

I have these for my computer in a small bedroom. I have a sub and an external DAC. What amplifier should I get with a ~$500 budget?

 

[kanewolf]

Do you need just a power amp or do you need an input selector, volume control, etc?

 

[noobcake1111]

Do you need just a power amp or do you need an input selector, volume control, etc?

Just something with the best quality to power the speakers and use my sub focusing only on being an amp since I have an external DAC. Isnt a volume control required anyway? I dont really know much about power amp, pre amps, etc..

 

[kanewolf]

A power amp won't have a volume control. It will just take the input and amplify it. It sounds like you need an integrated amp. That would be one that does have a volume control and can do input selection. There are lots of quality used items on E-Bay. High end names, NAD, Onkyo, Sony ES. Around $500. Search the SOLD listings for "integrated amplifier" That will give you an idea of what is a reasonable price. Then the search/wait is on ...

 

[ien2222]

@kane: he's using a DAC with a sub...guessing he's doing bass management at that point which means you can't use the volume control on a integrated amp as it won't control the sub.
@OP: What DAC are you using?

 

[noobcake1111]

A power amp won't have a volume control. It will just take the input and amplify it. It sounds like you need an integrated amp. That would be one that does have a volume control and can do input selection. There are lots of quality used items on E-Bay. High end names, NAD, Onkyo, Sony ES. Around $500. Search the SOLD listings for "integrated amplifier" That will give you an idea of what is a reasonable price. Then the search/wait is on ...

@kane: he's using a DAC with a sub...guessing he's doing bass management at that point which means you can't use the volume control on a integrated amp as it won't control the sub.
@OP: What DAC are you using?

I have a crappy integrated amp - http://www.daytonaudio.com/index.php/dta-1-class-t-digital-amplifier-15-wpc.html right now with a powered subwoofer and a chord mojo as a DAC when im at the house.

 

[americanaudiophile]

Your Chord has a volume control I think so you could use a basic amp.
I would suggest this amp if you can stretch your budget a bit.
http://www.parasound.com/275-v2.php
Excellent sound and extremely well built.
If you want an integrated then maybe this one
http://www.us.marantz.com/us/Products/Pages/ProductDetails.aspx?CatId=HiFiComponents&SubCatId=0&ProductId=PM5005

 

[noobcake1111]

Your Chord has a volume control I think so you could use a basic amp.
I would suggest this amp if you can stretch your budget a bit.
http://www.parasound.com/275-v2.php
Excellent sound and extremely well built.
If you want an integrated then maybe this one
http://www.us.marantz.com/us/Products/Pages/ProductDetails.aspx?CatId=HiFiComponents&SubCatId=0&ProductId=PM5005

That parasound looks great. Im not sure if the volume knobs work when using it as a desktop DAC instead of headphone amp since you have to set it to a special mode. How exactly does volume work on a power amp? Is a pre-amp required or say for instance "x" setting in computer volume is now much louder hooked up to a power amp?

That marantz is also the best Ive found as well concerning integrated. It is also $200 cheaper. Is it a big difference paying more for the parasound?

 

[americanaudiophile]

Some power amps do have volume controls but it's not a standard feature. The volume control in an amp acts as a passive control that can only turn the volume down so you could use one of these with any amp.
http://www.schiit.com/products/sys
I would check with Chord to find out if you can use the volume control in the DAC as that's the simplest solution.
A preamp would add some gain but isn't really required if your DAC has sufficient output to drive the amp directly. If you used the headphone out into an amp you would certainly have more than enough gain to drive the amp to full power.
Using the PC as your volume control is possible but you would lose quality because when you lower the volume you will lose some data. The PC should be at speaker level should be at 100%.
The Parasound will have more power and will sound better than the Marantz. More room to improve the system later too. You could add a preamp later. The Marantz may be a bit warmer sounding than the Parasound which you might like on the SVS.