B&W Speakers and a... Podspeakers Dock?

[Harvz]

Can anyone help me with this query?

I am thinking of buying two tiny B&W 686 speakers and an ASW608 subwoofer. The sales person in the shop recommended i get a Podspeaker Dock to go with it (Link below)

http://www1.electronichouse.com/prod.../253/5500.html

I don't know a huge amount about amps and speakers, but I still find it difficult to believe that this tiny amp will be enough to power two speakers and a subwoofer.

If anyone here has any experience with The Dock, please let me know what you think! And if anyone else has a suggestion for a good shelf ipod dock amplifier, please do holla too!

Many thanks in advance!

[basite]

Hi, welcome to AR...

and don't laugh, that tiny little amp might actually be able to drive the 686's, but I'm the first in line to recommend that you use something better...

I'd get an integrated amp, and a regular Idock for your ipod...

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[Ajani]

I agree with Basite... I'd opt for a proper integrated amp and a ipod dock instead.... but all this depends on your budget and space requirements....

Also, if you want to check if that dock will drive the B&Ws, then just let the salesman set it up and crank the volume... You should be able to get a realistic idea of how loud it can play without distorting... and whether it will meet your volume requirements...

[Rich-n-Texas]

I think Harvy is just another in a long line of shills for electronic house magazine, which might be a direct competitor of Audio Review, which would be a violation of forum guidelines. But mods, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

[jrhymeammo]

Who is this audio dealer?
I advise you to get away from that store, or request for a different saleman.
He's not helping you at all, and has not knowledge of audio.

You will do better spending the same amount on a stereo receiver.
If you are spending that much money expecting to get best out of your system, then this dock will not be what you want to spend your money on. What is your budget if you are considering for an alternitive option?

JRA

[Harvz]

I think Harvy is just another in a long line of shills for electronic house magazine, which might be a direct competitor of Audio Review, which would be a violation of forum guidelines. But mods, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm sorry, but what?

On a more related and less deluded note... does anyone have any suggestions for a small, relatively inexpensive amp instead of the dock that was suggested to me? I'd be putting the system in 30x30 cm square shelves. All the dedicated amps I've looked at are far too big for that.

[Harvz]

Who is this audio dealer?
I advise you to get away from that store, or request for a different saleman.
He's not helping you at all, and has not knowledge of audio.

You will do better spending the same amount on a stereo receiver.
If you are spending that much money expecting to get best out of your system, then this dock will not be what you want to spend your money on. What is your budget if you are considering for an alternitive option?

JRA

He works for audioklubben (Danish/European AV store). They're a seriously expensive shop, so I'd expect better service to be honest.

My budget for an amp would be around 600 USD, but things cost much more here for various reasons, so I'm guessing that would be around 400 USD equivalent. So 400 dollars, 500 at a push.

But then the key thing is that it needs to be less than 30cm in width. Unfortunately aesthetics just pip functionality this time around.

[jrhymeammo]

I'm not sure what your budget is but there are:

Audio Analogue - Primo Cento VT
PS Audio - Trio C-100
Musical Fidelity - XT100

For on a smaller budget there is Teac AV-H500 Reference Series.

All of above will offer much more music than say Pod-Dock device.

[jrhymeammo]

My budget for an amp would be around 600 USD, but things cost much more here for various reasons, so I'm guessing that would be around 400 USD equivalent. So 400 dollars, 500 at a push.

But then the key thing is that it needs to be less than 30cm in width. Unfortunately aesthetics just pip functionality this time around.

TEAC Reference Line is only gear I can think of within your budget. TEAC will be a solid perfomer for you. If you can audition, you should check it out.

[Harvz]

Thanks very much for the help!

I had another look and found these.

DENON RCD-M37 receiver
DENON DRA-F102 & DCD-F102
DENON DRA-F102 receiver (stand alone)

They are all within my budget it seems. Any recommendations as to which would be the best sounding with B&W 686 speakers and an ASW608 subwoofer?

[Ajani]

Thanks very much for the help!

I had another look and found these.

DENON RCD-M37 receiver
DENON DRA-F102 & DCD-F102
DENON DRA-F102 receiver (stand alone)

They are all within my budget it seems. Any recommendations as to which would be the best sounding with B&W 686 speakers and an ASW608 subwoofer?

I can't give an opinion on the particular models, but in general, Denon shoud be a decent match for B&W... and I'd take one of those over an Ipod Dock (with built in amp) anyday...

You might also want to consider NAD, I think they have an all in one mini amp/cd player that is under 500 USD...

[Harvz]

Excellent. Thats good enough for me! I've looked at NAD and their stuff looks nice, but its dimensionally too big for me.

Thanks a million for the help! I didn't expect such a large and informed response when I posted here! Excellent forum!