My FAVORITE Affordable(ish) Hi-Fi System! A speaker/Amp Recommendation for 2020.
My FAVORITE Affordable(ish) Hi-Fi System! A speaker/Amp Recommendation for 2020.
There are tons of great products out there. Many worth recommending. But this system right here? Its performance and flexibility is something that should have a fairly broad appeal. Especially to those who are looking to build their first, high-quality stereo system!
Triangle BRO 3: https://www.trianglehifi.com/en/produit/hifi-bookshelf-speaker-borea-br03/
IOTAVX SA3: https://www.iotaenterprises.co.uk/products/iotavx-audiophile-stereo-amplifier-sa3
Source Components
Fluance RT85: https://www.fluance.com/rt85w-reference-high-fidelity-vinyl-turntable-natural-walnut
Cambridge Audio AXC35 CD Player: https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/usa/en/products/hi-fi/ax/axc35
Accessories:
28″ Monoprice Monolith Stands: https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=31263&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2af-BRDzARIsAIVQUOdEB0YH8ltKvuAoIxLcicnKSzeVdst8G1KFYUdfXFamRcG_ma3rq7IaAvahEALw_wcB
IsoAcoustics Aperta200 Desktop Stands: https://isoacoustics.com/products/aperta-series/aperta200/
My Separate Reviews:
Triangle BRO3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wt1JqQHpE8
IOTAVX SA3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcrxet8wiLw
IOTAVX SA3 | PA3 combo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlL5ybNDrEQ
Thank you for this video.
This is the setup I will be getting myself in July.
I’ve already had my eye on the Triangles for over a year.
Unfortunately it’s not available in South Africa despite all the accolades it gets.
This will be my first audiophile purchase.
I hope it’s my last because I don’t have a lot of money to sink into this hobby.
Thanks a lot. Have the IOTAVX. Going to buy Speaker. What do you think? Triangle Esprit Antal EZ, Tannoy Revolution XT8F, Opera Grand Mezzo MK2 or Sonus Faber Principia 7? Will also buy IOTAVX PA3! Listen to Blues, Indie, Classic and Pop Like "Yello" or "Sohn". Your Feedback is really appreciated.
Nice. I got this with the poweramp. Good combo.
What would be a good Sub pairing for this setup?
Would have been great to finish off with some audio demo just to get a feel of them. Anyone can recommend a set, you don’t buy a car without test driving it. Utilize the audio feature of YouTube.
V. Nice
Maybe you did explained it already but I can’t figure it out: if you had the choice would you go for only the sa3 or for the combination with the stack (inclusive the pa3) for this setup
I am also interested to buy the bro3 and iotavx (but I still like my monitor audio bronze 2….)
But can it play mind numbing electronic melo-punk music that you listen to before root canal.? 😎🐒🚽
Would combining the IOTAVX PA3 with the Topping D10 improve the sound? The dac of the SA3 scored pretty low on audiosciencereview
How would i know if this amp would work with my old p6 Bw speakers?
Looking for some recommendations on source components to go with this speaker/amp pairing? I got you. Just click on the description box and check it out!
I got exactly this Setup. Now im wondering what to get next a DAC or the pre-amp?
What speaker wire might you (or anyone) recommend for this pairing?
Hello Sir. Please your opinion about the 2 affordable combos: 1) Sprout100 Elac (B6.2) from Ps Audio 2) Cyrus One & Cyrus One Linear Speakers (matched bookshelves speakers) 3) Sprout100 & the Triangle Br03’s? & acc 2 u; – some possible reasons why Ps Audio choose the Elac’s 4 the Sprout ?? Thx a lot, it will really help me..
Can These speakers be modified to tighten the base ?
I run vintage Cyrus one and triangle titus…sounds great.
As you cover a whole range (pun highly intended!) of speakers, I wonder if you would like to give us your take on the HSU speakers of Anaheim, CA. Their 5.1 set, worth about 2.5K has been compared by an audiophile magazine to a 300K system. I would like to see if you can shed some light on the extravagance of the comparison…though I do believe these are very good speakers. Looking forward to your esteemed opinion…
Great video! Can anyone tell me what type of speakers I should pair with my Cambridge Audio cxa81? I am fairly new to this, I am not sure what kind of sound they produce and how I should counter balance it. Cheers
Where do you buy the short speaker stands?
Hi! If you could share your inputs….How do the triangles BR03 compare with PSB Alpha 5?
How would these pair with the musical fidelity m6i ? Thank you !
So happy you raved about these speakers- I found a new pair for €299 🤓and I must confess I haven’t had so much fun listening to music for a long time. As a matter of fact, I don’t want to stop listening. I paired them with a powerful Consonance transistor
Amp I have moping in my rack. and Well, no more ! Added Audioquest rocket 11 speakercable and now I have
Wall to wall sound and great bass, too. In short, I’m very happy ! I stopped analyzing the sound and now I’m just enjoying the music. Pure bliss! Thx👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Is the Onkyo line gone for good, or is Klipsch going to revive it…as Onkyo? Any information on this would be highly appreciated.
Hi Sean.
Just wondering if you saw the new CD player/streamer product on the IOTA website?
Not available to ship until June but they are taking preorders.
Maybe Ian from Iota will send you an early sample to review!
Cheers and have a great Christmas.
Dale
Can anyone tell me what’s the name of the small tabletop stands used on the pic with the bro 3s?
Whats a good sub for this setup?
Love my bro3s!!!
👍👍👍
You’ve just reached a new and valuable level: integrated systems that actually work well together. Bravo!
but what about Bose…? 😻
My room is 11′ x 11′, and 7.5′ tall (121 sq feet or 11.2 sq meters). Should I go with the Br02’s rather than the Br03’s? Triangle recommends 15 to 30 sq meter rooms for Br03, and up to 20 sq meters for Br02. What are the trade-offs either way?
Awesome video. I’ve been wanting to try some Triangle speakers =D
Another reviewer said the Elac ub52 much better than Triangle
Well, having a pair of Focal Chorus 706 (akin to the BRO-3 sound-wise from your description (?)) directly hooked to a Yamy WXA-50 Amp/DAC/Streamer, I thought I’d get more of them by using two PA-3s in bridge mode fed by the WXC PRE-amp version. Alas, news do no seem to be good in the 🇬🇧. What COVID did not break, its latest English variant and the Post-BREXIT mess are probably going to worsen by putting much friction in shipping the amps to Europe (or so I’m told in these comments : https://youtu.be/q3VOPavLDAM). Would you have any idea for a power/amp (2 channel or monobloc) that would work just as good without breaking the bank (I paid them less than 500$/€). I’d rather go separate and live happily with a pure analog amp/speaker section and only upgrade the pre-amp/digital upstream part(s) over the years, and I fear Cambridge (compared to iotavx sound from one of your comparison/reviews) would be too mellow. It’s more about peak power than average, since I listen at low volumes, so my limited knowledge would tell me it’s more about capacitors than transformer(s)…
I think components that compliment each other is ideal, but I’m not sure that’s what you’re describing here. When you describe the effect the amp has on the speakers, it sounds like you’re really describing the amp correcting something you don’t like about the speakers. IMHO, buying components to correct other components isn’t complimentary and can be an endless path to frustration. If someone doesn’t like something about these speakers, I’d probably advise to consider a different pair of speakers, not an amp that makes them sound good. It’s probably worth worrying what you’re going to power them with after the fact since speakers are such a critical component.
Question: as someone who is just learning about equipment and getting ready to make the first leap into some decent gear, videos like these are SO helpful. Any system I get is mainly for vinyl. In this price range is there a difference in setups for vinyl and digital media? My room is my living room – not too big 500 sq ft. Don’t need huge power since it’s for the listening pleasure of the whole family. In my research this set up sounds perfect but want to be sure it’ll be good for vinyl listening. Also, do I need something to let me streak spotify to the system?
Name of stands?
Fantastic review Sean! I’ve got the stack hooked up to some B&W 606 speakers and I’m obsessed! It would interesting to get your take on how you would go about upgrading (external DAC etc) a system like this, or if it’s worth upgrading at all. Cheers!
I have a pair of Focal Aria 906s, I’am considering the IOTA SA3, or the ARCAM SA10, how would they compare? What should I go with? Thanks👍
Nice review
Would bro 2 work as home theater surround backs (4-5ft from listening position)?
Hmmmm…. What sources would you pair it with? Is that a "complete" system? I can’t hear anything, hehe
Did you happen to try pairing the Muzishare x7 with the BRO3’s? If not, care to speculate on the likely result?
what speakers pair well with a Cambridge AXR100? More videos like this would be great!
JOE BIDEN = GEEZER FROM HELL.
What are those cool little stands under the Triangles?
Does this amp work in Usa since it British amp?
So it having optical and coaxial inputs means I can also hook my tv up to it right? If so then I think you just sold me on the iotavx 👌🏻
Luv videos like this, nice one man, more like this please.
New to HiFi (just 2 months) I got it, love it, looking forward to much time enjoying music with this system while I continue to learn more. It’s tough to do what you do especially in a hobby that’s so subjective with many variables unique to each person. Thanks for going out on a limb to do what many other reviewers never do is actually recommend a PAIRING not just 1 component by itself.
First thank you so much for this. I been confused as to how much to spend, what excelent sounds like etc. Reading the description i can see you also have paird this with Cambridge Audio AXC35. My question is:
– How would you connect the Cambridge Audio AXC35 to this amp? Which DAC would you use / CD Player or Amp DAC ? Would you use the Coax cable to the amp above or would you use Line out?
– Is there other option to Cambridge Audio AXC35 CD player which would benefit the sound towards base heavy music?
Background & Facts:
I recently refurbished my office, and since then i am ready to throw out my Creative speakers and replace it with proper Stereo HIFI. Get the above system with a CD player and listen to my over 340 CD’s . Now nearly all of the music is Electronic (so 4/4 beat with heavy Base) and so i was wondering if this is a good setup for such a requirment. I also was thinking to get the bluetooth dongle and hook up my PC to the amp and use the AMP with Windows 10 / Macbook pro to stream music.
I would appriciate your view and tought on this matter.