Suggestions for a replacement Amp for Desktop 2.1

sze5003

Lifer
Aug 18, 2012
14,177
622
126
Last year my Klipsch 2.1 pro media speakers bit the dust so I went the route of passive speakers.

Speakers I'm using now are 2 Micca MB42X bookshelf speakers.

Amp is SMSL AD18 using optical only because the USB portion that functions with the internal DAC somehow broke/stopped working.

If I switch to USB input it says "Locked" on the amp's screen.

I've tried 4 different micro USB cables and also tried it on my laptop where it was able to recognize the amp once via USB and then suddenly windows tells me it could not recognize the device anymore.

So now I'm looking for a new amp.

I do need USB, optical, and a sub out as well as something low profile because it sits on my desk.

Not happy that the smsl only lasted this long, well I am technically still using it via optical but I think it's only a matter of time until it breaks completely. So I'm hesitant on going with smsl again.

Was thinking more of Loxjie A30 but I haven't researched this stuff in over a year so I'm wondering if by now there's been anything better I should be looking at that meet my requirements?
 

vshah

Lifer
Sep 20, 2003
19,003
24
81
I've been using a nad d3020 for a while. Kind of overkill, but it works great.
 

jamesdsimone

Senior member
Dec 21, 2015
616
164
116
If you want a nice set of 2.1 speakers I would grab some Altec Lansing ACS 45.1 from ebay. I have a set that have been working great for literally almost 30 years. They were the first set of speakers I got in the 1990's. I just retired them for a set of Logitech Z506's. They produce twice the sound despite being rated at less than half the watts.