Speakers

Loudspeakers
61

I just registered my second Sprout so I am onsite and thought I would express my happiness with the product. It took me two weeks with my first one to decide I needed to have a second one.

We use one of these in the kitchen/living room area as a go-to system when we are cooking or spending time relaxing. That Sprout powers Joseph RM-7si speakers very, very well. We feed it Bluetooth Spotify and directly into the phono jack with a Clearaudio Concept and a Sumiko Blackbird. This is so satisfying that we have marked a date in June to sell the larger stereo that we have in that room if the Sprout holds up over time. And I expect it will.

We also use a Sprout in our computer room where it powers Proac 2.5 mini towers with near bliss. We feed it 24 bit files from a Mac Mini. And it is being used to convert our most valued lps to 24 bit files as well ā€“ which we play as WAVs over the PS Audio Memory Player in our large system.

To justify a second Sprout I sold an older Moon integrated which was replaced by the Sprout in the Joseph set-up described above. I have not missed the Moon unit (pun intended, sorry Frank) since it left. And, to be frank (pun intended again), the rude and greedy customer service folks at Simaudio who recently offered to ā€œnot sell me the partā€ but to change the front panel of the Moon integrated from a black front to a silver front for $500 will not be missed either (Goodbye Moon).

Here is my point. This little amp+ costs nothing in the the sense of being an audiophile. In the sense of my millennial friends it does everything. Their low threshold and lack of patience for audiophiles meets the value and performance of the Sprout in a near perfect way. Small, affordable, correctly labeled switches, never turn it off, the turntable plays now without that other amp thing you have to buy, regular speaker wire instead of fire hose sets that cost more than the Sprout, plays bluetooth off the iPhone out of the box, has a reasonable headphone amp and is the size of Mac Mini.

The sound is so close to their ears to my mega system that they see no need to complicate life or break the bank. The Sprout is everything.

I have been taken to school by my kids. And I have learned. This is plenty for all applications except Dadā€™s private HiFi laboratory ā€“ which I really didnā€™t want them messing with anyway.

Thanks PS Audio. You guys are the beeā€™s knees. There is more music in my home now than ever. And music makes us all very happy.

62

Thank you sooo much!!

63

Aroostookme, wow, thank you so much for the nice words. They really made my day! It is clear to me that you guys ā€œget itā€ and I am happy that many of our most ardent initiatives (correctly labeled switches, an amp with personality, does not alienate normal people but indeed inspires them) seem to have translated accurately to your listening experience. Weā€™ve got a long way to goā€“before we take over the worldā€“but impassioned feedback from real audiophiles is just the beesā€™s knees. Thanks again. Have a great, musical weekend. -Scott

64

Based on Scottā€™s repeated recommendation, I recently purchased the LS50ā€™s to go with my new Sprout. Although they were beyond the budget - which was originally in the KEF Q100 ā€œon saleā€ range - the LS50ā€™s just sounded fantastic. Thanks for the advice.

65

I am an enthusiastic owner of a Sprout and have entered the market for a new pair of speakers. I have read through the thread and am asking for a little additional guidance if I can as this is my first post. I was using a pair of Omega Super Alnicoā€™s but am moving to a smaller room 12x15 and will listen relatively near field ( around 5 feet or so away.) I need something with a smaller footprint so was researching Wharfedale 220 or the ELAC Uni fi UB5 as a possibility in my price range. The KEF LS50 would be nice but would really be extending the budgetā€¦unless it is a home run above the other choices. In this price range is the Dynaudio Excite X14

I was totally unfamiliar with the Peachtree D5 until this forum also.

Needless to say, I have gotten myself all confused as I cant really demo any of these and have one chance to get this right. I listen to mainly classic rock with occasional jazzā€¦i know I will not get the last few octaves of bass but I am looking for quality over quantity with these choices.

thanks in advance for any responses.

66

I see some Wharfdale Jade speakers on the Music Direct website under the clearance section for around 50% off. I recall one of the models was very favorably reviewed by Stereophile a few years ago. Good luck!

67

(Iā€™m a lucky guy soā€¦) I have two Sprouts in my house. One is in the living room w/ the TV and plays over the Peachtree D5ā€™s. Excellent loudspeakers. In the listening room/library, I play Sprout with the GoldenEar Aon 3s which sound insanely good. To answer a few more, the ELACs pair great with Sprout (we will start offering this as a package soon, if that helps to authenticate). I do really like the Wharfedale 220s! Get them in with a walnut finish and they almost exactly match.

If you can go for the LS50s you certainly will not regret it. But they are expensive.

My $0.02: If cosmetics are quite important, go for the Wharfedales. The 220s have the bass-port on the bottom if I am not mistakenā€¦that is the model you want. If cosmetics/matching to Sprout is less important, pick up those Aon 3s. Eitherway, I donā€™t think youā€™ll ever look back!

Best,

Scott

68

Hey Scott

Its great to see you active contribution to this forum!

I just received my sprout 2 days ago. On a related note, I was dealing with Duncan in your office for the order ā€¦ awesome service!

I just hooked up the sprout last night. I am currently running Polk TSi400 floor speakers. And I am definitely having a problem with too much bass. I have played a variety of classic rock vinyl, including Supertramp Live in Paris, Neil Young Live Rust, Pink Floyd The Wall, Eagles Hotel California, The Zombies, and some softer stuff like Dream Academy. The uppers and mids have great range, but when the bass kicks in it washes over the other tones. And can be a bit boomy. Neil Young and the Zombies were great, but frankly the rest of it left me a bit bass weary.

As a test, I hooked up a pair of Energy monitors (small ones) and definitely the boominess is gone, but the presence of the bass tone is still a bit heavy.

As a side note, I did try bluetooth, with great clarity results, but I had to dial back the bass to get a balanced sound.

I really like the sprout and want to make this work, so I am going to try some other speakers. Seems from what I read I should probably aim more at bookshelf speakers (would probably put them on speaker stands as this is a living room setup).

I see you mentioning Elacā€™s ā€¦ any model in particular. I am thinking of the Debut 6. Or as you suggest the Wharfedaleā€™s ā€¦ but I am a bit leary of the bottom bass port, as that is definitely amplifying my issue with the TSi400ā€™s, which are also bottom port.

Any other suggestions you have would be great. This is going to be my primary hifi system for listening to vinyl, and I really need to defeat the bass a bit. And if I am heading down a path where this wonā€™t work, I would rather just head in a different direction if I have to.

One suggestion ā€¦ on your next rev, might be good to put in a bass defeat for that bass boost. I was really hoping for a neutral system and just discovered that there is a boost at around 70Hz.

Thanks. Great design and I hope I can match it with some suitable speakers.

Cheers, Peter

69

also, any thought on Cambridge Audio Aero 2 Loudspeakers?

Thanks

70

hi Scottā€¦thanks so much for the comments on all those speakers. will definitely look into the Wharfedales or Aon 3s. There are a few places in NYC I can listen to the Aons so I will look into those fist in the next few days. The ELACS have also gotten my attention from all the great reviews and now that u are bundling them , thatā€™s a recommendation in itself.

the Sprout is dollar for dollar and pound for pound the most fun piece of equipment I have come across in a while and Iā€™ve been through a lot of gear. Great MM phono, Bluetooth , computerā€¦just makes for a versatile experience that I can enjoy music and forget all the critical listening. My Omegaā€™s sounded wonderful with the amp, but am currently in between speakers and just using headphones. Itā€™s also turned into my favorite headphone amp

71

Thanks for the great feedback @bobbyg and glad you are enjoying. @pdgbc I think we can do better by including a bass-defeat in any future revisions we have for Sprout, but for now, it really is best optimized with one of those bookshelf speakers like the Aons. The bass will be strong and full but not over-the-top. Want to give them a try and get back to us?

Thanks!

Scott

72

Thanks Scott for the quick reply!

I canā€™t easily spot some Aonā€™s in my area, but I am going to grab my sprout and take it to a local place that carries the Wharfedale 220ā€™s and give them a try.

Will let you know

Cheers, Peter

p.s. I did try bass bungs in the ports, it softened it a bit, but still a bit too present

73

scottm picked up a pair of 220ā€™s yesterday. Gonna put them through the paces this weekend, but I can already hear a better bass profile.

Got them at Ayreborn Audio/Video Inc, they sell your product (not the Sprout though), were very complimentary of you guys, and were very helpful in respect to matching to the Sprout.

cheers, Peter

74

scottm Been running the Sprout for the last few days on the Wharfedale speakers and the setup sounds awesome.

Huge difference. Been playing it all weekend with a mix of vinyl and lower res digital and the sound is great. Gonna also try some hi-res audio, but the vinyl definitely delivers the best sound so far! Just ordered some Sennheiser headphones. Gonna try to get the max out of the Sprout. It is turning out to be exactly what I bought it for ā€¦ a great mix of analog and digital with great sound to get me started on HiFi again. (I am actually using chromecast audio into the analog port to stream as well, it it seems to work great, for the cost; including some trial streams I did at 96/24)

cheers, Peter

75

Thanks Peter! Glad you are enjoying and it looks like youā€™re using every possible feature which is what we like to hear. Itā€™s exactly my experience with Sprout as well. Weā€™d love to see a pic with the matching walnut if you at any time feel like posting one, but for now, thanks so much for your support and weā€™re totally jazzed to have you started on HiFi again. Truly makes us smile.

All the best,

Scott

76

Hello-

New to the forum and trying to configure a good vinyl setup. Recently purchased a used VPI Classic turntable, and looking for some affordable options to finish off the system so I can start listening, with upgrades to come with time. Was considering the Sprout with some Elac Debut F6 floorstanders (instead of bookshelf speakers with a sub). Anyone with any insight on this possibility? I was a little bit concerned if the Sprout had enough power for the speakers, but admit I just donā€™t know enough despite efforts on researching the issue myself.

Thanks so much for any help you can provide!

77

Our setup at the office is Sprout with these very speakers and it is a near perfect setup. Works great!

78

Awesome! Thanks so much for the help. My Sprout is on the way! Canā€™t wait to hook it upā€¦

79
Paul McGowan said Our setup at the office is Sprout with these very speakers and it is a near perfect setup. Works great!
Paul, maybe you meant B6? The F6 (x2) have 6 beefy magnet 6.25" drivers... physics do come into play eventually :D

When I got into the volume on some Veritas 2.2iā€™s, the sprout happily cut itself off for a few seconds (probably saving itself or my speakers). No match for the C100 integrated. Also the deepest bass is simply missing vs. the C100, so the sprout might be ā€œcheatingā€ a little.

The F6 suggest a big room & might be, pushed at timesā€¦

ā€¦if itā€™s the F6 & it works/sounds good, awesome!

80

I just looked and youā€™re correct. My bad. Thanks for the correction. Sprout does have only 50 watts and perhaps at loud volumes you might get some cut out.