Got a neat pair of speakers, but haven’t really got the room for conventional amp, and so I found some tiny 40watt ones on eBay for under 20 quid!! Some are in the UK and they do require a power supply,but still bargain,any experiences?

I’m using a Lepai one in the conservatory hooked up to some Mission 700 speakers – can’t fault it sound is great for the price, and really small so you can tuck it out of the way. If you spend a bit more you can get similar with UK plugs.

I use 2 Lepai 2020+, one to power the garden speakers, 1 for the kitchen. Hook them up to some half decent speakers and they’re fine. I stream everything from spotify/tunein through a load of apple airports, so clearly sound quality is not my greatest worry.

Got mine from Amazon with uk plugs for about £22

+1 for the Lepai 2020+.
Mine runs a pair of bookshelf speakers which I have bolted together and fitted a handle for ease of portability.
The bonus of running at 12vDC is that you can run it off almost any 12v power supply, allowing for festival sound system duties.

Also, I recommend replacing the output capacitors with something a little more hefty. Cleans up the sound no end and allows higher volumes without clipping.

Interesting

Would work well for integrating an ipod dock and speakers into some kitchen shelves….

I’d never even heard of these and now want/need one.

Such is the power of STW.

I wonder how many speakers you could run from one of these?
Thinking of a suitcase/toolbox boombox, using speakers salvaged from old bookshelf boxes, or second-hand car speakers, a pair of 8″ with a pair of mid/top.
something like this:

In fact, looking at that photo, I’ve just noticed the controls on the side look very familiar…

Lepai running my computer speakers, sounds great

If the Amp was put in the bottom of one of the speakers a versatile pair of computer style speakers would be achieved…

I posted on these Lepai a while back. But just to repeat myself, first one arrived off ebay with a high pitched whine / buzz. Second one sent through FOC – takes about a week for delivery.

Had it for about 6 months now, no real issues. Had to sort out a power supply – relatively easily done – but make sure you go for a high enough power (current) supply otherwise it limits the amp a little. The amp is slightly lacking in power/refinement to go proper loud, but plenty enough for normal room use, really compact and reasonably well put together. Only gripe is the volume rotary switch is not entirely proportionate or easy to adjust – not a major issue though.

All I need is a way of using spotify on my android phone to play music around the house via wifi etc. Anyone got any cheap ideas for that? I can’t (won’t) run wires through the house – it’s a rental and it’s a convoluted route from my PC to kitchen / bedroom etc, so would end up with them crossing carpets , door hinges etc.

I don’t have one of these but got interested when I saw this piece a while back – BoingBoing Article

I have a good amp, but I was interested in some small cheap speakers for my desk – I like the sound of the Micca MB42s mentioned in the comments to the article, but can’t find them in the UK – does anyone have a recommendation for something similar, compact and cheap?

Apologies for taking this slightly off topic…

I’m with codybrennan, I didnt even realise i needed one of these until now!

I’m using a Topping TP20 Mk2 (with Mac Mini + HiFiMeDIY Sabre USB DAC) tiny and cheap and sounds really, really sweet!

by googling

http://www.techradar.com/news/audio/android-users-get-in-on-spotify-connect-s-wi-fi-speaker-streaming-1202717

Then maybe a rasberry pi connect to the speakers

A rasberry pi for the wifi speakers?

http://lifehacker.com/turn-a-raspberry-pi-into-a-multi-room-wireless-stereo-1480556758

Damn you . Damn you all! I’ve just ordered one for the office!

Got mine now, it’s a cheng shin,I’m really quite impressed for its size

yep, like the others I’d never have heard of these if it wasn’t for you lot. Ordered one on the strength of this thread last week and am very impressed.

Got the ipod plugged in to a Locic3 dock, line level into the back, sounds great!

Thanks stw.

Along the same sort of lines, anyone tried one of these?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bravo-Ocean-Mini-Tube-Valve-Headphone-Amplifier-Pre-Amp-Class-12AU7-/190960367240?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Amplifiers&hash=item2c761ff688
A mate at work has one, connected to a Chinese valve amp with his turntable on the front.
He’s incredibly impressed with it, and you can experiment with different valves.
You can plug an iPod or other player in via a 3.5mm/1/4″ adaptor lead.

Mine has arrived from eBay. Mightly impressed…. for the price. It’s no ClassAA, but hooked up to an old pair of Mission 760’s and my iMac, its just dandy! I may get one for the garage now.