Question Help required - Dali Zensor 1

georgeccole

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Hi everyone, I have recently been given two Dali Zensor 1 speakers and a Monacor SA-100 amp and after a bit of researching, it seems like I have gotten myself a nice little bit of kit. The problem is - I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing when it comes to sound. Built many PC's and systems but never have I touched any sound systems besides the odd 3.5mm jack into the phone type of deal.

The kit came without any cables and I have been looking around to purchase some cables and banana clips / ports ? Apparently that's the best way to do it - you tell me.

I will also need something to connect the amp, to my PC via a 3.5mm OR any other suggestion you may have - for good sound quality. Keeping in mind, im not trying to replicate AC/DC's live concert in my bedroom.

If you guys could help me out with this and let me know which cables and clips I need to make these work, I will very much appreciate that!

I have attached a few pictures of everything on here.

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You don't need much to get started, just two runs of speaker cable and a 3.5mm to twin phono adapter.

Neither are that expensive, I use (as do a lot of others on here) Van Damme speaker cable:
Amazon product ASIN B0030BXCI8
Banana plugs aren't necessary, but they do neaten things up.
If you don't plan on disconnecting and reconnecting the speakers regularly you can just use bare wire connections.

To get sound out of your PC to the amp, you'll need something like this:
Amazon product ASIN B00LM2Y2U4
If you find sound quality is lacking you could add a dedicated sound card to your PC at a later date.
 
I just bought your suggestions and am waiting to see how these babies sound like. Does the dedicated audio card make a big difference ?

You don't need much to get started, just two runs of speaker cable and a 3.5mm to twin phono adapter.

Neither are that expensive, I use (as do a lot of others on here) Van Damme speaker cable:
Amazon product ASIN B0030BXCI8
Banana plugs aren't necessary, but they do neaten things up.
If you don't plan on disconnecting and reconnecting the speakers regularly you can just use bare wire connections.

To get sound out of your PC to the amp, you'll need something like this:
Amazon product ASIN B00LM2Y2U4
If you find sound quality is lacking you could add a dedicated sound card to your PC at a later date.
 
It depends on your source material and expectations.

If you're just playing low res mp3s the inbuilt sound should be fine, but if you are playing higher resolution files you might notice an improvement.

The best thing to do is get the cables and see if you're happy with the sound first.

What sort of stuff will you be using your PC for?
Itunes etc? Streaming? Gaming?
 
So I connected everything together - banana clips into the speakers with open wire to the amp (is that ok?)

But as I'm sitting around 1m away from the speakers, which are on my desk - i can hear a VERY audible buzz / humm coming from them if the volume is above let's say 20% - which is not loud enough to enjoy good music.

That said, If I disconnect the 3.5mm jack from my pc, the humming is gone. Is it a bad cable, or a bad sound card (motherboard) ?

To answer your question, they'll just be used as speakers for anything really, watching netflix, listening to music, everything.

It depends on your source material and expectations.

If you're just playing low res mp3s the inbuilt sound should be fine, but if you are playing higher resolution files you might notice an improvement.

The best thing to do is get the cables and see if you're happy with the sound first.

What sort of stuff will you be using your PC for?
Itunes etc? Streaming? Gaming?
 
How high is the volume setting on your PC's output?
Could be it needs turning up all the way, then adjust the level on the amp to suit.
 
Regardless of how high the PC volume is, as soon as I increase either the amp or the pc to over 20%, i can hear that static like noise.

BUT I just tried connecting my macbook to the same cable and there is no noise, i can have everything on max volume, nothing.

So it must be my PC then?
 
Regardless of how high the PC volume is, as soon as I increase either the amp or the pc to over 20%, i can hear that static like noise.

BUT I just tried connecting my macbook to the same cable and there is no noise, i can have everything on max volume, nothing.

So it must be my PC then?
What you need is a DAC between your PC and the amplifier. I am assuming that you have an SPDIF out behind your computer. If not then perhaps you need some USB DAC. With the SPDIF out, you connect an optical cable between the PC and the amplifier (and get rid of the 3.5 mm stereo jack connection which is picking up noise from the computer.)
 

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