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Xonar Essence STX -> power amp/receiver? -> floor speakers

post #1 of 3
1/20/11 at 1:22pm
Thread Starter 

Hey all, just had a question about a possible future speaker configuration. So I have the Xonar Essence STX and Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 currently and was wondering if I wanted to connect my computer system to more powerful floor speakers, how would I do it? I'm thinking I'll need a power amplifier at the least to power the speakers but would I need anything else? I've heard that an A/V receiver could give me "better" sound quality than my sound card since it should also have a DSP (for movies, games, etc., and one of the reasons why I chose a dedicated sound card in the first place and sacrificed a bit of quality for music with an external DAC). Would it be worth it to just replace my sound card with a receiver and not get a power amp? I'm not that well versed in differences between good receivers, price isn't an issue right now, but I'd like to learn more about this so when I'm ready to purchase, I'll be able to make a well thought out choice. Thanks :)

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post #2 of 3
1/20/11 at 3:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sgogeta4 View Post

Hey all, just had a question about a possible future speaker configuration. So I have the Xonar Essence STX and Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 currently and was wondering if I wanted to connect my computer system to more powerful floor speakers, how would I do it? I'm thinking I'll need a power amplifier at the least to power the speakers but would I need anything else? I've heard that an A/V receiver could give me "better" sound quality than my sound card since it should also have a DSP (for movies, games, etc., and one of the reasons why I chose a dedicated sound card in the first place and sacrificed a bit of quality for music with an external DAC). Would it be worth it to just replace my sound card with a receiver and not get a power amp? I'm not that well versed in differences between good receivers, price isn't an issue right now, but I'd like to learn more about this so when I'm ready to purchase, I'll be able to make a well thought out choice. Thanks :)


You can use a receiver in conjunction with your soundcard. I have my soundcard hooked into a Sony surround sound system via the optical out. As long as your receiver has an optical in, you are good to go. 

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post #3 of 3
1/20/11 at 3:33pm
Thread Starter 

But then the receiver would do the sound processing right? I'm wondering how that would affect games (say with EAX 2.0), though movies should be fine (or better?)

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