I have A Lyr on the way, so I am pretty much set on headphone power (LCD-2). I do however need something that can power bookshelf speakers and preferably act as a DAC for both the speakers it is amping, and the phones amped by the Lyr. I do have a Xonar d2x soundcard in this machine, but I plan to build a new computer as soon as the Sandy Bridge MB recall sorts itself out, and I may leave this soundcard in the older machine for streaming movies/etc.
So I have been considering something like the Peachtree Nova. Is there anything similar to it but either superior in overall quality or slightly less expensive? Will I get better use out of the internal DAC on that unit than a d2x or similar soundcard, or will a DAC not even provide much of a difference? Any other alternatives or suggestions?
