Upgrading the input cable makes a big difference to the A5: that 3.5mm stereo jack is a bottleneck. Getting them in the right position is important, too: off the desk! The A5 already has a slightly bottom-heavy sound, so a tube DAC might not be the best match: I'd aim for something agile and resolute, with accurate low frequency reproduction.

The fiio E7/E9 combo should be a good pairing , it's completly netruel and the wolfson chip does it give the sound some warmth.

What are you connecting to your A5s at the moment?  What is your budget if you chose to upgrade your existing source?

I would try any lossless audio source you have on hand before deciding if new hardware is necessary... does sound like a DAC is in your future, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by btruncali 

im just using the speakers for radio (sony XDRF1 HD tuner, output = stereo analog RCA) and with an ipod (output = ...yeah....ha). the only inputs on the A5's are 2 3.5mm stereo jacks. using the unit's supplied cables to connect. i'd like to keep any more money i spend at, or preferably below, the price of the speakers....around $325. 

 

Hello btruncali,

The reason I asked, is because I don't see how a DAC can improve your current sources via digital.  I don't know about that tuner and it might have digital out, then yes.  A DAC is a digital to analog converter.  Now if you were using a laptop/PC then I would see it.  But since I don't know about that tuner, I'll stick with the iPod.  Are you connecting the ipod via headphone out or line out to the A5's? The line out bypasses the internal amp and gives you a clean signal and sounds damn good. 

I have connected my A5s to a crapload of gear and have never been disappointed with the sound.  I use it in rotation with three different DAC/headamp/preamps.  I recently have been using them alot with my DAPs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by btruncali 

im just using the speakers for radio (sony XDRF1 HD tuner, output = stereo analog RCA) and with an ipod (output = ...yeah....ha). the only inputs on the A5's are 2 3.5mm stereo jacks. using the unit's supplied cables to connect. i'd like to keep any more money i spend at, or preferably below, the price of the speakers....around $325. 

 

Well, what did you finally do with your setup?  You were given some ideas, what was the end result...?
 

I use mine via the 3.5mm cable. Just so you know, radio waves themselves are ridiculously lossy, stop trying to get a good sound off of that. Half the time they broadcast a 128kb mp3 or some such junk. As for the ipod, the headphone jack is the huge bottleneck there. If you want great sound from it, get your ipod connector plugged into a headamp to bypass the internal crap, then have the headamp connected via the RCA for the speakers. 3.5mm kidna blows unless you go really high quality.

EDIT: while we are on the subject though, I could also use some recommendations. My sources are 2 different laptops and I'm working mostly with flac files, if not 320kbps MP3 files. I also have a Nexus One for my portable device but I seldom plug that into anything, If anythign i'd be saving up a hundred bucks or so and getting me a 16gb sansa or some such player capable of digital output rather than spend another 100 bucks on a 32 gb microsd card and render my current 16 gig card useless. Not to mention, i'm on tmobile and my entire phone only has a life of another 2 years before all data gets shut down to it courtesy of AT&T.

I'm looking for some sort of DIY usb DAC solution that is linux compatible. anything plug and play will do nicely, its only when things get more complicated that linux ceases to have drivers available.