So I got a new computer about two years. It's was top of the line when I got it and still pretty damn good, I'm running i7 in it along with an SSD and I'm running my graphics out of two 5850 blacks in crossfire. Audio-wise I've been dabbling a bit the past few weeks and lurking around here. At school I just have an ipod nano and some IEMs i take to the gym with me playing some mp3s from my laptop, but back here at home I've got a pretty solid lossless audio collection in an external drive sitting here in front of me, and i use my computer to drive my HD595s which are my best headphones and the swan M10s that i've been using as desktop monitors the past month or two.
SO, I have a few questions at to how I should be running my whole audio setup here. I'm upgrading my rig here a bit in the next week or so since i'm just getting back for christmas break. I'm definitely planning on wall-mounting my monitor to free up some desk space. Along with that, I reallllyyy want to take the 2 m10 mids and stick them up on the wall as well. I'm mounting my monitor flush with the wall, so I'm imagining getting a pair of little wall-mounted speaker shelves to set my M10s on top of.. but I can't seem to find any small enough (mid drivers are ~3 inches) and in a dark brown finish to match my desk.. I would then take my bass driver and center it on my desk directly under my monitor. I'm happy with the speakers, and if I got my bass driver positioned in the center of my desk I'd call it a day as far as desktop monitors are concerned.
Now, my problem is this: The swans are powered drivers, two passive speakers which connect to and are driven by an active sub which plugs into the wall. This sub has only one type of audio input: analog red/white jacks. I have an analog to 3.5mm stereo cable running between these and, sadly, my motherboards built-in sound. I know this is a problem in terms of not getting the best out of my swans. And, my HD595s are being driven by onboard sound as well. I looked into the little X-Fi soundcards and I'd be willing to shell out and buy one. I'm a little concerned though, because it seems like the general consensus around here is that 3.5mm stereo isn't a quality means of hooking up my devices. I know the 595s would benefit from an amp, and I already have a fiio amp running out of an LOD from my ipod nano. But, i usually run my 595s from my desktop and so I'm starting to see merit in getting a desktop amp. It seems like it would need to have some type of USB connect though, because running sound out of my ****ty computer amp through another amp and to my phones just seems stupid. I'm not sure if I could get good quality sound running everything out of a nice soundcard, or if I should try to avoid using stereo cables by getting some kind of USB audio interface instead and connecting my stuff to that, or some other solution I haven't even thought of?
So basically: I want my desktop monitors, which accept analog jacks, and my headphones, to play music from my desktop hard drive with the most possible quality. And I also need a good place to look for some small speaker shelves for my wall. Anyone have recommendations?
Thanks a ton. And I apologize for what I'm sure is **** sentence construction, I just finished finals week and my brain is jell-o right now. 
