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Yes the receiver is powering the speakers
I really dig the speakers, what benefit would that setup give me over the existing setup?
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I dont think I much need a DAC since my soundcard already puts out 24bit/960000hz
What about something like the Maverick TubeMagic D1?
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That's my main thing, the receiver is too damn big.
So to make sure i understand it right the Dia would be strictly for amplification and i would be using my soundcards DAC? I dont think the sub would be a problem as far as I can tell because the optical carries the full signal and it has a coax for the sub. If I just need amplification would something like
http://www.nuforce.com/hp/products/iconamp/index.php work? are those rca cables for a sub?
1) The Fostex mentioned there are powered monitors. That means they have amps factory-matched to the drivers built into the cabinets, and all you need is a DAC with a preamp to control them. And chances are a one box DAC-preamp also has a headphone amp, usually powerful enough to drive your HD595, unless of course you plan to upgrade. Another advantage is that they are designed for near-field listening, where Hi-Fi speakers are usually voiced from about at least 1.0 from the speakers.
2) You still need a DAC - outputting 24/96 is not the same as outputting a 1V-2V analog line signal. What your soundcard is when using the digital output is a subsystem of a transport, which your entire CPU is, the same way that a bare-bone CD/DVD/BR drive is technically a transport in itself but NOT a transport that can send a signal to the DAC without the circuit that can draw the data and send it out via SPDIF protocol. What a DAC then does - whether it's in the same box as the transport or not - is to take the 1's and 0's and convert them to an analog signal, and it has a line stage (opamp, HDAM, tube) that would take it up to redbook (CD) standard 2V. In other applications it would be lower (as in portable players) or car audio receivers (can be as high as 8v peak, for those subwoofers you can hear from two blocks away). Either way, this is the signal that the low-level signal the amplifier receives and what is typically measured in volts comes out as a high-level signal typically measured in watts (or fractions thereof, as in headphones).
Now, the TubeMagic D1 is a DAC-preamp-headphone amp. For your needs, it can take the digital signal from the optical outputs on the soundcard, and power your HD595. Here's a problem - how do you power the speakers? It has a tube preamp though, but you'd need a separate amplifier for your speakers.If however you decide to just use powered monitors like the Fostex that were mentioned, then you can use the D1's tube output to feed the amp inputs on the speakers. But of course, as ideal as powered monitors are to us, if you like the Polk speakers' sound, do not restrict yourself to just the Fostex. Try getting feedback (in other forums also) on what powered monitors sound close. For example, I usually prefer Focal speakers, for both my home and my car, and incidentally my preferred headphones are the HD600 (with a good solid state amp), and for powered monitors, KRK (or Samson when I'm on a budget).
3) If you use the Dia, that will become your DAC - your soundcard enables your computer to send the SPDIF signal to it (unless your motherboard already has that feature, but since you already have the soundcard, I'd rather use that); as it is, your AVR230 is actually your DAC (and processor), not the soundcard. What you will need to do is to configure the soundcard to output the sub's signal through its own RCA output (it's technically a coaxial, sine it has two conductors, but let's distinguish it from the 75ohm SPDIF RCA output normally called "coax"). I assume you were using the receiver's RCA sub output before, yes? If that's the case the soundcard sends a fullrange 2.0 signal to the AVR320, and depending on the capabilities of the HT receiver's processor (which includes a DAC), you can have it
a. process the signal and send a high-pass signal to the internal speaker amp and a low-pass signal to the sub
b. send a fullrange signal to both, and use the sub's analog crossover to match the sub's upper freq roll-off to the low-freq roll-off of the mains
c. send either a low-pass to the sub and use the receiver to set at what frequency the crossover point is and how steep it is; or send a high pass to the speakers at custom settings, then match it with the sub's analog crossover (or vice versa)
Remember that the only way it actually takes a 5.1 signal by default is if you're feeding it a movie or game with 5.1 audio. Some set-ups in large rooms that use small mains speakers don't do well with concert videos because they're configured for 5.0, although you can improve it by setting the receiver to send a signal to the sub as described above. In any case, what the DIA
doesn't have
as far as I know is a dedicated subwoofer output, which means you have to configure the soundcard to output an analog signal to the sub, and if it can't apply a crossover, you have to use the sub's. Now, I could still be wrong about this, since some NuForce products use the headphone output as an analog subwoofer output. In case the Dia can do this, then basically you have to tailor the subwoofer's crossover and gain settings to compensate for a lack of digital processing that you had with the full-size HT receiver. Also, check the soundcard if it allows you to simultaneously send a digital signal and an analog signal to the subwoofer.
