[Onseki]

Hello there, this is my first post, but I've been a longtime lurker of this forum.
 
I was pretty dead-set on a pair of Audioengine A5+'s to replace my extremely bad dual stereo computer setup, but some posts changed my mind about them, and after a quick look into the computer audio forum, I found the Vanatoo T1s. These seem to absolutely fit my needs in every way, and they are in the sweet spot of price and features. I have a couple questions though. 
 
The first thing is that I am extremely suspicious of onboard DACs. I don't like the idea of them. I'm more than comfortable shelling out more money for an external DAC, but is that really necessary? I am using a fairly advanced motherboard that includes a nice Sound-card (ASUS Impact VI), so I will probably be using the included SPDIF output. I shouldn't run into any problems with this, right?
 
It's also safe to mention that I'm not going to be using these in the typical fashion, on either side of a monitor or desk. They are going to be cramped in a dorm-style lockable cabinet, slightly on either side of the monitor, but basically totally behind it. I could also place them on the floor, or on top of the cabinet, but I think behind the monitor would be fine.
 
One last question. Since I'm not going to be able to reach any of the controls on the back without some significant effort, are there are external volume control solutions I could use to route the volume to where I can reach it? This is another reason why I was considering a DAC, because most of them have a forward mounted volume knob. I don't think there's any way I could interact with the volume control short of having sort of pass-through in the signal-chain.
 
Thanks a lot. Sorry if my post was long-winded.

 

[v2guy]

First of all full disclosure.  I'm one of the Vanatoo guys.  
 
The T1 amplifier is a direct digital amplifier which means the amplifier can only receive digital inputs.  All the DSP functions like volume control, bass control, treble control, equalization, and filters are applied to the digital music in the digital domain.  The amplifier does not convert the music to analog until the very last point just before the woofer and tweeter drivers.  This gives your digital music the most direct and cleanest path to the drivers.  If you choose to use an external DAC to convert the SPDIF from your PC to analog before you send it to the T1's analog input, he very first thing the T1 will do is convert the analog signal back to digital using a very high quality ADC then feed the digital result to the amplifier.  So you can see that using an external DAC actually results in an unnecessary D-to-A/A-to-D set of conversions.  As such we recommend sending a digital signal directly to the T1 if you have one.  If not, the analog input works well too.
 
Regarding the placement of the speakers, it would be best if you could keep the speakers at least even with the monitor so that your monitor can not cast a "shadow" on the acoustics.  However, we always tell people that you need to be able to live in your living space and sometimes you have to compromise the optimum speaker placement a bit so you can better enjoy your living space.  And that's OK.  However please DO NOT place the speakers on the floor.  No bookshelf speaker will sound as good on the floor as it will if you place them closer to your ear level.  In fact for the T1s it's good if you can either tilt them up a bit or raise them a bit so the tweeters are either shooting up a bit toward your ears or if no tilt, so they are closer to your ear level.
 
Regarding the volume control, just use the volume control on your PC (or MAC).  It's handier and you already have it.  The volume control on the back of the T1 is meant to be a set once and forget control.  I generally set the volume control on the back of the T1 to full volume.  If you do that you can driver the T1s into distortion by setting your PC volume to 100% (it was intentionally designed that way for a reason), but if that does happen don't worry about it.  You won't hurt the T1.  Just turn the PC volume down a bit until the distortion stops. 
 
Hope that long winded answer helps.