Maxmano

David...Thanks - Not sure what I should use to drive the Thiels. I took a closer look at them and they are 4 ohm and 87dB. I thought the Jolida fx10 tube amp might be a good match but I'm not sure if 10 watts would be enough to drive 4 ohm speakers. I don't listen at ear bleed levels but I don't want to underpower the speakers. Mayhem - thanks for the skinny on how to how to connect the Jolida. What are the benefits of using a pre or an integrated as opposed to running the dac directly to just an amp? Is it just for a volume control and more inputs? Looking at pricing - I can see that seperates are going to be outside my budget. Crisnee - The Marantz is an old 70's silver faced receiver. Lots of power but it is currently serving duty with old JBL's as my main system in my living room. I appreciate the tip on Audiogon. Looks like lots of great used stuff there and I'm not crazy about rolling the dice with ebay so I'm thinking that's where I'll get my remaining gear. Thanks everyone for your help - Lots of good info and advice!

Hello... First time poster. I'm hoping someone can give me some direction in order to put together a decent PC audio system. I'm an old 2-channel audio guy, but I have a large collection of MP3 and FLAC recordings on my PC (Windows 7). Up till now I listen via motherboard integrated sound into Logitech Z-2300 speakers or I copy files to a Sansa Fuze and attach to my old Marantz 2285B. However, thru some trading, I've acquired a Jolida glass fx tube dac and a set of Thiel original scs speakers. To show what I beginner I am - I'm not even quite sure exactly what the dac does and how I might use it. And I'm thinking I need an amplifier (and maybe a preamp?). Not sure how all these pieces fit together and what I might need to put together something that sounds better than the Logitech. I plan to put this system on my desk along side my PC. Can anyone give me some direction as to what additional pieces I need? I know nothing about tube gear - but would a Jolida fx10 tube amp be a good match? Also - limited budget ($500-700) so equipment purchases have to be on the inexpensive side and used gear is preferable cuz it's cheap! Thank you Dino