Help me introduce computer to my fancy, rebuilt vintage KEF towers

[Chuck50]

I have numerous Ipods and at one time had over 1,000 albums (still have a bookshelf full), and still possess over 2k CD's (used to be on record company mailing lists in my previous occupation)

 

Have a fairly nice pc with a soundblaster xtreme card, and have some pretty good pc speakers.

 

 

However, I recently got a pair of vintage Kef 103/104 4ohm speakers restored, and was in the market for a new amp until I figured out that like most of the modern world I primarily listen to music on Ipod or at my PC. And I don 't EVER listen to the radio anymore unless its streaming over the Internet. So no tuner needed at all.

 

What would be the best way for my computer to get a high quality connection that will also provide enough juice to push these babies like they were meant to be powered? A nice option would be to be able to switch back and for between my current desktop speakers and the KEFs - I would say I'm looking in the neighborhood of 500.

 

Thanks,

CHarles

[esldude]

Well, your Soundblaster probably has an SPDIF out. Buying a good second hand Denon AVR and connecting the digital signal from your computer would probably work pretty well. I know you don't need multi-channel or a tuner. But this might be the most cost effective.

 

You could feed the analog stereo signal out of the soundblaster to an amp, but usually that isn't the greatest sound quality.

 

You could purchase something like the Audioquest Dragonfly($199) to feed into an external amp from the computer. But that leaves less money for the amp.

 

So I think for $500 one of the larger second hand Denon's fed digitally from your sound card is the best choice of these three.

 

Hopefully some of the folks smarter than me have a better suggestion.

[CKehoe]

Sounds like the perfect fit for the NuForce DDA-100. $549

[Chuck50]

Sounds like the perfect fit for the NuForce DDA-100. $549

 

Actually my soundblaster is one of the bottom models, I guess: nothing but analog out - it doesnt look like it has an optical or spdif out....or are those the same thing?

 

Now my motherboard Evga 780i appears to have an optical out on it...will that be sufficient or should I look into a separate sound card upgrade?

 

Also, regarding the NuForce I'm a little worried it won't be able to drive the KEF 103/4's to their fullest potential..that and the no analog inputs (I rarely listen to albums or my cd player but might occasionally).

 

If I went for, say, something in the way of a used integrated amp what should I look at adding to most successfully deliver the computer's sound to it?

 

 

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[mayhem13]

Well you're KEFs are pretty darn efficient so I wouldn't say you need tons of power, but a solid 100 per speaker should get the job done with enough left over for dynamics. There's plenty of excellent integrated amps out there with enough gusto to drive the KEFs. There's some fantastic deals on second hand gear on such sites as Audiogon

 

As for your Mobo optical output, after trying USB, converters, firewire and SpdiF via a sound card, the Mobo optical sounds as good if not better than any of them. Although not a cable guy, I do recommend a quality optical cable of the glass variety.....not a big investment though $50-60 gets you excellent build quality an well engineered terminations with a solid fit ( the most important IMO).

[crisnee]

About the power output; not all 100 watts are the same. Without going into detail, a quality 50 watt receiver/integrated is as powerful as many a run-of-the-mill 100 watt per channel AVRs. Just read the details about the power rating. Keep in mind that doubling your power only gives you 3db more volume--not very much. What I'm saying is that a quality 50 watt unit may be plenty.

 

Optical usually refers to the glass/plastic cables with the little squarish plug and red laser when on, and spdif usually refers to what looks like a standard Rca connector cable, but is optimized for digital signals, it will however also carry standard analog signals.

 

Most people here seem to prefer usb dacs, or usb to spdif converters which you then connect to your dac or digital receiver. That's what I use, but I don't have an optical out on my pc, so I can't say how that would compare. One good thing about optical cables is that they don't carry current, so they won't carry noise from your computer. I think it's definitely worth trying if you get a receiver with an optical in.

 

Chris

[crisnee]

By the way, a good place for inexpensive good quality cables is Monoprice.com, although I don't know if they carry glass optical cables. They do carry quality heavy duty plastic optical cables.

 

Chris