thedanimal Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Hi all,I'm currently running a Marantz 2238b with efficient Klipsch Heresy speakers. I'm at the point where I'd like to get into a tube unit and planned on picking up a mainline tube amp, but started to have eyes for a local Fisher 500c. I ultimately will be streaming Pandora/Spotify via a Squeezebox Touch (wife and kids), and FLAC audio via input to the SB for myself.I am thinking that if I pick up the Fisher I can use the AUX in for the SB (and perhaps a new dedicated DAC) and benefit from the nice tube sound in lieu of a dedicated mainline. Does this make sense? I'd appreciate any feedback and/or direction on this.Thanks!Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muel Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Sounds like a great idea... Make sure the wife and kids understand the tube amp is nothing for the kids to play with. If it doesn't have a case or cover I would suggest getting one to prevent curious hands from entering a hot/high voltage zone. Also kids playing with the knobs could have bad results such as shutting it off and on repeatedly... not good for the tubes. I had the Squeezebox Touch on my Scott amp for a few weeks before I moved it to the living room. Worked and sounded as hoped! I also used a MHDT Havana DAC in that setup... very nice sound! Here's an idea for you... feed the DAC from your SB Touch. Both your FLAC files and SB can benefit from a nice DAC! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedanimal Posted December 15, 2014 Author Share Posted December 15, 2014 Hi Muel - Yes I'm planning on getting a case for it. My kids are old enough to know better, then again they are kids! Am I tracking right that you're suggesting that I should invest in a dedicated DAC? I was doing some research online, and some were suggesting that the delta between the SB DAC vs. a stand-alone DAC would be nominal and not worth the extra 500 dollars or so. I doubt this given the rave reviews for some of the DACs available now. Thanks! Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joessportster Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 I am running a system very similar to your query, I use my laptop run to a dedicated dac to a tube amp to my phones, it works great DAC tech has jumped leaps and bounds over the last decade so depending on how old your current dac is there is real improvement avail in a dedicated dac. I am currently enjoying the Centrance dacmini cx, the Schiit Bifrost Uber was also very good, The Audiogd11 sounded very good but I would not recommend it as the software is very fussy with little support good luck with the system / welcome to the forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muel Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 There is no reason you can't do your streaming and play your FLAC files through the SB touch without an external DAC. You can spend as much as you want on a DAC! Yes, you can get a lot of improvement over the internal DAC on the SB but only you can decide if it is worth the $. You might try the SB by itself for a while and decide later. I'm bad about making lots of changes at once and then I don't really know what brought about the improvements. Try just changing one variable at a time so you can make deliberate and informed decisions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorm Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 I am running an almost identical setup except with an external DAC. It sounds great with FLAC files. Keep in mind that the power knob on the Fisher 500c's wear out quickly when clicked on and off. I have mine always on and use an external switch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muel Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 I am running an almost identical setup except with an external DAC. It sounds great with FLAC files. Keep in mind that the power knob on the Fisher 500c's wear out quickly when clicked on and off. I have mine always on and use an external switch. +1 Good idea to save wear and tear on the power/volume knob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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