"Greg" wrote in message
oups.com...
It seems that most people use Hafler amps to drive these speakers. I
might be able to find one at a price I can afford on ebay. The P1000 is
the only one with RCA inputs though. The rest only have balanced
inputs.
I'm trying to figure out if my soundcard (Chaintech AV-710) has
a strong enough signal to connect it directly to an amp, and if it's
possible to go from the unbalanced output of my soundcard to the
balanced input of one of the bigger Haflers. So...

Sound cards have enough output to do this.

Do I need a preamp if I get an amplifier instead of an integrated
amplifier?
No.

Should I consider an amp that only has balanced inputs?
All you need is an unbalanced RCA to 1/4" adaptor, one for each channel. A
couple bucks each.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

-Greg

A preamp is useful, but not essential. It allows you to trim the levels for
optimal soundcard performance.
I would still go with the Hafler, as it is the highest quality of what
you've mentioned.