"David" wrote in message

Hello,
I would like your opinions on how to go about connecting
up a PC to my pre-amp. The computer is in a different
room from the amp and at the moment I have simply
connected a minijack plug from sound card (SB5.1) to din
socket on amp in next room.

I would like to improve on this and have come up with a
few options and would like your comments.

1. Get new sound card with digital out and feed
coax/optical to next room feeding Meridian 203.

USB audio interfaces with bit-perfect coax digital outputs literally grow on
trees. As Mr Looser says, coax is the proper way to to move digital audio
over the kinds of distances that are involved with room-to-room connections.

USB is has a design limit of 15 feet.
Toslink (optical SP/DIF) has a design limit 30 feet.
Coax SP/DIF can easily reach 100 feet or more.

2. Get new sound card with digital out and feed
coax/optical to Meridian 203 then phono leads to pre-amp
in next room.

A properly-working digital connection is far less vulnerable to interferance
and the other kinds of sonic degradation that can happen accedentally in the
analog domain.

3. Get new DAC with USB (Beresford?) and feed USB cable
from PC to next room feeding DAC.

USB is limited to 15 feet, unless you get involved with more expensive and
complex cable extenders.

Which of these do you think would be the best route or do
you have any other suggestions?

Many models of the SB 5.1 have digital coax outputs. Doesn't yours?