[maneuen]

Thanks for the replys, it sounds like I should just use a the creative usb soundcard and my laptop rather than the htpc and m-audio.

My thinking for wanting to use the htpc was to preserve the same audio chain that I actually use. I understand that I am tuning the sub to the room, but I'm not sure how much variance there is between sound card output / type of output levels and rca input vs. digital input on the receiver.

suppose with the m-audio digital output I have to turn the receiver up to x in order to achieve 75 decimals. But with the creative usb sound card and rca output/input I must turn the receiver up to "x-10" to achieve the same output level. Then in reality I have tuned everything to a level that is too quiet for actual use. Do you see my reasoning, or am I overlooking something?