Don't get me wrong...I love my Pioneers just don't sell yourself short on the power necessary to make them work good. They are on the inefficient side compared to many bookshelves. I'm just not convinced a 20 watt t-amp is going to be able to power them well enough without frying itself. I would...

This is one of the best threads on this forum. :) BigShot is 100% correct on the harmonics and frequencies. Try it for yourself...I've done so and i can't hear a difference in any real music. Who sits back and listens to 18khz tones all day anyway?

Hey tru....I own the BS-LR21 (smaller brother of the 41s). I also have a much bigger amp to drive them....they do take some power to really sound good. I haven't tested a t-amp with them to know if its enough juice to really get them to shine. I suspect you might be disappointed. (Rooms, taste...

Two of the best FLAC players I've come across are foobar2000 and xmplay.

To just throw another argument in the picture, not everyone uses FLAC or some lossless audio on their portable stuff. Depending on if your audio player (phone or otherwise) can work with it, AAC through the itunes converter is quite awesome. I encode 130kbps AAC for my walkman. :D I can't tell a...

Wow...I had to think about this. My first mp3 player was an iriver one...512mb of flash memory. Took 1 AA battery that lasted for like 40 hours or so....thing would go forever. I wore out the power button and eventually resorted to turning the thing on with a mini screwdriver. I did that until I...

Most can probably rip at far lower than 320kbps in any lossy format and not tell the difference from the cd when they're on the road with ipods or iphones. :D

One thing that definitely can be in effect here--you live in a small apartment. Are those bass ports near a wall or shelf or something solid? That could certainly give some boom to the bass you hear. Move those speakers away from anything solid and I bet the boom goes away. :) I've had this...

foobar2000 is hardly the only option. Many players support gapless these days. Winamp, xmplay, even my lowly favorite 1by1 supports gapless. I've used potplayer before, and it is not gapless, and I saw no way of telling it to play gaplessly (if that's even a word).

Most people, myself included, cannot hear a difference in noisy environments so mp3 at levels even lower than -V0 or CBR 320 (try something like -V5 which is about 130kbps VBR) manage perceptual transparency for many users. ;) Plus mp3 saves on space and battery life--both of which lossless...

I have my doubts on a place called "Head-fi" that you'll find someone who has actually tried both of these with the intentions to purchase. Best thoughts is to check amazon and newegg for reviews. Find a store nearby that sells them with a return policy, and try them out in your home. See what...

Maybe I can just say that CDs are still awesome after 30 years. Used cds is how I primarily will buy music (though I do like amazon's download service if the price is right). ;) My music to do what I want with. I still look over the booklets when I'm first ripping the album, then play it...

The diminishing returns really depend on how well you can hear. Some people can hear the difference between a couple hundred dollar setup and a couple of thousand of dollars of a setup....some can't, and some see the difference as so minimal its not worth the extra cost. Look at your...

Most people in this place won't touch these with a ten foot pole. From what I can tell from Newegg, they're both pretty cheap computer speakers (less than $30) and max output power is 5 watts. You won't be filling any rooms with sound and if you crank them they will not sound good at all. For...

If I just want the music player to play a folder with no playlists or anything else, nothing works better than 1by1 with the BASS plugins (so I can play FLACS). I'm not here to look at my files, just play them, and the minimalist interface works great. If I want to make a specific playlist of...