With RAID it is best to buy your replacements from different sources and batches at the initial time of purchase. You shouldn't be scrambling for replacements the second something goes wrong. This, obviously, adds to the cost rather significantly, but it is the right way to do it in my opinion...

Is that a Steelcase Leap?  I didn't know they came in patterns like that.

The Xonar's audio path is pretty well shielded, and I have not heard of any EMI problems with the card.  You should be fine.  Just make sure that your case has enough airflow to keep the Xonar and both videocards happy though.   As for the Maverick Audio TubeMagic, I have always been a fan...

What price range are we looking at?  Do they need to be active?  Nearfield only?   My first thought upon hearing "fast" was to recommend Maggies: http://www.magnepan.com/model_MMG   They are essentially the speaker equivalent of orthos.   The speakers themselves are reasonably...

The Senns are circumaural while the Grados are on-ear.  As such, the Senns are technically larger.  The Grados, however, have a very "retro" look and will usually stick out more when seen from a rear or front profile.   While more expensive, the Sennheiser HD598 is a very classy (and...

All open cans leak sound, but Grados do so effortlessly, at just about any volume.  Just keep in mind that, with Grados, you might as well have small speakers on your desk.   As far as open cans in an office setting are concerned, I have had people sit next to me with various cans from...

If you would rather not use the volume control on the Micro for your speakers, a splitter at the line out of the STX should be OK, assuming that the line out's signal is strong enough to drive multiple devices.  (My guess is that it is.)   Quote:

Ouch!   Well, I wouldn't say this is a complete loss.  As others have said, you DO still have an amazing housing to play with or sell.  Also, if a major factor in drivers is the coating on the diaphragm, and since your problems are with the coil and not the diaphragms, you could always pick...

When you have different cables for different music genres...    Quote:

The coil must be attached to the center of the diaphragm to move it, and the diaphragm's edge must be held in place, before any meaningful sound will be produced.   The coil should, however, still move in relation to the magnet when any current is put through it when it is placed in its...

The diaphragm definitely does not float; sorry if my response before was a bit vague, I meant that the diaphragm needs to be able to move in and out with the coil, not that it floats in the enclosure.   The diaphragm is either attached with glue along the edge, or is held in place be the...

Actually, it does not look like any damage was done at all.   Grados use a moving coil driver.  The coil not supposed to be attached to its groove.  Rather, the coil moves up and down relative to the magnet (which is in the center of the groove and attached to the housing) it surrounds when...

The Headroom Micro has its own line out, so you would have that option if connecting the Xonar's line out to the Micro.   I did not know about the Dolby Headphone issue when using line out, however.  I am assuming you are using the ATH-AD700s for gaming with Dolby Headphone?  Why not use the...

  I would think that you would be better served by using the line outs when using an external amplifier.   Otherwise you are chaining headphone amps, which can't be a good thing.   You would also gain some flexibility in tweaking the sound by changing the opamp at the buffer stage...

Other than CMSS-3D being ever so slightly better than Dolby Headphone (in my opinion, anyway), you might gain a few FPS in some games due to the X-Fi chip and its on-board RAM.  Keep in mind that if you have a modern quad core CPU, however, this difference is likely to be insignificant, and even...