Work from home setup (the laptop isn't usually there blocking the speaker). There's an old Yamaha sub under the desk.

  I hope I'm not out of line bumping an old thread but I had an identical experience.  I dissassembled the unit and found nothing abnormal inside, except a lot of dust I took the opportunity to clean out.  Apparently it was indeed the power supply.  I substituted the Creative AC adapter with a...

I thought I'd chime in and report a successful warranty replacement.  Not long ago the wiring started to go on one side with the audio dropping out after a couple years of daily usage... so I mailed them in with a note and a $9.00 money order for return shipping, just like the website says. ...

I have a set of A5s and I'm quite fond of them, but if I were living in a dorm setting I would just buy some nice headphones. Are you sure you'd be able to use them frequently enough to justify the expense?

Bruce Springsteen and one happy fan.  New Orleans Jazz Fest 2012     rest of the set: http://mrbsdomain.com/gallery2/myphotography/jazz_fest_2012/4-29-12/?g2_page=3

I don't spend too much real estate on foobar.  Skin is MonoLiteMod.     Details + Zoom

New pic for 2011... only real change is better speaker stands.     Description + Zoom

I backup all my media... I don't need to learn the hard way.  All my music, videos, documents and pictures are on a RAID 1 array (two mirrored drives) in my desktop PC.  I keep a third copy of that drive at work.  Parts of my music collection are also on portable devices and laptops. Quote:

I would try any lossless audio source you have on hand before deciding if new hardware is necessary... does sound like a DAC is in your future, though.

I would take the bigger and better speakers... just buy a decent DAC later when you can afford it.

There are some pretty amazing watches in here.  I just got my first automatic, a Seiko 5 SNZH59.  Previously I've work some cheap quartz watches, most recently a Pulsar I posted here over a year ago.  I suspect my next and final wristwatch will be an Omega Speedmaster Pro.  

I have a mixed collection of FLAC and MP3 in my main collection, which is on a separate RAID1 Media drive... D:\Music.   On my C drive I have MP3 copies of the of the FLAC albums I want on my Zune in the C:\...\My Music folder.  Since Zune ignores FLAC folders altogether, pointing the Zune...

Buena Vista Social Club - Buena Vista Social Club

Splinter Cell Chaos Theory - Amon Tobin Timeline - Bill Brown Simcity 4 - Jerry Martin

Conceding all your points for the sake of discussion, it's still short-sighted to purchase a collection of lossy files.  They can't be transcoded without significant quality loss.  If AAC falls out of favor in 10 years, there is no way to convert to the next format without negative consequences.