If you can do without a remote control, then do a search on the Presonus "Central Station". The "Central Station" is a great headphone amp and a great preamp plus it also has a really good sounding DAC. It is a lot of bang for the buck. I, also, have the 1212M and I much prefer the Central...

Quote: Originally Posted by koven ...what you really need to do is find local dealers and go demo as many brands as you can... It is a long drive to Phoenix and I reeaaally hate the traffic, but that is most likely what I am going to have to do.

I've been researching the magnepan 1.6QR, and they seem to be well thought of. Will the MAC 4100 (100W at 4 ohm, 75W at 8 ohm) work well with them? I don't think I'll get the ESL's. I've also read good things about Vandersteen, Thiel, Infinity, and JBL. Any thoughts on any specific used or...

If I buy used then, how much more than $1000 for good full range?

I would prefer true full range speakers -- not bookshelf. I also am not very fond of some of the sleek modern looking designs. I like the older looking speakers with wood grain cabinets. I'm not sure about the ESL speakers, since I read that they can be tempermental and are lacking below 40Hz...

Quote: Originally Posted by Armaegis On the even cheaper end of things, you could just get a cable to connect between your receiver and headphones. ... and if you don't have a receiver, in your price range good vintage ones can be had, such as the Sherwood S-7300. It has a very...

Thanks, I'll research those. Keep the suggestions coming!

My budget is ~$1000.00 USD (maybe a little higher). Used speakers are perfectly Fine. I recently moved out of an apartment and can finally make the move from 'headphone only listening' to speakers. Basically, my head is spinning from too many choices. I only care about 2-channel stereo and...

Where in the US can this be purchased?

Quote: Originally Posted by chinesekiwi It arrived today! Throughly testing it at the moment. Tbh, like macrog, I do prefer this wee thing (it is small, smaller than I expected) to my Asus Essence STX w/ 3x LME49720NA's....... . . . Tip: If you're in Foobar2000, make sure you...

What is a good way to get a good 24 bit/192 Khz spdif signal through coax (Not Optical) from a laptop? I'm guessing that I need a USB soundcard, but which one will do clean 24/192 spdif through coax? I don't care about bells and whistles or how the dac sounds. I already have an external dac with...

Quote: Originally Posted by jvlgato White Zinfandel. Sweet and tasty. It's the first wine you drink, and you think you're pretty sophisticated because you're drinking wine. It sells a lot, and it really does taste pretty good. But after a while, as you learn more and your palette gets...

Thanks for recommending the central station. I've only listened to it for a few hours, but I can easily say that the headphone amp section sounds way better than the HP4 (even though I've read that the HP4 and CS use about the same headphone amp circuitry). The central station's DAC also sounds...

Quote: Originally Posted by jeremyzone .....perhaps i dont understand your emu card, but it looks like you can also try the digital optical if you want 192khz. i have mine set up as optical from my computer and it sounds great, but i dont have anything else to compare it with...

I'll give the central station a try, since it got such high remarks in here a couple of years ago for having both a great headphone amp and a great dac. Also, guitar center has a 30 day refund policy, so I can't lose. Uncle Erik: I read that when the central station is used with a power...