OPPO-DV-970HD $149.99 shipped from Amazon. Not sure how much it would cost to ship to UK.

Think of it this way. What is a dedicated source? In simplified terms, it's a CD transport that sends the data to a DAC. What's a computer setup? A CD transport or hard disk that sends the data to a DAC. So theoretically, if you have a computer with a better quality transport and DAC...

OS X all the way! 8 hours/day of XP torture at work is more than enough for me. My home PC (W2K) has only been on for 4 hours this year... 3 hours for anti-virus/spyware/windows updates, and less than 1 hour for actual work... nuff said.

Quote: Originally Posted by MusicallySilent Does anyone have ideas on a sub 50 dollar maybe 25 dollar range iron (temp control isnt necessary) that would be fine for beginning some work (making cables, a few amps (pimeta soha cmoy etc.))... Quote: Originally Posted by...

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=256099 A ton of other threads too. Just search for "blue jeans", since there's usually someone who recommends them whenever someone asks about cables

Quote: Originally Posted by Tridacnid I've done a little more reading, and have found some posts where people say to avoid MOVs. I know that they are standard in common surge protectors, but are they really that bad? Thanks MOVs aren't "bad", and just about every surge...

Quote: Originally Posted by mojo This is true, but some better quality MOV based protectors have a light to let you know when that happens... Be careful with this. I've read on different sites that this light really doesn't mean anything. It apparently only tells you if there's...

I use Brickwall units as my 1st tier of protection (from the wall). Wouldn't have it any other way, since typical surge protectors DO stop protecting after a finite number of surges.

I own both, and I use the PX-100 exclusively at work. However, that's because of one overriding reason, which is the E4 isolate too much... I like to hear what going on around me. For sound quality, the E4 are far superior, in every way. Still, the PX-100 is great for the price. I like...

You know, for just $350 more, you can get a Nano AND a phone

Quote: Originally Posted by zip22 apple is not producing an adapter you could pay for... Actually, Apples does sell an adapter... sort of. It comes as part of the the iPod Shuffle Sport Case. Here's a picture. I bought just the adapter by itself off of eBay for $8 shipped...

What about just putting it in the closet? Use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, so you only need the video cable to come from the closet. Then, use an Airport Express to stream wirelessly to a DAC.

I used to rip everything to 160 AAC, until I started noticing slight imperfections in a small number of songs. Not wanting to spend hours upon hours trying to find the "perfect" encoding rate, I simply ripped everything to 320 AAC. Yes, it takes up a lot of space, and I'm certain I wouldn't be...

I highly recommend getting a drive with the longest warranty available. I tend to stick with Seagate for the 5 year warranty, but I did grab a 200GB Maxtor for $25 shipped Although I've heard good things about Western Digital recently, I've had a couple of bad experiences with their older...

Quote: Originally Posted by Wodgy There's really no need for any of these maintenance utilities. The main thing they were originally created to solve -- that certain automatic scripts wouldn't run if your machine was off -- disappeared with OS X 10.4 Tiger (specifically the introduction...

Here's where I got my silver solder: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=193243 For most soldering, I still use this: http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/6262

Quote: Originally Posted by eyeteeth ...I could compare the A2 and LC-1 but life is too short and I am now beyond wire.....except for the occasion of saving you a few bucks. Pretty much sums up my attitude these days. BJC offers excellent cables for the price. I prefer to...

Quote: Originally Posted by penguindude ...I called the company and the person who answered the phone told me that for a 2 footer, i wont be able to really hear any sonic difference between the two... There you go. If the guys selling you the stuff are saying it doesn't matter...

After messing around with multiple libraries, I eventually settled on a single library with both ALAC and AAC versions of all my CDs. I found that Smart Playlists filtering by Kind (or bitrate) was "good enough" for my needs, and I don't have to think about "which library am I in?" all the time...

Quote: Originally Posted by Lazarus Short ...the iBook owner used Norton Utilities on it. We found over 150,000 files with minor problems!... Ignoring the juvenile flamebaiters, please don't spend your money on any Norton product for the mac. Norton Utilities used to be very...

Some external drives don't support proper sleep mode. I'm guessing it has to do with the interface chipset used. I've got several external enclosures, all using Oxford chipset. Every single one of them goes to sleep and STAYS asleep, whenever my Mac goes to sleep. You may want to consider...

Quote: Originally Posted by milkpowder I thought machine guns and rockets were illegal?! I wonder how they got permission... Nope, machine guns have been perfectly legal to own since they were first developed. Some States put up bureaucratic barriers so that only "special" people...

Very happy with my Tissot. It's a PR50 Chrono that I picked up in Canada 10 years ago. They apparently changed the design, because mine looks nicer than the current model. Quality is good, and I've only had to change the battery twice (about $40 if you want the waterproofing seal...

The OP's point is something I've noticed more and more around here. Take a look at the cable forum, and you'll see people raving about some new power cord or IC and how it's such a HUGE improvement over brand X. IMHO, they are hyper-analyzing the music, listening for the tiniest, most subtle...

I went with 12-gauge Belden 5000 for a very short (<6ft) run. Basically, I just bought the least expensive cable I could find, which turned out to be from Blue Jeans Cable. The plugs ended up costing way more than the wire Works great, and I'll be using it for all future speaker setups.