The new apple airport express is a better router than the old one (it is dual band, has 2 ethernet ports) and still has the analog/digital out (use a minitosklink to toslink).  I just bought one to use as a wifi repeater/streaming devicen and it is working great.  ...

Nice job of discussing the topic raised by the OP . . . 

Quote: I'm so sorry, if I wasn't clear.  I think you were right in your response to my first post.  Perhaps my second one wasn't clear but it should be by now.  You did give some hardware advice but you didn't give any dac advice which is your whole point right?  Like I said, seriously nice...

I've connected my macs both ways (usb and digital); they're both fine.  The real advantage of toslink is that it allows you to connect to an av receiver (or a 2 channel rig with digital inputs) which saves you the money of buying a usb dac.  Onkyo has some really good looking new amps with...

If price weren't an issue, I'd' probably opt for the emotivas. But you can pick up the audioengine A5+ open box from Vanns which is undergoing liquidation I believe but with a full manufacturer's warranty for $234 and no shipping.  I wanted to buy the airmotivs but opted for the audio engines...

The Grado SR60s were my first pair of good headphones.     Once you have a pretty good system that you are happy with (and I take it from your post that you are happy with your current set up), then the question becomes what is your weakest link.  I suspect it is the headphones.  In changing...

You lack of a CD drive on the new minis is a drag; it can be fixed inexpensively, though.  You can connect your digital sources either via usb or via a mini toslink to toslink using the headphone output.  

@wuli123: I think you did a nice job of researching your gear and looking for a good price.  It seems that you like the sound of your speakers which is obviously really important.   If you want to save some money, accessories4less sells refurbished gear with warranties.  It is hit or miss as...

@cel4145: you must really enjoy your life.   So if you want to engage in a pretty dumb flaming war, go ahead buddy.  You are clearly enjoying yourself.   Insofar as the sonar is concerned, why didn't you read the 2d message where I edited what i said.  I thought I made it clear that I was...

Quote: I think you should have read the edited post first before repeating yourself.  But if you need to keep repeating yourself over the onboard generic dac on a PC (as opposed to the asus xonar ST that the OP is talking about), please go ahead.  In any case, I'll just disagree with you...

Quote: Well, it really depends on what is onboard doesn't it?  The OP says he is buying a Asus Xonar ST.  I suspect that will work just fine for his purposes.   Edit: I meant to say that the ST is fine in my first post.

The marantz receiver will have no problem driving those speakers which is your primary question.  The Marantz power amplifier isn't going to cut it for your purposes; stick to the marantz stereo receiver.  I wouldn't sweat whether a sound card produces a warm sound or whether a receiver is...

Quote: Emotiva has first rate prices on very good gear.  I haven't seen a lot of online reviews but the few I've read are very positive.  Plus there is a 30 day money back guarantee.

I'd check out the emotive airmotivs, dynaudio speakers, and focal cms speakers.  The airmotivs will be the least expensive of the these three and I've been thinking of picking up a pair of the airmotiv 4s for an office set up.

Quote: I nearly always buy CDs but I've bought some music from both Amazon and iTunes.  Even on a revealing system, I think the music sounds pretty darn good.  

Quote: Don't use wav; flac or alac, it's your choice.  They're both fine.  I'm a mac guy so I've always used alac. But lossless is lossless and you can easily change the format.  ITunes only works with alac though which is why I recommended it.       "So to your third point, If I rely...

There are a lot of pretty good ways to do what you want.  First (and right off the bat) , I'd take all my CDs and burn them to apple lossless using error correction.  That way they'll work with iTunes.  Now there are other front ends for music but it's hard to beat the price (free) and iTunes...

The Senn 595s were the first pair of really good headphones that I owned.  I own headphones I like better now but I still go back and use them from time to time. You are going to really like the Senn 558s is my guess.

There's lot of good ways to go.  I tend to lean towards a separate dac and amp like you suggested as that way you can upgrade the dac without having to upgrade the amp as well.  If you are going separates, you might want to take a look at the outlaw 2150 stereo receiver.  It has a usb input...

A lot depends on how you plan to play your ripped music files.  The Onkyo has great specs and is a very solid choice but it lacks a usb input.  If you plan on playing your music by attaching a computer directly to the amp, having a usb input is probably the way to go (some computers have digital...

Pure ipod dock is perhaps the cheapest I've seen at $86, http://www.amazon.com/PURE-i-20-30-Pin-iPhone-Speaker/dp/B0049MOK92/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351599697&sr=8-1&keywords=pure+ipod+dock.   More than a few receivers have a usb input that allows for a direct digital connection an iPod.  ...

Quote: The audio quality if fine using airplay.  The key is to use the digital out from the apple express or tv rather than the analog out.  The dacs in those two devices are uber cheap and don't sound very good.  They are also both inexpensive at $100 each.  So you can add a good dac and...

@noway and thecouriers, thanks for the tip.  Actually Amazon has them at the same price as B&H and I have some Amazon bucks saved up for the headphones, 

@Zarim: thanks for the ideas.  Some of the cans are over my budget (I like Senns a lot but the HD600s are probably more than I want to spend).  I'll have to look into the AD 1000s, though, and the others you mentioned.   @yep: good call on the AD900s.  I forgot about those.  I used to own a...

So the title says what I'm looking for.  I listen mainly to classical.  I am currently using the Beyerdynamic DT 880s (250 ohm).  I use an audio gd dac/amp which can drive most headphones I think.  This is my desktop set up at home and the music is on my laptop.   So I know that the AKG...