First, to answer your questions, I don't believe I'd need SACD playback as I don't have any SACDs, although it might be a nice feature to look into for the future. I think I've honestly decided to skip the BHSE and Stax electrostatics because the price is a just a little steep for the two components, not to mention the wait time is somewhat of a factor. I think the honor of owning such a fine amp should be reserved for seasoned audiophiles, and I'm very much a novice. This system I'm building now should last a long time and if having a balanced chain makes all the difference then I should definitely look into balanced components just in-case I decide to re-terminate whatever headphones I choose at a later time. I've been trying to imagine what my ideal listening room will look like. I've exhausted my Logitech 5.1 desktop system and Sony headphones from Best Buy so an upgrade is definitely necessary. I have a small CD collection that I'd like to play through a dedicated CD Player. I've got two large moving boxes full of vinyl but my turntable and solid state amp by Pioneer are rather ancient and sound worn and mishandled, I got these passed down as second hand so it would be nice to replace them rather than have them serviced. I DJ so I have a vast collection of MP3 / WAV / FLAC files on my PC so a DAC is necessary. I auditioned the full line of AX speakers by Adam Audio and I was VERY impressed. I produce electronic music with various DAWs so having a nice set of speakers to do studio monitoring would be great. Two A8X speakers and a Sub8 subwoofer I imagine would be ideal and those would likely be hooked up to my PC via my PCI X-Fi Titanium Edition sound card, if I'm not mistaken (please suggest a different setup for this if I'm totally off-base, or if it would be possible to upgrade to something else) I'm also wondering if power conditioning for all this is a factor, as well as cables. I've been doing a bunch of forum browsing and reading guides so here are some products I think I'd be most interested in to be configured with each other. Like I said I'm very much a novice so any advice on this configuration or if something wouldn't sound well together please mention it and I would appreciate it! I can't wait to hear my huge music collection in full fidelity and bring some of this kit to a meet! Audez'e LCD-3, Apex Peak and Volcano amp, M-DAC by Audiolab, Silver Circle Audio Pure Power One 3.0, Leema Acoustics Elements Phono Amp, Rega RP1 Turntable, Goldring 2100 Cartridge, Marantz CD6004 CD Player, Quadrasphere Bamboo racks to store and house everything, and I seem to like Chord Company / QED interconnects because the price isn't outrageous but there seems to be some significant quality based on reviews I've read. Any additional pieces of kit I should look at? Thanks for your help and time to look this over!