i still cant stop staring at the build quality of that amp. it is just beautiful. is it as strong as it looks? not suggesting you take a hammer to it but do you think it is capable of taking a few hits say via transit (ups etc) if one were to ship it from one residence to another?
i know this is off topic is sort of related. ive been saving up for the past 2 months (have ~1200) and will continue to do so until i have enough money to buy a balanced 650 (probably used but maybe not - i find the whole burning in process excruciatingly painful but infinitely fun as well), a balanced amp (tube vs ss?) and a balanced source. a rig that could be called the best possible solution to a 650 rig.
problem is this. chances of me have a cd player are pretty slim as i have to do stuff at my desk for about 8-10 hours everyday in front of my computer. so 90% chances are, while im still a student (another 9 years) the computer will be my source. therein lies the problem. could a dedicated sound card do a 650 and say a b52 justice or would the source leave a lot to be desired. if such is the case, i might as well drop the whole idea for now and just wait until i am done with school by when who knows if the 650 is still around. a 750 might be all the craze then.
being a student, to put down 5k+ for a hp rig is a big amount of money which is why im sort of trying to circumvent the whole cycle of upgrades and just go straight to the top. perhaps not the wisest of decisions but cost wise it would save me a lot of money along the years. having said that, whatever i buy in the near future will have to last me for a long time. i sure as hell am not going to go around spending 5k+ every year (well not until i have a full time jerb
)
long post aside, and i shall be hearing some AWESOME rigs at can jam, do you think the b52 really is the amp that qualifies as the holy grail of amps for the 650? well holy grail for under 5k. i dont think i could bring myself to spend more than that with all these student expenses to take care of at the same time.
also what source would fall in the same category as the b52? is the prelude the best i can do in terms of computer for source?
apologies for the long post and also if i end up hijacking this thread (not my intentions =/) and thanks in advance for the help
ps. forgot to ask about the dac
suggestions welcome!