For me it's nice to have all the outputs and the Lite wasn't available back then. I really wanted the BNC output though as it really is 75ohm.
Batteries are ehhh.... yeah.... I'm going to build a Sigma11 for it...
It sure looks strange with so few outputs.... I do highly recommend a replacement PSU for it as it works well on my unit. If you have an old Iomega Zip drive then that PSU will work very well.
If the change in sound from a cold to the amp being at regular running temperature is large enough then I'd run it 24/7 but you are eating up a lot of juice and shorting the life of the capacitors dramatically.
Like Doug said it is always a good idea to discharge the phones if you are storing them for any long period of time.
I believe they use a similar type of panel as ML (powder coated sheet metal) so there are no dust covers and the drivers are often glued together. I'd start checking the bias supplies though before the panels.
If you have some sort of a volume pot and an enclosure then the only thing you need is some RCA jacks. The input goes to one pin of the pot, the output is the next one and then there is ground. It's even easier then pie...
There there should be some passive pre kits on ebay...
I can't wait to get some for shoulder mounted headphones, the Surrounder Mk2... Has anybody seen any mention of a price of either the monitors or the sub unit?
I've compared a lot of transports and even built my own (Shigaclone) and they sound very different from one another. This isn't just limited to disk spinning units as USB transports aren't all the same and benefit from a better PSU.
I'm not sure how the NWO is designed but it shouldn't be a problem to simply ground the - output of the amp and only use the + which is SE. Have you tried XLR-RCA adapter plugs in the chain?