Dusty Chalk

Please...tell us more about this denial you are in. No, seriously, you can't preach it both ways -- you sound like on the one hand, you want to believe the opposite of what happened, but then you're also telling us to "wait and see" until we hear both sides of the story.

He's such a dufus. Earl's right -- Singlepower amps (the ones that I've heard, anyway) do not have the stereotypical "tubey" sound -- that's what makes them special. For that, he'd want a Wheatfield or a HAP-03 (either Radii or Moretto, one was just a clone of the other, I forget which was which). Or a Xiang Sheng, that's nice and tubey.

I've heard the L3000's with the EarMax Pro, and I thought they had excellent synergy -- they actually were one of the few amps that fooled me into not hearing the slight midrange suckout at first. (Hirsch's, anyway, not sure which version he has.)

Jesus. Nice save there, Alex. I'm definitely sending any recables to you. I mean, I can even tell from your story that that's not the reason you did what you did, you were just presented a challenge that you couldn't ignore. Huzzah and kudos.

M-Audio Sonica, which was the precursor to the Transit, is a step up from the internal soundcard in your laptop, but probably not as good as the Pico. M-Audio Audiophile is out of production, so if you want current technology, I'd just look around here. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of anything better until you jump up to the Apogee MiniMe or Duet (the latter of which requires an Apple...for now). But that's intended for a match with the CKIII -- I'd just go with the Pico. Pico's biggest competition (in my head), believe it or not, is the Musical Fidelity X-CANv8, which now has a USB option. But you'd have to check around for a bargain, because they are pushing your budget. But I haven't heard it, so have no idea if it comes even close to the Pico, it's just on my short list of items to hear. Plus, it requires external power, whereas the Pico, I believe, does not.

Sexy? Pffft. It looks like a jumped up Wheatfield HA-2. No, wait, that is sexy. I need better pictures, man. And (groan) to the former.

The general secretary of the first church of nonsequiturianism evangelism approves of this message. Especially the avocado part.

Back on topic -- are the markl -modded D5000's going to be at CanJam? Will everyone attending please give them a listen and report back? Honestly?

Pico has USB DAC built in.

SDS or Dragon The EarMax Pro that KG linked to Wheatfield HA-2 (not current production, but schematics are available) Blue Hawaii (but that's electrostatic)

Yeah, except she lives in Oakland. And the nature of her work and lifestyle is such that she needs a car more than half the time.

Actually, wouldn't that be Stax Electro-shock therapy? And thanks for setting me straight -- makes perfect sense that they're different voltages.

If you skip the active ground, you can get away with four boards and otherwise do balanced and single-ended. That's what I plan to do, anyway.

Steakhouse salad sandwich from chop't w/olives... ...and no pickle

My sister lives in San Francisco, which is reported locally (DC area) as having the highest average for a city in the nation.

Sweet. Thanks for the heads up.

I second either the Pico w/DAC option + headphones (though I probably wouldn't go for the HD6x0's -- I'm more of an Audio-Technica, AKG, or Beyer DT880 guy, myself) or the Stax setup.

Did you get the shill discount industry price?

I've occasionally missed out on the best coupons because they don't always send them to me. I've taken to frequenting this site (googled "borders coupon") when they send me an email, because they're almost always timed similarly.

Won't a dust particle get zapped and turned to ash? Just like an electrostatic air filter?

I wish I could afford all of them. That's one of my wishlist players -- if I suddenly upped my income tenfold, I'd own that one in a heartbeat. It should at least be on your short list. And yeah -- DSD and PCM are two entirely different things. Theoretically, the HDMI spec also can carry DSD, but I haven't been following that closely, so I don't know if any products have been created yet. There's also a couple of Denon and Pioneer player/receiver combinations that have i.Link or equivalent digital transmission, but no external DAC per se (I think dCS also has separates; and maybe someone else -- Accuphase?). And it's more oriented towards surround-sound. Your best bet is to get a nice one-box player. Hey, I've been in touch with the guys from Electrocompaniet, and I've recommended that they show their universal player at CanJam. I sent them your way, I hope you don't mind. (Not sure if they'll follow my advice, though.)

100% oxygen-free win.

I thought this was going to be about the two dollar bill that I have stuck in my wallet.

No, he just very clearly stated your problem, and you totally missed it. Notice, in the example, that the rich dude actually does own the factory, and that the other guys would have no problem with him owning it. It's the flaunting in the face that's annoying. I.E. it's not the information -- factual, or otherwise -- it's the delivery. You're delivering it in asshat fashion. Whiney, egotistical, defensive, posturing, bullying, makes me want to you, fashion. So I guess the short answer to your question, aerius, is, 'yes'. This site has some cool smilies.

I can't believe no-one's posted the Headroom Max or the Headroom Balanced Max with Diamond Buffers yet. That's just ... inconceivable. Easily the best solid-state I've ever heard. The Beta 22 is right up there with it (I.E. a close second or third), but the amp-formerly-known-as-the-Blockhead is the best I've ever heard. At the very least, they deserve to be on the list. Of the list, I'd go with the Beta22, and even if you do without considering the Headrooms, you'd be fine for a very long time. Nice synergy with both the W3000 and the D5000. I think it could handle the Mr. Ed9 just fine. Except for maybe a maxed out KGSS, but that's an electrostat amp.