Before I bought anything, I spent several months pondering how I wanted this system to turn out. I read usenet groups, websites, and even looked at every single virtual system here on Audiogon for inspiration. I combined what I learned with my own personal tastes and goals and came up with the system you see here.

The priorities for this system were to minimize useless features and snake oil, while maximizing hi-end performance. At the same time, I didn't want to completely ignore appearance, so I didn't mind paying a little extra for something that would be living room worthy (otherwise I would have gone with full studio grade gear).

Hopefully, this system will be the first and only audio components I buy for the rest of my life. I am planning a round of computer upgrades soon and might get a pair of headphones, however.

Comments/criticisms welcome. :)

A few notes:

- I use this system for everything, and thus get to experience all sounds in audiophilic glory - vinyl, FLAC, MP3, video games, movies, computer beeps. The sound card is an M-Audio Audiophile 2496. The M-Audio 9900-40765-00 is the current successor to this fine soundcard, if you're in the market for one. Apart from the impressive stats, M-Audio also is renown for their comparatively bloat-free drivers.

- It's not the perfect movie setup, but movies are not a high priority for me. I happen to find alot of the "advances" in home theater annoying anyway (e.g. surround sound, widescreen aspect ratio, etc.). There's a couch about 12ft back from this desk that gets used occasionally for movies, and the speakers are positioned appropriately for that listening location. IMO, this aging 21" Trinitron CRT still beats any LCD monitor on the market right now. It'll be a shame when it dies, since they aren't making decent CRTs anymore. Hopefully LCD technology will have caught up by then.

- Not being an idiot, I decided not to buy an expensive CD player. I guess if I had a few thousand dollars lying around and REALLY had nothing to do with it, I'd get one. Ditto for cables, wooden pogs, and other "audio jewelry". Of course, one could extend this logic to vinyl, but alot of the music I am fond of isn't available on other formats, so not having a turntable wasn't an option for me. Tweakos shouldn't take offense though. A hobby is supposed to be fun, after all. I just happen to not find sloppy science to be fun.

- Total cost for the audio components you see here was about $4000. New, these components (or their modern counterparts) would total over $10k. Everything except the cables are used and I got all components for at most half price, mostly on eBay or here on Audiogon. Mission accomplished? I believe so. :)