Here's my quandary: I've got about $1500 to set up a hi-fi system for my small dorm room (about 10' x 10'). What I was planning on doing was hooking my iMac up to HRT's music streamer ii+ dac (or musical fidelity's v-DAC), and using a Marantz PM5004 amp to power a pair of PSB Image B6's.
However, my concern is that the sound quality of the downloads in my iTunes library isn't great. Obviously, they're 16-bit files, some of which have been compressed (I have no ALAC files or 24-bit music). Would it be wiser (sound better) to snag a used record player of decent quality, or buy Rega's RP1 and add the performance pack, and go vinyl? It's looking like it would cost me about the same. I'm just trying to get the best sound quality on my limited budget - aren't we all?
Here's my quandary: I've got about $1500 to set up a hi-fi system for my small dorm room (about 10' x 10'). What I was planning on doing was hooking my iMac up to HRT's music streamer ii+ dac (or musical fidelity's v-DAC), and using a Marantz PM5004 amp to power a pair of PSB Image B6's.
However, my concern is that the sound quality of the downloads in my iTunes library isn't great. Obviously, they're 16-bit files, some of which have been compressed (I have no ALAC files or 24-bit music). Would it be wiser (sound better) to snag a used record player of decent quality, or buy Rega's RP1 and add the performance pack, and go vinyl? It's looking like it would cost me about the same. I'm just trying to get the best sound quality on my limited budget - aren't we all?