The audiophile psyche is deep and complex. Or is it? What do you hope to accomplish by being interested in audio reproduction?
So, I think that I just made a stupid (and possibly expensive) mistake. I listened to several integrated amps to pair with Thiel CS 1.6 speakers, but was not terribly excited by any option in my price range (~$1,000). I ended up purchasing the Arcam DiVA A70. After getting home and reading the Arcam handbook, I realized that I cannot pair the Thiels with a subwoofer, because the Arcam can only handle one pair of speakers if they are less than 8 ohms (the Thiels are 4 ohms).
So I keep buying LPs even though I haven't set up analog front end yet. But I figure I will have a small collection of LPs ready to go once it's set up. One great thing about living in NYC is that it's the haven for vinyl lovers. There was a street fair on Saturday & this dude was selling some great records, so I picked up: