I am new to the forums and high end seperates. I purchased a mac 162 amp off of ebay. I am using a sony reciever for a preamp. I was in a hifi store and the clerk said I was not appreciating the full potential of my mac because the reciever probably has no output voltage.

My question is does output voltage on a preamp make a big difference? and if so why?

I have seen some pre's have different output ratings 2.5,1.0 etc...

Is my sony good enough for a preamp?

I guess its more like a few questions.
Any help on the subject would be great.

Now that I've got my MMF-5 up and running, I need to update my vinyl hygiene regimen. In the years before CDs became my primary source, I used Discwasher products on my records. I've heard some "smack" talk concerning Discwasher. I got a "microfiber" brush and anti-static cloth where I got the MMF-5 to use until I get something better.

Is something like the Nitty Gritty machine a good investment? Or, is there something "in between" that will work well? What are you guys using? I want to make sure that I'm getting the most out of my vinyl and protecting it as well.

All of this talk about the future and how we should be embracing downloads. I look at my racks of LPs and CDs and I all I can think about is how much I LOVE THEM! Every single one of them! So am I the only CD/LP "fetishist" left in audiophileville?
And I'm not some old fashioned "curmudgeon" either. I'm 35 and have been collecting music since my early college days. I guess people my age should be more concerned about buying a new iphone but I'll stick to spending my extra $$$ on CDs and LPs!

I apologize if this has been asked before (I poked around and could not find any reference to it), but does anyone have any experience with the Stereo-Link USB DAC? Stereo-Link, from what I gather, is a small company in Rhode Island that sells a cheapy USB DAC - the base model sells for $195. Thanks in advance. Here's a link to their website if you're interested:

http://www.stereo-link.com/index.html

My friend has let me try his epos els 3 and his klipsch synergy sb-3 bookshelf speaker and the epos doesnt even compare to it.Maybe my ears are dumb and illiterate,but I know what I hear and I like it.So that is what I am going with regardless of whether they came from best buy or they came from Walgreens.Ive got 3,000 plus cds and I am going to enjoy my music and stop beating my brains out on which type of snake oil to buy in to next.Man I am being rough on myself!!

So there I was, yesterday, stopping at a Starbuck's for a cold drink to accompany the local fireworks display, and at the cashier station were copies of Sir Paul's latest offering "Memory Almost Full". The only cut I'd heard from it was "Dance Tonight" - not a bad tune and my wife liked it. So I bought the CD too and put it on to play after the fireworks. We all make mistakes. Not even a first rate system can put any life into it.

I've only recently begun searching through the world of high end audio and I love what I've heard so far (checked out the selection at Magnolia) and definitely would like to invest in a system. However, I'm not quite sure where to start, or for that matter, how many/what components are needed.

So, the essential question has two parts;

What are all of the components needed for a great home audio system (forget video, only interested in the audio)?

Is there an optimal sequence in selecting components? what?

Are there any references for this kind of info?

I am trying to get everyones thoughts on these speakers.
does anyone have these?I listened to them and thought the sound was pretty good,or are they labeled as bad speakers just because they come from BB?