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?

I

Hi folks,

Although I have been a Stereophile subscriber for MANY years, this is my 1st post to the forums (not that anyone really cares).

I am currently using an old JVZ XLZ1050TN CD player in my main rig (C-J pre & power, Ariston RD110 table, Sumiko BPS, B&W DM6 speakers, Monster & Levinson interlinks and cables). I have quite a few SACDs and was wondering what the folks here think about the Oppo 970 & 981 DVD machines. I was thinking of replacing the JVC with one of these to take advantage of the units' SACD and DVD-A capabilities.