My quest for the absolute sound started about 30+ years ago with the visit to a highend audio store in Richmond VA (side note - what happened to the highend audio dealer, they've all regressed into TV stores) and listening to a pair of Klipschorns -- WOW. I brought home a pair of Heresy (most I could afford then) and a Hafler DH200 amp and DH101 preamp and a 'something' cassette deck (remember cassettes?). This system lasted for many years, as I moved along life's journey, and was a pretty rockin system. But, I eventually sold off the gear or did it explode... At this point, I was working on my professional graduate degrees and music reproduction got placed on hold. Once schooling and residency was overwith I began to slowly return to my musical love. I picked up some Klipsch Quartets and Carver gear (why O' why) and a 'something' CD player. This lasted several more years, eventually adding a set of Klipsch Chorus II. The Carver gear got given away for replacement with a McCormack DNA1 amp, TLC1 pre. Later, I swapped in a Rotel CD Player. Eventually, I added another DNA1 for mono amplification. After, another couple of years, I swapped out the Rotel for the BAT VK-D5 SE player and the TLC1 for a Pass Labs Aleph P pre. This system was definitely the best yet. I could not imagine it getting better... But, after a move, I noticed the horns being a bit too bright and brash in my new, smaller, room. So I ended up swapping out both sets of Klipsch for the pair of Quad 988s. Then, came the lust for tubes. So after auditioning a few different tube amps, I decided I had to have Atma-Sphere OTLs. So I swapped out the McCormack DNA1s for Atma-Sphere MA-1s. This brings us to the system as of March 2009 (when I started this posting)... Sooo, read on to see how deep the rabbit hole goes...