After hearing a pair of MG-2Cs shine in a friend's system, I found a very clean set with Cherry trim in NJ. I immediately replaced the factory jumpers with silver wire.

A buddy sold an ST-85 6 years ago and still moans about it. Took a complete chance on this to fire up my Maggie 1.6s and absolutely love it. Brimar CV4003s in the Pre, Mullard 12AT7s, and Golden Lions in the output.

I simply couldn't imagine that a dozen reviewers conspired to award this DAC Product of the Year and other accolades. Bought it after reading everything I could get my hands on.

Sold the Flatliners to a buddy and bought very minimalist Uglies. Appropriately named. Custom Interconnects from GAS Labs. Silver RCA connectors.

My buddy Gary is a younger, more audio focused version of Doc Brown from Back to the Future. When he said he thought he accidentally landed on a break through speaker cable, I had to try them. 1050 strand tinned copper, bananas, custom length and something proprietary about shielding. Hey, they really opened up the Soundstage and provided some heat to the mid bass without hazing up the highs. They've already bested some super high dollar silver cable that I thought would be nearly impossible to displace. If you ask nicely, he might make you a pair too.

Again, custom cabling from Gary for both the amp and the DAC. Soundly beat the Audience power cord I've had in my system for 5 years. Superb.

I can feel everyone's collective eye-roll and dismissal of further consideration. Fact is, this wasn't my first or fifth choice. Until I borrowed one.

Running to the subs. Custom.

Modded as follows:

It pays to read the forums. Every forum. Would have never found this otherwise.

Paired with the Mac Mini and a Ghent Audio 1mb DC cable

Thought for about 2 yrs that i'd have to abandon USB sourced audio altogether given the really sour quality. Found out about this on the PS Audio forum where a few rave about how it compliments the I2S port on the DSD. Still seeking a 1mb PS Audio HDMI silver but really enjoying a well thought Apollo AV Lightening v2 HDMI referenced in an obscure forum post somewhere.

powering the Matrix. Kinda makes me not want to buy another linear supply.

Flawless, for the money. It's not that the audiophile in me doesn't want to spend globs more on a better spec'd box. It's more like I don't need to. Maybe that day comes. For now, it's easily the best sub I've ever owned.