Thanks for your comments. All good stuff. Headphones aren't a good option for me for personal/lifestyle reasons. But thanks for the suggestion. I like the idea of adding a DAC. The reverse engineering idea is good also. I think I'll go with the DAC for now and save my $ until I can afford to go to another level with my speakers. Maybe in the $2k range. You've given me some things to think about, and I really appreciate it.
thx,
dk