Green pens?

Just a guess, but he may be referring to the practice of treating the edges of a CD with a green marker.

Really finding this thread enlightening. Not sure anyone deserves to be fleeced, but

Geez, what happened to the end of that post?!? Let's try again. Not sure anyone deserves to be fleeced, but of course, there's that old saw about fools and their money. I feel like scamming is just a bad business model, no matter what's behind it.

Well, fellow desperados and gunslingers, I can honestly say that I've run out of road. My system sounds fantastic with these new Audience Maestro ICs, but the truth is that it already sounded fantastic with the considerably cheaper Outlaw PCAs they replaced, and the differences I hear (admittedly more noticeable with my mono/center Totem speaker configuration than with my NHT mains) are so subtle that I wouldn't call them life-altering.

Simply put, this is me saying I'm done, finished, kaput, whatever with experimenting. Wouldn't call these Audience ICs "snake oil," but now I'm pretty certain that you can build a fine budget system (my initial goal) without breaking the bank. (Of course, the wife thinks I already broke the bank, but bless her heart for putting up with it.) Thanx to everyone in the forum for the insights and suggestions—even those I might not have heeded. Now, back to the music…

tru blue:

Glad to hear everything came together for you. It can take a while (and a lot of $), can't it?

Since my original post, I bought the Emotiva, so major purchases are over for me now as well. Maybe some time next year, I'll start looking at hi-def DVD players. Meantime, I think I'm going to tweak my vinyl playback system a bit -- but that won't break the bank and should be kind of fun.

So, like you, I've just been sitting back and enjoying the system and marveling at how good it sounds.

Just as a personal anecdote, I recently visited my brother in Atlanta who has a big buck 2-channel system. I was convinced I would find my budget-minded rig would sound lackluster in comparison. Much to my surprise, I thought my system really held its own in a number of parameters. I think he has a bit of an edge on vinyl playback; but I prefered my digital front end. Just goes to show you don't have to spend a fortune to get good sound!

Happy Thanskgiving to you. Hope you get some down time with some good movies and/or music!

Best,

- VD