Nal

And if you are American, buy Canadian! I loved my Camber speakers in college, and now I love the Paradigms Studio 10s that replaced them.

I'm a newbie so please bare with me...I'm interested i your experience with the Denons...were there any improvements in the 3808ci that would tilt your preference away from the DAC + amp? I have the chance to buy a 3808ci for around $ 550. Don't know how lovingly it was cared for...alternative is to buy an integrated stereo (maybe hybrid), a peachtree + amp, or a Dac Magic Plus + amp. My goal is to listen to music and movies w/ stereo speakers, avoiding unnecessary conversions along the way, and getting a lush sound for string instruments and vocals, and decent percussion (flamenco, clapping and box drum) I will play CDs from Oppo but will mostly stream Mog, Pandora, iTunes and (oneday soon) higher quality files from my mac via an airport express. I don't know how good the Cirrus DAC in the Oppo 93 is, vs. external, so I might end up using an external even with the CDs. One other question: low cost tube hybrids vs solid state? can you really get great sound from a 350 dollar tube amp? And what is more useful for sound quality-tube amp or preamp? (so much to learn here!) Thanks to you and anyone else who reads this (Eloise, Paul, Rebel, etc) Nal

Hooked up oppo to technics via RCA (L and R front on 7.1 ports on both). Sound is much nicer (is that in my head?). However, I still have to push hard to hear dialogue on movies--anthem analog volume out at 90-100% of max, and Techinics volume at very high setting. Music requires less push from Technics. I wonder if there is some kind of mismatch between them, or if Technics is too wimpy (but it's rated 100 W per channel). Settings are all correct--Oppo set to stereo and LPCM out, all other speakers set to "off", Technics set to stereo...) Now old CDs sound really boring and muted. Newer CDs, such as the amazing Onqoto by Grupo Corpo (Brazilian), sound fantastic. Too bad they stopped recording opera in the last few years. So questions for you experts: what's going on with the super soft dialogue on movies? Does the fact that I need to set volume so high on both units to get decent sound levels (music and movies) mean I'm causing distortion, or worse yet, damage to my speakers?

Thanks to all for your responses. Bikemig: Yes, I got one paradigm A2 to sit on my desk. I bought in b/c it sounded better than the sonos and I can bring it to different rooms in my house, or outside, and use my airport express easily. The sound is good to my naive ear, and it has a decent, but not excessive amount of bass for near field listening. Since I mostly do fairly intense mental work in my office, and don't try to listen critically, it is fine. How do you like your audioengines? Rascal: I have the paradigms on stands at ear level, around 7 feet from my ears (small room). I'll try switching from digital out to analog out to take advantage of the Oppo's DAC. Now I have to learn about "integrated amps"! Why isn't there an "Audiophilia for Dummies" yet? : )

Hi I got a bit crazy at the dealer's and bought some Paradigm Studio 10s for my living room to go with an Oppo 93 and an old,low end AVR (technics sa dx 1050). I also bought a single paradigm powered speaker for my office to hook up to my iMac (will get second speaker when new desk comes). The oppo is connected to the technics via optical out. It also offers analog out. The sound of the Paradigms is, of course, much less full and rich than at the dealer's. But now I am hooked and wondering what the next steps are. My questions: Will switching to analog out make a big difference w/ Oppo's sound? What is a reasonable DAC for iMac/office--or is the answer "none" until I have two speakers? Would a DAC improve Oppo's sound? Or should my next step be a new AVR (or affordable amp/preamp)? I listen to 1980s/ 1990s classical CDs, pandora, and streamed music via airport express. Mostly classical (string concertos, opera), acoustic guitar, folk and rock Thanks and happy holidays!