Long time lurker, first time poster. I'm amazed that the wealth of knowledge found here coupled with such a drama-free group. So here's my question... I'm a home theater guy who is midway through re-ripping 900-ish cd's to Aiff via XLD/I-tunes. How best to go about integrating this into my kit for "the best" possible sound?
My Gear: Outlaw 990 pre/pro
Outlaw 7500 5-channel amp (balanced)
Acurus a150 & 3x100 (rca only)
PBS Stratus Speakers for all 7.1 channels
Idea#1 - Plug a Mac mini with outboard hard drive directly into the 990 via USB and use it's onboard dac. I'm told it's good, how good, I have no idea?
Idea#2 - Run two separate systems that share the same front speakers. So Mac mini to a new dac/pre (leaning towards Benchmark) into the spare Acurus a150.
I can see the pros & cons of both. And to compound the issue I'm waffling between my balanced/unbalanced amps. The Acurus guys are audibly better to me but I'm using the Outlaw due to longer cable runs though I'm not convinced they're using a true 100% balanced throughput. I'd love to hear some comments, feedback, or another scenario I've not put together in my little head. Save the speakers I'm not against ebaying everything and starting over, though budget does come into play a touch.
Cheers in advance,
Jarad
