I really like SACD a lot, but there's a complete absence of demand for it on the part of non-audiophiles, so I suspect it will either disappear or languish without much of a following. I like DVD-Video, too -- especially for its vast catalog of available titles. DVD-Audio is a different matter entirely. I've liked the 24-bit/96kHz discs I've heard from Classic and Chesky, but they utilize the legacy 24/96 channels in the video DVD standard. DVD-A, on the other hand, is all over the map in sound quality, at least from what I've heard.

Like everything else, the answer all depends.... The Dayton Subwoofer will take some of the strain off the Studios/20s, which will make them sound even more open and glorious in the midrange -- as well as take some of the strain off the Musical Fidelity.

The trick is integrating the sub in your room so it integrates with the speakers, which is hard. In fact, I have a theory that it is actually impossible and that the few subwoofers which have been set up properly might simply be statistical anomalies.

You don't mention your speakers or your budget, but I'll give it a stab anyway -- in the most general way, of course. I simply loved the Cary CAD-808 ($3995/each -- it's a stereo amp, but two of 'em make a great pair of dual monoblocks for driving biwired speakers). The "Rocket 88s" (as Cary's Dennis Had calls 'em) offer a choice between ultralinear operation (40Wpc) and triode (20Wpc) and can be configured however you like 'em best -- like, say, ultralinear for the woofers and triode for the mids/tweeters.

Don't give the CAST "problem" a thought -- it's basically an extra for people who have complete CAST systems. (And if you do have a complete CAST-capable system, I strongly recommend you run it with the CAST interconnects -- it's one heck of an extra.) However, the CAST components still offer fantastic performance single-ended or balanced -- the FPB-300c is a great amp however you run it.

You don't give a price range, so I'll take a guess from the rest of your gear and assume that your looking for a fairly good pair of speakers that offers unusually good sound for the money -- and since you live in a NYC apartment, I'll assume you're looking for something that isn't huge. That's an awfully good description of the Epos M15, which is just shy of $1400/pair. Since it's a floorstanding mini-tower, you won't need stands, which is a nice bonus.

The Dynaudio Contour 1.3 mk IIs offer a little more of everything, but are still NYC apartment-sized. They cost $2399/pair and do require stands, but they have looks that match their sound -- both are world-class.

I apologize to both you and Charlie Hanson if I gave the impression that the V-5 jettisoned the choke solely as a cost-cutting measure. It did add considerably to the expense of the V-3, but there were other factors that led to Ayre's decision to retire that amp, including parts availability and Charlie's desire to take another crack at designing an amp in the $4000 price range, using some of the things he and Gary Mulder had learned over the last three years of active development.

I am always suspicious of long-term memories when it comes to sound, so it would be hypocritical for me to say the V-5x outperforms the V-3 since I haven't heard a V-3 in about five years. However, the V-5x produces music that, in many ways, sounds remarkably more like the real thing than just about any other power amplifier I have heard (with the exception of the $9000 Linn Klimax Twin).

On the other hand, I also like MP3 (for what it is), so draw your own conclusions.

I hope to get my mitts on a CD player shortly after CES in January.

I sure want to, and I've requested a product loan, which I was told would be sent. Obviously I need to follow up on that request, but in the interim I will be getting a Perreaux 200i in the immediate future, which is also an exciting receiver.

I'm not sure I understand what "the issue" you refer to is, but I'll try to answer the question I think you're asking. I went to Bottlehead's website and the Straight 8 is a $599 kit-built 49"-tall tower loudspeaker with eight 5" coated-aluminum drivers and a 1" titanium-dome tweeter, crossed over by a first-order network. The kit appears to be innards only, with you supplying the carpentry and MDF for the cabinet. It is extremely efficient (96dB) -- the site says it is suitable for use with amps using the 2A3 output tube (around 2 3W). I haven't heard the speaker, so I can't comment on it -- although that tweeter looks kind of high to me (which might well mean nothing if the crossover fixes its apparent focus downward).

One observation I can make is that a speaker's (or any other audio component's) design is one thing, but the degree of polish and detail-oriented application it receives can make a good product have great sound or make a great product sound merely OK. What these speakers actually will sound like will be a direct result of how well you construct them. The better you are as a cabinet-maker, the better they'll perform.

Of course, nothing comes close to the pride of having made something yourself and the whole project, from dreaming to building to listening can be infinitely more involving than simply purchasing a pair of speakers. I don't want to discourage anyone from DIY, but you should always be realistic about your abilities.

The Rotel RB-985 is a five-channel amplifier putting out 100Wpc, which seems like a lot more than the Straight 8s should ever require -- and with five channels, you could use the Rotel to biamplify the Straight 8s and still have an unused channel. You've got the Rotel already, so you should use it, so what if it doesn t sound like the ideal amp for those speakers.

Certainly, the amps and preamp offered by Bottlehead would seem to be ideal mates for the speakers, and the website promises the kits are easy to build, but I haven't heard any Bottlehead products and simply can't say one way or another.

As to the issue of whether to get a single-box CD player or go for separates, it's not at all as simple as: one-chassis CD players, bad; separates, good. There are plusses and minuses for both choices. True, separates give you flexibility, but they tend to cost more, you certainly need to add a digital interconnect, and jitter usually rears its ugly head and must be dealt with one way or another. (That's assuming you believe in jitter; if you don't believe in it, it still rears its ugly head, but you get a philosophical pass from feeling you have to do anything about it.) Some of the best-sounding CD playback systems I've ever heard have been single-chassis affairs (including my current reference Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 3D CD).

Forgive me if I'm being presumptuous here, since this doesn't answer any question you actually asked, but your question sounds as though you've done a lot of reading and dreaming -- which is something all audiophiles like to do. But one of the most certain ways to have fun with this hobby is to listen to everything you can get your hands on (including friends' systems -- especially friends' systems, since that's cheap if not free) and discover for yourself what you like and don't like. Constructing a system completely from pieces you've never heard is a sure path to disappointment, no matter how good someone else thinks each individual component is.