Hi Charles,
Thanks for the words of encouragement. I should shoot Eric an email. I certainly like to patronize someone who cares about their work. One thing I like about both Aric and Audio Note is the ability to customize your gear from the get go. For example, while I favor an integrated, I have no need for an input selector. More cost and potentially worse sound. One input is just fine. Thanks again for your contributions to this thread.
Tom, you won't regret the metallic gray. I get the temptation of yellow. But I'll save that for the sports car I'll never own. (I like to say that the Civic Si's I owned have payed for much of my audio gear.)