I'm Looking For the Best

I've been sitting on the fence, but now I'm willing to go whole hog and grab the golden ring atop the mountain in the clouds in the house upon the hill. I want the BEST. Not just in your opinion the BEST, but in absolute fact the BEST. Price is absolutely no object. I have terminal audiophilitis and the MDs are only giving me a few decades more to live, so I'm going to splurge. I want something that blows away the competition. I want something that immediately announces to the world that it is the BEST of the BEST. It should be designed by the best engineer and contain the BEST parts. It should remove veils, peer deep into the recording that the musicians see me sitting in the room looking at them play and have so much musicality that Sondheim writes his next score specifically for it to perform.

Any suggestions will be appreciated, but the BEST must have a direct input for an iPod.

Thanks in advance.