Muralman1, Thanks again! I will check up on the Apogee. I had a friend yeras ago who ran a store called Hoffman's House of Stereo. I was fortunate to be able to hear in my system lots of high end gear without having to purchase them blindly. I learned that no matter how highly certain equipment was lauded by Stereophile or any other publication some just dont live up to the hype. Of course it could have been a case of mismatched components. It makes all of this a wild goose chase of sorts. My friend passed away and I dont have that privledge anymore.I am relying on these discussion forums to help bring me up to speed. The kind of music people listen to and their subjectivity complicates matters as well. I listen to mostly Classical music and I like rich ,warm, sound with a big soundstage. If the Apogee can produce that kind of sound I want it!