[David]

I'd love to upgrade my garage stereo to a McIntosh amp. Not sure on speakers tho. I have bookshelf LSA speakers with a two channel Yamaha receiver which is OK but not what I'd really like.

I can still remember going with a college friend to buy a stereo after he sold his first company. We sat in an empty room, they set up equipment and then kept changing stuff til he was happy. He ended up buying large Martin-Logan speakers, 2 Linn amps and a Linn pre-amp. On the way home he picked up a cheap ($300 back then) Sony CD player. When they came to his house to set up the equipment they asked if he was going to use the cheap CD player to which he replied, "yes".

The clarity was beyond anything I've heard since, like hearing Mick Jagger breathing between words!