Thanks to my Dad's handy work, I got a new box for my baby! :-)

Update:

I made a few changes to my office setup since posting the info below.  I did a lot of research to get my system to get the best sound for a reasonable price.  One of the changes I made was adding and M-Audio Transit (USB to optical output) soundcard.  Unfortunately, my computer crashed and died and I ended up buying a new computer which happened to have Windows Vista installed.  M-Audio does not support Vista at this time (they claim to be updating drivers for it soon), so I am stuck with the internal soundcard for now.

Well, the internal soundcard is not all that bad.  It has an optical output, in addition to typical computer connections.  I downloaded a program called ASIO4ALL to get ASIO (bit-perfect sound) driver compatibility with Foobar (my music program).  This works like a charm, so this will hold me over while M-Audio makes changes.

New Setup::

Source:  Gateway Desktop with Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6300
Receiver:  Marantz 2220B Vintage receiver.  I have wanted a vintage receiver for a while and I use this as a tuner and a switchbox.
DVD/CD Player:  Sony DVP-C600D.  This player was stuck in my guestroom and has not been touched in years.  It works great for CDs.
DAC (Digital to Analog Converter):  Beresford TC-7510 24bit/96K Converter.  This unit has 4 digital inputs for a variety of sources.  It sounds great, too!  Don't be fooled by the headphone output.  It is not very good, so you may still want an external amp.
Monitor(s): Dell UltraSharp 1901FP & Westinghouse 1080P LCD
Headphones: Sennheiser HD580, Grado SR-60
Headphone Amp: Musical Fidelity X-Can V3 and Little Pinkie Power Supply
Headphone Stand: This was custom made by my father.  It provides plenty of room for more headphones. :-)
Add-on Hard Drives: Buffalo Teraserver, Western Digital 500 GB, Western Digital 250GB, , Simpletec 250GB, IO Data UHDL 300GB server, and (under speaker on right) LaCie 500GB hard drive.  I have also installed a Maxtor 160GB internal Drive, and I have an eternal Maxtor 250GB drive on the network attached to my media computer.  In other words, I have a decent amount of memory, but I could always use more!
Antenna:  This is attached to the internal HDTV card in my new computer
Speakers: Logitech Z-680 Speakers (for surround) and Pinnacle PN5+ for music.
Mount:  I have an Ergotron 45-174-300 Neo-Flex LCD Arm-Extension that makes it easy to flip the Dell LCD out of the way when I want to use the Westinghouse display.
Other Sources:  I ran RCA cables from my living room system to my Marantz.  I mainly use this setup for vinyl.  I  also ran an HDMI cord from my Denon 3808ci receiver to the Westinghouse LCD.  This feeds it all of the audio and video sources from the living room.  I mainly use this setup for the PS3 and Satellite TV.
Chair:  Below is the most amazing desk chair ever.  It is made by IMG in Norway, but I bought it at Scan Interiors here in Memphis.  It is a recliner on rolling wheels and it is cushy soft leather with cherry wood accents.  Not exactly cheap, but something I plan on keeping forever.  I also have a calf muscle massager ottoman that I picked up a while back that compliments the black leather nicely.   I almost never want to leave my office setup with the great headphone setup, nice HDTV, and comfy chair! 

 

Sorry for the blurriness of the shot below.  I will replace it when I get a chance.  This shot shows the Dell monitor in its usual place while I am using it:

The shot below has the Dell moved out of the way.  All I have to do is push the monitor toward the side of the desk and I am all set to use the 42 inch Westinghouse: 

 

 

 

Older shots below:

The beautiful front panel of the Marantz 2220B:

A shot of my Marantz, Pinkie power supply, headphones & stand, Darth Tater, HD antenna, Giotto blower, and Deoxit.

 

The Beresford DAC, Myfi, Creative Zen Micro, remote IR sensor for computer and a CF card. 

 

Below is a shot of my HD580s with some inexpensive mods.  I bought HD600 metal grills and an HD650 cable from Sennheiser.  It took nearly a month to make it to my door, but I am very happy with the results.  While I am not normally a big fan of upgrading cables, in this case it actually made a difference, at least when combined with the new grills.  As a side note, the grills have to be ordered over the phone, while most other upgrades can be done online.

 

 

Below is a close-up of my X-can V3:

 

 

 

Old Setup:

Source:  Dell Dimension XPS Gen2 computer
Monitor: Dell UltraSharp 1901FP
Headphones: Sennheiser HD580, Grado Sr-60
Headphone Amp: Musical Fidelity X-Can V3 and Little Pinkie Power Supply
Headphone Stand: This was custom made by my father.  It provides plenty of room for more headphones. :-)
Add-on Hard Drives: Buffalo Teraserver, Western Digital 500 GB, Western Digital 250GB, , Simpletec 250GB, IO Data UHDL 300GB server, and (under speaker on right) LaCie 500GB hard drive.  I have also installed a Maxtor 160GB internal Drive, and I have an eternal Maxtor 250GB drive on the network attached to my media computer.  In other words, I have a decent amount of memory, but I could always use more!
Antenna:  This is attached to my HD All in Wonder Card (which should explain all the memory)
Tuner: Tivoli PAL
Sound Cards: I use two cards:  A USB HiFi Link attached to the X-can and an Audigy 2 for surround sound
Speakers: Logitech Z-680 Speakers (for surround) and Pinnacle PN5+ for music.

 

I also run a T-amp/AR TDS202 combo from the X-can V3.  The X-can even improves the sound from the T-amp!

I recently purchased the X-can V3 and Pinkie PSU to team with my Senn HD580s.  I purchased the X-can off of Audiogon (used) and it came with Rocket 6H23 tubes installed.  I also received the JP 6922 tubes, but have not had time to try them out. 

I hooked up my HiFi Link AN1 to the USB on my computer and I hooked up the other end to the X-can.  The first song I listened to was Norah Jones' "Come Away with Me" and the sound was fantastic.  Her voice was out front and the music had the kind of punch that was missing in previous auditions.  I then moved to the Ellington/Coltrane song "In a Sentimental Mood".  The sound was as true to the instruments as I have heard.  A nice sound stage that seemed to be larger than one would expect from headphones. 

Many people have dubbed the Senn HD580s as "the classical music headphone".  After listening to Artur Rubinstein's "The Chopin Ballades and Scherzos" and Leopold Stokowski's "Rhapsodies", I have to agree.  The match seemed made for each other.  Bright, clear, and a nice deep bass.  Not much more I could ask for when it comes to classical playback.

The one limitation or at least from my perspective was hard rock. Since the noise floor is nearly silent, I seem to prefer the "busier" sounding Grado SR60's with AC/DC & Metallic style music.  I could live with the HD580s, but for some reason, I prefer the Grados for heavy metal applications.  For softer rock, like John Mellencamp, Paul McCartney, etc.., I prefer the Senns. 

As you can see from my review, the Senn/X-can combo is incredible. The Grado SR60s/X-can combo is also a good one for the right situation.  I need a better DAC/sound card to get that last bit of sound quality, but the Hifi Link is much better than I anticipated.  I will update this review after I have more hours logged on the setup and also after I decide on a DAC.

 

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