Hi Joe, lovely room and slick system! Very tidy and clean, unlike my sprawling collection. I design switching power supplies for a living but have yet to get switching amps in my system. My tube amps have kept my desire at bay, although I do plan on trying something from the latest realm soon just to see if I've been missing anything. Maybe NuForce? I've also considered Channel Islands and Bel Canto. I only need a few good watts so it would be one of the smaller amps for starters. Thus far, the mantra of "simple is best" has won out in terms of finest sound quality achieved in my system so I'm all the more curious to see if a complex amplifier with numerous self-imposed hurdles can pull it off on the Nanos.
I know what you mean about understanding lyrics - that's one of my favorite metrics for assessing aptitude. I have several recordings that I've listened to for years and only recently understood what they are saying (my favorite test is Faint's Danse Macabre). I'll have to check out the Caverna Magica piece since French is my native language.
I love how you live in the trees. My house is the same way, in the Appalachians of southwest Virginia. It was one of my main requirements when looking for my latest house and we're very happy to have found exactly that.
Arthur
