Anybody expecting audio gifts for Christmas? I just bought some nice MIT cables for 50 bucks.

Not audio directly, but I have a TV Tuner card. Should go nicely with my DVR, will be glad to offload some shows onto it instead of taking up space on my DVR. Planning on either doing all my unknown shows that I rarely watch and like to just watch a bunch at once or my favorite shows so I can archive the episodes.
I am thinking option one as I am not a huge fan of re-watching TV episodes.

Nice are you using like a 1 tb hard drive for storage?

Me I sort of spoiled myself this year.
40 inch tv
pioneer elite receiver
blu ray player
MIT speaker wires

All I need is a apple tv

I have a server (running WHS) which I do all my back up and movie/TV storage. Currently have 4x1TB and 3x1.5TB, will finish off the last 1.5TB after the new year and move onto 2TB drives. My server case has 20 HD slots so I am only 2/5 of the way full; plenty of space for expansion.

LOL you better have a massive power supply and some big fans.

Server setup is basically running the same hardware as my HTPC, does not need a lot of power, its main focus is network streaming. I play movies from the server to my HTPC or desktop.
PSU is a 1k Corsair unit, a bit over the top but bought it for the long run when I have full 20 hard drives (21 with the OS). I also dropped extra money on the quietest 80mm fans so you never know the server is running basically.

Ya but those hard drives at start up and even while running suck a lot of power.

I run WD Green drives, they run at a variable rate of 5400 to 7200, start they suck a total of 200 watts (currently at seven drives). When the system is just at idle the total power output is just below 150, overall power is not an issue nor is heat.
The only downside to the Green drives is they do go idle after X amount of time (forget how long), and then take about 2 seconds to reload where they last were. If I am viewing a 2.5 hour movie off the server and it buffers so much the drive can go idle during the movie.

Good the green drives are pretty nice for what they are.

For this year... Klipsch RF-82 to replace 10 year old Wharfedale Valdus speakers. Not too shabby, but it's a pretty good investment for something that should last for a very long time. In fact, the Wharfedale speakers are still good!

Very nice. I have a pair of Klipsch RF-25's. You will like them. The Reference series is extremely transparent -- very flat frequency response, like studio monitors really. Which I LURVE. They are fantastic for movies but some people might not like how "clean" they are for music (personally I love them even more for music). Yours are beefier than the ones I got but you may want to add a sub to truly rock movies and piss off neighbors.

Dig make sure to let them break in before cranking them to much. Give them about 10 hours of use. For my system for the new speaker wires I leave the setup on something like kenny g at a normal volume over night for a few nights. I think you will enjoy them more after they break in. Klipsch makes some good stuff.

Well I have been trying to get a apple tv but with not having a job you have to wait for a deal to come pop up. I was originally drawn to the ATV "apple tv" when my neighbor bought one. I enjoy how easy it is to find any song I am looking for. I also like that fact that I can stream music from other computers such as my own with itunes. Now I know that the ATV has a fiber optic output for digital. But after hearing my laptop threw the built in dac of my elite via usb I was wondering if the usb is better than the fiber optic. I was reading that it is very hard hack to get the ATV to use the usb port for audio output. At the same time I keep reading that more people prefer using a mac mini instead of the ATV. I know one thing would be the usage of the usb for digital out. But I can not see how it would be easier to fly threw tons of music pictures and such on a mac mini as it would be on a apple tv. Any users of a mac mini or apple tv for their music source would be helpful.

The RF-82 is being driven by an Emotiva LPA-1 7ch amp, and the HSU VTF-3 compliments the low end. I'm pleased the 8" drivers provide good enough mid-bass.

Haha thanks for the tips. I'm pretty conservative with my speakers since I generally don't blast my music, so it'll take awhile to fully break them in.

This is part of the HTPC setup in which the X-FI prelude (with all LM4562 op amps, but I prefer OPA2107 or OPA627). I may switch the front channels to OPA627 op amps someday.

[sigh] enough toys... the Z hobby is already burning my wallet!

Alright guys, looking for some input on speakers. Going to buy in April some floorstanding (two) speakers to start finishing my home theater setup (stock television speakers suck).

Brands I am looking at:
Aperion audio (Intimus 6T Tower Speaker)
Polk audio (RTi A5 or RTi A7 if I can find a deal)
Definitive technology (Mythos 5 or a new setup called Mythos XTR-50)

Open to other suggestions in the 5000-700 dollar range. The Mythos XTR-50 are brand new and not sure how they will perform as they are a flat style speaker and usually I am not a fan of that (not a proper housing).
The other suggestion I need is some good quality speaker cable to pair with these.