Thanks, guys! I'm sold. I think I got enough general insight into
this issue to satisfy me. I'm *hardly* an obsessive audiophile or
audio engineer of any sort, but I figure, if it's good enough for the
pros, it's good enough for me. I have no idea what sort of
recording/music room I'm going to end up with in the future, but I
think based on the conversations here, I get a good feeling about what
kind of quality I'm going to be able to expect. Largely, what I'd like
is a "wow factor", of being impressed by the sound of something I send
into the machine to produce a recording -- and that's why it usually
doesn't take much money or gear to achieve; however, I am auditorially
picky enough to notice things that sound thin or not full, and so I'm
willing to spend the bucks for what I'd consider is a "modest" setup to
achieve that goal.

Mike