Stax 007 Omega Reference System II

[Badger O Stripey One]

Would I be able to justify the price of the above to listen to music through my MacBook Pro or would I have to look at a separate hi-end CD player?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[ID.]

I'd want to put a decent DAC between the MacBook and the headphone amp. I don't think I've heard those particular Stax but my impression of those I have heard was that they were very open and revealing. Personally I wouldn't get a CD player if I was happy to use your Mac as a source. As you'll see on sites like head-fi and computer audiophile, lots of people run headphone rigs witha computer feeding a DAC and headphone amp.

I guess you could always start out with just the Mac sending an analogue signal into the headphone amp and see how you like that before auditioning DACs that you could connect via optical or USB.

 

[Badger O Stripey One]

Thank you for your advice. When I bought my first Hi Fi stuff it was long before laptops had been thought of. So a Macbook would be good enough for pretty expensive gear. Seems like I could save some money now!

 

[ID.]

I don't think the Mac on its own will really be good enough, but if you used an offboard DAC I think you can get better performance than, or at least match, a good quality CD player.