Just got my Mac Mini i7 today (6-core, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD internal storage). It sits in my office, my library is on a Samsung 2 TB SSD and it streams music via Ethernet Cat 7a to my Devialet Expert 120 two floors downstairs. It is remote-controlled with my iPad Mini. Library management and display is lightning fast!
Right out of the box, it sounds sweet. I might have to adjust some parameters still, but I like the sound very much. I have the impression that I hear highs just a tad better than when streamed from my MacBook Pro. But I need to do more careful listening. Sweet sounding unit anyway!
Seems you have made your decision to keep the Phantoms
Congrats! Nice peace of furniture. Did you try with your temporary shelfs to place the Phantoms where they will be once you have the new furniture? This will assure you approximately how they will sound.
This is more or less where they will end up once the cabinet is in place. The photo is taken from my listening position.
The dinosaur eggs still sound great. I’ll have to think about whether I should keep the MS200 (Meridian) as endpoint or change it out to something else (Baby Ambre springs to mind). Worries for later.
