I'd say try a DAC-AH, finally had a chance to hear one and boy was I impressed. Then again, you are using a tube amp, so I don't know how you'd feel about combining a tube amp with a DAC that makes things warm and fuzzy as well. But the bang-for-the-buck of this thing is just sick.
Few for me:
Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain
Tool - 10,000 Days
Communic - Waves Of Visual Decay
Katatonia - The Great Cold Distance
Dragonforce - Inhuman Rampage
Doom:VS - Aeternum Vale
PS3 for sure. I played one yesterday at a Sony Style store and it was drop dead amazing. I've played an XBOX 360 as well and I wasn't all that impressed. Plus I hate Microsoft with a passion.
I really wish someone could lend me a AE-1 or something to compare my Hornet to, because I have literally no other experiences with amps (nor recollection of any) to really know what good amps should sound like. When I listen to my hornet, I basically go, "so this is what a amp sounds like...huh"
Well I'm surprised that no one has torn it down yet, considering the North Shore is full of snobby ass rich people.
BTW: GO NORTHWESTERN. I'm ready to see a repeat of two years ago against Ohio State. Boy was that a game.