External firewire hard drive to go with Mac Mini.

Kijanki, no worries. Thanks for your input on the fantom drive.

Dracule1 - do you know we have same speakers (HPS-938)?

I bought initially Fantom for my work (backup) because of good reviews and three more for myself later - no problems so far. I bought previously external drive for my nephew from Other World Computing (macsales.com) and it works for many years without problems. Similar to Fantom - silent, heavy aluminum case. I only heard good things about them. Both Fantom and OWC come with all interface cables. Fantom comes now already formatted for Mac Extended format.

Thanks. Will look into the Fantom. How far do you sit from the Fantom drive when you listen to your system? Which model do you have specifically? I like the Seagate because it comes with 5 year warrenty, something no other hard drive maker can match.

The 938s are great speakers - really can't touch them unless you are willing to spend over $10k. I am finally moving onto different speakers which cost a lot more but better sounding.

It is GF1000T. It is triple interface but only Firewire 400 (is your MAC-Mini 800?). Warranty is only 1 year but I assume that warranty doesn't make item better (Hyundai has better warranty than Toyota) and I keep 3 copies. 1TB external drives are below $100 now. My drive is at floor level (side of the sofa) while I'm sitting on the sofa - perhaps 4 ft between my ear and a drive. I can hear when it comes-up from "sleep mode" but after that is almost silent.

I was toying with idea of drive upgrade to 1TB in my DVR. Drive that was highly recommended by users for it's quietness was Western Digital (don't remember the number). It comes with software that allows you to lower/tweak the noise even further.

My 938s are amazing. These are relatively new speakers (bought recently 6 month old dealer demo) with heavier bracing (changed design in 2004/2005). I only wish for a little more extension (both) but it might be as well an issue of my room acoustic I'm trying to fix now. What are you getting and how is it better than Hyperion? Have you heard 968?

Well, I'm not sure I would use Hyundai and Toyota as an analogy given Toyota's recent debacle. You may be surprised if you test drive the recent Hyundai's. Unfortunately, most HD fail within the first three years, and some in the first year. I think most of these HD makers only give 1 year warranty because they expect it fail not too soon after warranty. I have not had a HD last more than 4 years, so 5 year warranty is reassuring. I have Mac Mini with FW 800.

WD has been recommended for its quietness but it has virtual Smartware you can't get rid of taking up 700 MB of disk space. Seems like there are as many good reviews as bad on WD drives.

Haven't heard the 968's. I've heard it's an improvement over the 938s but not on another level. Hyperion has had some issues with customer support, although I have had great support from them. I'm getting the Ridge Street Audio Sason. It's a two way but sounds like no other two way I've heard, including the Magico Mini's. I can send you some pics if you want, just email me.