First, read the FAQ. Much good info there.

Second, I like EAC (free) for ripping. But there's a brand new version out that I haven't tried that some people seem to be having some problems with. Other people here seem to like AudioGrabber, as well. I can't think of anyone here who doesn't use LAME (free) for encoding to mp3, except for some folks who use their ripper's built-in encoder.

I'll let someone else answer about the amps.