my only objection would be going compression fittings for "simplicity" not to say that difficult but what could be more simple and effective than a barb and a worm drive clamp.
as for blocks i suggest you check out EK for GPU and then HK or the Swiftech XT for CPU. Eddy and EK have really shown massive improvement and phenomenal quality in his latest products
@ nateman
The pictures are of custom Single Stage units made by RunMC and Sdumper
right now i'm shooting for getting into the top 15 for 3dmark 01 and dropping my Super Pi times by a decent margin (hoping for sub 9s for now)