tkam

In fact here's a very good example why people get tired of the zhalou or any product that gets insanely over-hyped: http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=202429

Except it has been zhalou owners that have made such grandiose claims.

Your not alone I feel the same way. Really don't give a shit either way.

If they are actually along the same line as the D66's they could be pretty good. But knowing Sony I'm sure they'll be awful

The 650's improve much more when balanced than the 701's do so you might as well reterm the 650's and see how you like them.

Oh ok thanks for correcting me.

Sorry Dusty, your post doesn't make a whole lot of sense . I think the L3000 have a fantastic tonality in fact its one of their best strengths IMO. Going to disagree with on the rolled off treble aspect as well. Sure they don't have qualia or k1000 type treble extension but they really aren't rolled off.

Isn't that Mapletree amp just a single amp to commemorate their 150th Ear+ being shipped? Not many details out the Corda Opera yet other than that it will also double as a high-end dac. It'll probably cost at least 2k.

Yeah thats just about a KG sized pic . So these are the last parts you were waiting on? If so there should be some happy customers in the next week or two.

Quit tempting me

Yeah the RS-1's are damn fun phones.

1) That's what I would do especially since you plan to use 6bl7 and 6bx7's as output tubes. 2) Personally I still prefer the 6sn7's but getting the 12v does not mean you can't use 6v tubes anymore. 3) The 6bl7 and 6bx7 are direct replacements for each other 4) You don't need to run the bl7 or bx7s at higher voltage or higher bias but they do sound better if you do. Yes the MPX3 transformer will be enough. 5) I think it would make an excellent pre-amp.

The 990's finally arrived today, the leather case they come in is an improvement from earlier Beyer cases. They still have the same solid built quality that Beyer is reputed for. At first glance they look a little flimsy but that is really because of a design change that allows the eacups to pivot from side to side as well as the usual up and down. Ok so how do they sound? Well it is still very early on but I have been pleasantly surprised. They share the fantastic slamming bass of the old 990pros but it is more in balance with the rest of the spectrum. I've noticed that vocals have a greater presence and focus compared to the 990 pros. So I think it's safe to say that Beyer did a really nice job of bringing the midrange forward. I'm sure not if I can attribute this to the midrange improvement but these have the best tonality I've ever heard from Beyer phones. More to come later...

Fedex managed to not even attempt to deliver them today, even though today is the delivery date and they've been sitting at the destination facility for a day already. Hopefully they'll give it a try tomorrow.

They should be arriving today, I'll post some very early impressions tonight.

FR really doesn't matter all that much and honestly most decent speakers have a pretty flat FR response.

Don't forget to take your camera . If I lived in Denver or close by I'd probably go but it's not something I'd fly in to attend.

The amp arrived today, took a bit of time go lug it downstairs as the package weighed about 100 lbs. After getting the box downstairs it took even more time to get it out of its triple boxing. Then it was just a matter of moving my power conditioner up a shelf on the rack and putting the Rotel on the lowest shelf (only one it would fit on). It has about 2" of clearance above it and the sides have plenty of space to ventilate. I've been listening to it for 3 hours tonight and so far the things that have struck me the most are the bass authority and the bass control which is just phenomenal. As much as I liked the primaluna monoblocks I previously had they never did bass like this. I guess I'll chalk it up to the 700W and a damping factor of 1000.

The Rotel RB-1090 is mine and the seller is pretty close by so with ground shipping probably only taking one day I should have it tomorrow

Well I found a good deal on a used pair so I guess I'll find out for myself how they are in a couple of days.

Well finally found a Rotel RB-1090 for a decent price so I'll be going with that unless its been sold already.

Well then lets hope Tyll doesn't let Jude be the deciding factor on where the money goes.

I think an interesting question regarding this topic is who had direct control of the money following the meet, and who is in control of it now? The answer to those questions would shed quite a bit on the real motivations behind the "what to do with the money" thread. I also agree with the many people who said the funds should go towards next years meet. I imagine it would drastically lower the costs for the organizers and attendees if distributed properly.

I like Dan's post, I'm sure it won't last long though....