KenW

I'm so glad I stumbled onto this thread. You've had extensive listening with 2 other speakers on my list. Very helpful! Thank you. I'd really like to buy used if I can find a good pair. Any idea on what a "jump out of your socks and buy it" price would be for the DC3 on the used market?

Thought you had the Tannoy Eyris DC3's? I see you've upgraded. Was that due to some dissatisfaction on your part? Reason I ask is that the DC3 is on my list as possible purchase candidates...actually, they're pretty high on my list to be honest.

I think it's more $500-600 range isn't it?

tkam has me curious about the ICE amps he owns, but the A21 does sound like a strong contender. Just need to decide about a preamp. I'm not too hung up on cosmetic matching, but if the P3 can hold its own, I wouldn't mind having a combo that looked sharp and match. You're much further along than I am. Actually, I'm very curous about the new Green Mtn speakers and plan on holding off on the speaker purchase until I get a look. The Eos sounds interesting and at $2800, it's in the general price range I'm considering. Since none of the vendors are willing to give me a deal I can't pass up on the discontinued Callisto line, I guess waiting is the best option so you'll probably be telling me how it sounds. I'm game for on the pact deal though. Just thinking about those Thiels makes me so envious. They really did sound wonderful. Hey, an addendum to the pact.......if you do decide to sell the Thiels, I get first shot at 'em when that day comes. Deal? Btw, guess no one has any experience with the P3? Back to googling for info/reviews I guess. Ah well.....nothing else to do on a dreary rainy day.

I got tired of the dongle on the im716 and since the family went shopping today, I had some peace and quiet so I did the podectomy described on the other site. Tried several resistors and finally settled on the 47 ohm. Really nice result and a more balanced presentation. If you've got any skill at all with a soldering iron, it's an easy thing to do so and gives you a chance to experiment and tailor the sound to your liking. They're pretty cheap compared to the ety's and they seem to be a bit more sturdy/durable. For the $$, that's what I did.

I found the 4p to be very detailed but no so fatiguing. A little shy on bass but still a heckuva IEM for the money. Just lost faith in the build quality when the tubes cracked after I'd babied those things. Once I lost the faith, that was it for me. Never had issues with sibilance. Are you getting a good seal? As for amping, that did help the sonics, but it didn't take long for me to tire of the portable amp deal. Just too much trouble for my tastes. You might be someone who simply doesn't dig the detail scene. Maybe you like a smoother/warmer sound? The Shures perhaps? E500's can be found pretty easily on the FS forums of late.

I know the Parasound line is well regarded in many circles. The Halo A21 amp particularly so but how do they do with preamps? Anyone got thoughts on the Halo P3?

Your answer lies with the Westone Comply tips. Those and the new tips from Shure are by far the most comfortable tips I've tried. I use the Comply tips onthe im716 with super results.

Congrats. Nice TV. I'm in the same boat. The new unit is due sometime mid next week and next Friday, I'm having a new high def install done. If everything goes according to plan, I'll be enjoying the opening weekend of college football in high def! Must be nice to have it all in and finished. I feel like a kid waiting for xmas morning to finally arrive.

While I'm selling off most of my headphone gear, I'd still like a "team minimal" rig to enjoy from time to time. Since I'm toying with the idea of keeping the Denons, I figure an small/portable amp that would drive them well would be a nice addition. If it has a DAC that would allow me to use the optical/usb/coax of my Mac or Squeezebox, that would be great. If it's also an adequate portable amp, that's a big plus. Justin's will probably be a killer but at a pretty steep price. The iBasso is really the king in this area when you factor in the price. As you and others have mentioned, it really depends on how it sounds/performs. If the amp can hang with the Move and the dac is servicable, it would be hard to pass up. Of course, I'm determined to try Justins new one so it should make for an interesting comparison. Of course, the smart move financially would be to sell the Denons. Kind of a pricey can to only use occasionally and from such average sources like a laptop/ipod.

Well, I'll have 4 HDMI inputs on the Pioneer and can't imagine having more HD sources than 4 so that would work and certainly bring the Outlaw 990/7200 stack back into play. Btw, I'm assuming you have DirecTV or Dish? How are you connecting those with your TV and surround system?

Yes, it is a bit redundant. What other receivers do you recommend?

True enough but my wife collects designer bags the way folks here collect music. I had my wife and two young ladies surrounding me telling me how great that "man bag" looked and how stylish I would look carrying it. After long discussion....oh 30 seconds or so....they finally came to the conclusion I wasn't really excited by the "man bag". Perhaps my walking out of the store gave them a clue? Anyway, I know my old Canon camera bag is old, stale and probably lame but it's got zippered compartments, padded dividers and gets the job done for this geeky old guy. If I can find something more "now" and "stylish" that has the features my old Canon bag does, I'll consider it, but if it's a designer anything, I'm not terribly interested. So far it looks like a trip to Wolf Camera or looking through the LowePro line is in order. Not much else has appealed to me so far.

Just finished spending the morning on their website/forum. Looks like a solid choice and a nice little starter speaker setup. Just sent an email to see about getting some help designing a setup for my home theater. Biggest complaint so far is not being able to get decent pictures of the finish options. I'd like to match my existing cabinetry but there's simply no link that I can find that will let me view all the finish options. Search turned up some of his new veneers but not what I need to see. Still, I'm sure it's there. Just have to find it. Of course, you can't really go wrong with black so maybe that's the safe bet. Goes with everything, right? My other option and probably a big step up is the Paradigm line. There's a dealer about 2 hours from my home so that's another possibility. Getting a bit frustrated about the Denon receiver though. The 3808 is on order but no one knows when and how many will arrive. No guarantee I'll get one of those that do show up. Heck, as long as that Pioneer shows up in the next couple of weeks, I'll be a happy camper. Wish HDMI were an option with Outlaw. The more I read about their stuff the more interested I get.

Btw, what do you think about AV123 speakers? The speaker equal of the Outlaw gear? Great bang for the buck.

LOL....I was close.....AVDepot.

Thanks for the sub link, Pete. Kinda figured I wasn't going to be able to skip that. I almost picked up some Paradigms a while back but at the time, a two channel setup was down on my list of priorities. My nearest dealer is a couple of hours away though. They don't seem to have a lot of online sources do they?

I'm not sure I could take a flier on the iBasso. If I had to bite at that price point, I'd probably go for the Move instead. A bit safer and resale would likely be better. Justin's mini might is what I'm waiting on. Pretty much done with headphones for a while, but I'm thinking I might keep the Denons and get a nice little amp/dac package to driver them decently. Hope some protos will be forthcoming from Justin soon.

I do want the hi-rez option but buying two players just bothers me. I know the technology is still in its infancy and things will continue to shake out. If the Samsung does come in at $550 or so, that's a flexible/single box solution although no one has a clue about its ability in CD playback. I could keep the opus for that, but I'm pretty sure most, if not all, my listening will be via the Transporter. It can't touch the Opus but the convenience of the Transporter has me spoiled. Guess I'm willing to sacrifice some quality for convenience. Guess I could go ahead with the Denon 3930 for DVD/CD and wait on the hi-rez to shake out but I'm not a patient sort and this format war seems to have no end in sight. A single box like the Samsung gives me security against having a betamax-type piece of gear laying around. So far, I've decided on 3 components in my new home theater.....the Denon AVR-3808CI will be the receiver. I'm pretty sure I'll grab the Samsung BDP-UP5000 when it's released as it looks like a very tidy one box solution to my hi-rez DVD needs. The Denon DVD-3930CI will be my fallback if I decide to skip the hi-rez option for the time being. I also have the Pioneer PRO-FHD1 as my new HDTV. Sadly, both the TV and receiver are on order so I've got a wait ahead of me. It's two months or more until the Samsung is available so I'm stuck! Guess it's time to refocus on the speakers. Right now, I'm not planning a dedicated amp for the speakers so I'm beginning to wonder about the wisdom of buying a really nice pair of speakers for 2 channel listening and trying to fill in the rest of the surround setup with units from another manufacturer. Maybe it's best to simply buy a very nice surround setup and forget the 2 channel? Would the Denon be able to do nice speakers justice? Of course, if I pick the right pair of speakers, I guess I might be able to skip the sub and save a few $$? Plus I haven't looked seriously at speakers in years. Don't know much about the brands out there. Pretty lost really. Back in the day of limited funds/college, we could swing stuff like Klipsch and Infinity but not much else. Clueless on speakers and it's pretty easy to make a mistake. Presently, my home theater surround sound is via.....<gulp>....Bose. Hoping someone can help me avoid such foolishness this time around. If I could find a nice pair of speakers that the Denon could drive well and a source to fill in the rest of the surround system for under $3K that would be great.

Pong? Atari? I know we've bought game systems for the kids over the years, but don't know diddly about their specs or capabilities. Amazed that a game can do Blu-Ray. Still, I don't see myself playing games so I'll probably wait on the Samsung BDP-UP5000. Big question is do I buy the Denon player, too? Heck, I can keep my Opus 21 for CD playback and just snag the Samsung in a couple more months. I'll be knee deep in the football season so I doubt I'd be missing DVD material that much anyway. Too many damned decisions in this home theater business!

A PS3? Really? I know next to nothing about game consoles so that's a shock to say the least. They actually play HD or BluRay? Seriously.....a game console! Who woulda thunk it?? Guess I've been out of the game system loop for way too long. Think my last game was "Pong" by Atari. Btw, I'd really love to know more about this Samsung unit due out in a few months. What are its capabilities? Do we know of a model/name that I can research? Of course, I tell my son or daughter that I'm going for a PS3 as my player and they'd be all over it!

Thanks, Pete. Just finished a google for the 3808CI. Seems everyone is waiting for their supply to come in. Crutchfield, J&R, etc....just not in stock right now. Guess I wait for an email. Gives me time to worry about speakers I guess.

Thanks, Pete. The Outlaw gear looks tremendous for the $$ but the lack of HDMI is truly a deal killer for me. OTOH, that Denon 3808CI looks like my next receiver. I'm a bit torn over the 3930 though. Looks like a great player but I'm wondering if it's a wise investment if I'm dedicated to the HD scene. Seems like waiting on the Samsung makes more sense. Of course, I'm sure the audio on the Denon via the iLink will be much better, but as I'm going to use the Transporter/computer as my source for music, CD/SACD playback isn't really important to me. Nice to have that option I guess but I suppose I'll have to decide if that luxury is worth the $$ or not. Hey, since I'm going with the Denon 3808CI are there any Denon vendors that folks are pretty happy with? Nice pricing would be great but service before, during and after is more important than saving a few bucks IMO. Now it's time to find a really nice pair of speakers for that 2 channel listening which will serve as my front R/L speakers in a surround system. Filling in with the center, rear and sub(if necessary) should be much easier I'd think. Keep those speaker suggestions coming!

Considering the Headroom portable amp/dac is $999, it certainly looks strong. Justins upcoming creation sounds pretty interesting but it will still be a good bit more expensive. The iBasso might be the best bang for the buck and I've been looking for something just like this. Does anyone have a link to it's spec page? How big/small is this thing? Battery type/life? Rechargeable? I'd love a link if anyone has it.

Got any specifics on that Samsung? I'm not a huge fan of that line but if the price is right....a unit that does the job with dvd and both HD formts might be too good to pass up.