tkam

No this has no connection to Alessandro other than the fact the MS-2i's are the base headphones for these mods.

Yeah I'd heard about these last summer. Guy on head-fi is getting some special effects company or something to mod MS-2i's. They were supposed to be available awhile ago so I wouldn't hold my breath.

Except when you factor in all the labor cost is there really any savings to pass on??

Nice catch, I'm loving my Sony 55A2000.

I kinda doubt the Cary would be any better than your ZD. Of course the Cary can also drive speakers so that might make it a more valuable piece to you depending on your situation.

Now if only my amp would ship .

The Gilmore Lite is a very nice amp for the 650s especially and you can upgrade it by adding the dedicated power supply at a later date. Lite DAC-AH is a nice little dac and while it doesn't have the greatest extension or detail retrieval it should mate well with the GL and your 650s.

So your looking to improve bass? Getting a STEPS or similar power supply upgrade would get you significant improvements there.

Whoops you are correct I meant to say that the 970 is the best of the three Oppo players for audio use.

The 971 is apparently the best of the bunch for audio. The 981 though is an excellent upscaling dvd player, I've really enjoyed mine.

I'm not aware of any such lawsuit. I know Samsung had been planning to do a universal blu-ray/hd-dvd player but they canceled those plans and instead are 100% backing blu-ray only.

Yep I'm enjoying my HD-A2 as well. I'm hoping there are some 2nd gen blu-ray players announced at CES next week as I'd like to pick up one but the current crop of 1st gen players don't impress me much.

No it's not a solution at all, the only positive that could come from it if it became popular is that retail stores would only have to stock a single copy to cover the available HD formats instead of two copies as they do now. I still think in the long run blu-ray will likely win out due to more studio support and larger disc capacity. In the mean time though LG has announced a universal player that will play both hd-dvd and blu-ray. The current rumor is that it will just have a hd-dvd and blu-ray drive shoved into one case but we'll see.

TotalHD is just blu-ray on one side and hd-dvd on the other. I imagine it will be rather costly which will kill it off relatively quickly. And no the powers that be can't decide because they are all too damn greedy.

Your thoughts on the W5000 are exactly the same way I feel about them. The midrange issue really gives them this overall unnatural sound that bugs the hell out of me.

I bought a Squeezebox today and plan to run the coax out the my Opus 21 and the optical out to my Marantz receiver. I found a few glass optical cables at Parts Express but the longest the have is 12 ft and I really need something thats 15 ft. Any recommendations?

Yeah thats always been my understanding about the HD-700 as well, that it's a completely new design. Who knows if/when we'll actually see it though.

K1000 Seriously though the 650's are nice all-around headphones. Not the most aggressive, engaging phones around but they are pretty well rounded. I can't really think of any new headphones that are horizon, though there was talk of some new Sony phones in the $500 range coming out in the first half of '07.

Well that explains why I was able to get such a good deal on my 22L's . It doesn't look like they have changed them very much, the most apparent difference is the tweeter housing.

Yep the finish is really first rate IMO. The pictures hardly do them justice. On another note, I've been comparing the amp section of the Marantz SR-7001 to the Rotel RMB-1075 and I've been thoroughly impressed with how well the Marantz has compared.

Well I finally completed my new HT rig today and figured I'd share some pics of it with you guys: Overview shot: The centerpiece Sony KDS-55A2000: Audio Rack: (from top to bottom - Marantz SR-7001, Rotel RMB-1075, Motorola HD-DVR, Samson S1000 (sub amp), Monster HTS-2600) TV Stand w/ center channel and Oppo 981HD (bottom left) and Toshiba HD-A2 (bottom right): Quad 22L (piano birdseye maple): Custom sub (1 15" Styke AV-15, 2 18" Passive Radiators): Close-up's of the gorgeous piano birdseye maple finish: Overview from an angle:

The 595 are one pair of headphones that I've never liked. I've heard them with a bunch of different amps and they've just never done anything for me. Considering your current phones, I think something like an MS2i would be a nice change of pace for you.

I've been putting together a new HT setup and considered all three of the speakers you mention. Here's my brief thoughts on all of them: The Rockets are nice speakers, albeit it a bit laid back, but really the sole reason why I passed on them is the matching center channel. It's absolutely huge and would in no way fit on either shelf of my TV stand. That may sound trivial, but it was a deal breaker for me. The 6.2 is from the "new" Swan line right? I've only heard the older Swan line-up and I hope they aren't still using the same piece of shit tweeter the older ones used. If they are using a different tweeter they might be worth checking out as I thought the original Swan's were a good bargain except for the tweeter. I've heard a good bit of the Axiom line-up and have owned a pair of M22ti's for a few years now and I have always liked them for their detail and neutrality. However they can be very bright and that is the main reason why I didn't strongly consider getting a pair of their towers to use as my main speakers. What I did end up getting are a pair of Quad 22L and the matching L-centre center channel. The 22L are a really nice sounding pair of speakers and the finish on them is stunning for the price. I'll post some pics when I get my camera back and I'll post more impressions in the near future.

Not to take this completely off-topic but I find it ironic how all those things you state apply to Ray as well. I do agree though that this ALO stuff is a rip-off I really just have to laugh at people paying $140 for a cable and $300 for an amp for their ipod.

I'll never get in to Vinyl, no matter how good it sounds. It takes up a ton of space and requires much more maintenance time than I'd ever be willing to put into it.