i've been on the list since early march and have followed the saloon postings regularly.
needless to say, it has been exhausting.
i have, most likely as most have, searched the world over to find a reasonably priced new/used pre/pro or receiver with all the decoding options of the 950, good reviews, no bugs reported, etc.
i have considered the integra 8.2 and marantz sr9200 receivers using the preamp outs.
i tried too hard to deal with rotel who gave me a local dealer whose number was disconnected, etc., etc.
the high end makers are all too much money.
so...as sherlock said....once you have eliminated all the possibilities, whatever choice is left, no matter how unlikely, is the correct choice.
i have decided to relax and wait til hell freezes over for my de-bugged 950.
having said what i hope will suffice to condense the last 5.5 months, i would like to add my two cents on the double bass issue.
i think double bass is a good thing. if you set your main speakers to large, they will receive full range program, as will the sub.
most full range speakers are not capable of playing back program under 35hz. (this assumes 35 hz. @-3db., which actually begins to fall to that level at around 50hz.).
i plan to insert at the rear of the monoblock amps feeding the mains, an fmod high pass line level x-over of 50hz, then adjust the x-over on my sub accordingly.
that way, any program sent to the 950 by the sacd/dvd-a player which is below the capability of my mains will be reproduced with only the desired overlap.
if i understand the situation correctly, this is not only a good thing, but would not be possible without the "double bass" feature.
i admit that not having a 950 to play with and not really scrutinizing the threads on this subject makes this theory of turning my 3-way mains into, in effect, 4-way mains with much lower range, suspect.
i have therefore offered this thought so that i may get feedback from those of you who know better and/or own a 950.
i'd also like to add that i have enjoyed reading most of the postings in the saloon beacause you are all smart people with mostly good things to say. i've learned a lot here and i appreciate that fact.
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"Time wounds all heels." John Lennon