Thanks for the update.

The Ref 40 should be interesting. What's not to like, American made and the useful notch filter for taming your worst room mode bass frequency.

Well, for one, how bout the $3000+ price?

The $3000 bracket really seems to be the 'sweet spot' for this sort of product. You can spend less or more but so far (and correct me before I make a big mistake) it looks to me like the best part of the curve falls in this zone.

When the 950 has shipped a significant number of units without issue I may consider it due solely to its' very attractive price, but I'm more inclined to wait a bit and buy one of these:

- B&K ReferenceXX
- Sunfire TG3
- Anthem AVM20
- ??? (suggestions?)

And they all fall in the same $$$ bracket. They're all upgradeable (the TG3 is REALLY cool this way) and have no serious issues I'm aware of.

[This message has been edited by charlie (edited August 27, 2002).]

Charlie: I've now seen several posts that speak of a popping sound problem that the TG3 has when changing inputs(I think that was the instance noted). Also, the AVM20 upgrade to DPL2 still isn't finalized due to problems with programming the new Motorola DSP chip. Eventually, I'm sure that these problems will get fixed but for now, I can't think of any new pre/pro, at any cost, which has launched without problems. It seems to be largely due to the complexity of units, their processors and the software programming.? The TG3 does look really interesting, has alot of onboard goodies and probably sounds pretty good too.

I think Widescreen Review is currently working on a TG3 review for publication.

Aragon StageOne:
24bit/192khz processors, THX Ultra II Certified. MSRP $4000.00.
Check it out.
Mix

I've seen the STG3 on ebay for like $2,700.
I've also heard that the Ref 30 has the popping problem when you switch inputs too , and that the on screen display comes up everytime you do something.
Fosgate Audionics has a pic and some stats on their new pre-pro on their web-site. It looks ok, imho. Hopefully Sherwoods new pre will be good. I think it'll be way less than the $3000 everybody else is at.

Merc -

I also like the TG3 so far - it looks like it's well thought out and I've always liked Carvers' products in the past. I've heard rumors about the health of Sunfire not being the best financially, so that is a bit worrying.

I'll be reading that review with interest.

Any idea where a person can get a PDF of the manual?

Charlie

IMHO anybody that pays more than about $1500.00 for any computer-based product in these times of rapid obsolesence is absolutely nuts. They all use basically the same chipsets, and once you get to the level of the 950 or thereabouts, it's all about feature sets, not performance. It's the old Rolex thing------give me a Timex, and I'll happily spend the change on something else. Wait for the 950, or possibly the Sherwood or Rotel. 1/4" thick Aluminum faceplates sound no more good than 1/32" plastic ones!!

I kinda agree with soundhound about spending too much due to "rapid changes"; but on the other hand, if the unit sounds great, really great, for 99.9% of the media out there, you can enjoy it for a long time without "missing out."

Another unit to check out is the new Naim AV2. Perfect Vision is reviewing one shortly. It is $4k MSRP, but so is the Aragon.