Well, sitting on the curb didn't help. Just checked the tracking and it appears my 950 was in Ohio at 5:10 this morning. Now, isn't that a roundabout way to get to Texas?

I guess overnight doesn't necessarily mean overnight. Oh well, as long as it gets here in one piece. I can wait and maybe still get my movie rental back without late fees.

Waiting for that truck in Texas.

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Bill

I used standard ground shipping to Canada...my 950 is in town today and my 770 is at the border (one day behind)...I feel a weird illness where I have to stay home but I am allowed to go play hockey at noon coming on...

Tracking says mine is on the truck in Austin. I've already had a month to enjoy my 770 with the 1050. The 1050 is now boxed, next to the door and the PCAs are hanging like stockings waiting Santa.

Man, I'm feeling ill.

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Bill

I got on the waitlist in late May. I got the email to order my 950 last Wednesday. I ordered it that night and received it today.

I am leaving work early to go home and set it up.

One piece of advice for those of you waiting: Pay for next day shipping otherwise they ship it from California and it takes 5 business days to the east coast.

Josh

Got mine! About 10:30 I get the wife call. 10:31 I'm out the door for a long lunch. It's hooked up, calibrated and configured. Watched the pod race for a couple minutes (very good) and then listen to a little Sarah McLachlan (I melted). I heard the slight hiss on the analog input. Big deal. You have to just about put your ear on the speaker to hear it. So far, with my 15 minute test, I must say, "I'm favorably impressed."

More maybe later. If I ever get out from in front of it.

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Bill

I put some info in the "hiss" thread too.

Here, for now, I'll just say, I REALLY don't like the remote. I keep forgetting to hit AUD.

And here's a quirk (?). (Haven't tried to find this yet in the manual.) Let's say I'm playing a CD in my DVD player in Stereo mode (not bypass). (I have the DVD coax input set up to stereo default because that's what I listen to 80% of the time.) Then I pop in a DVD. It comes up in Stereo mode. When I hit the DD key, it switches to DD on the display, but then reverts back to stereo (the audio never changed from stereo). If I hit DD once, then twice (to get to DD EX), *then* it switches to DD EX, and then I hit DD once more to get to DD. (Not a DD EX disc, btw.)

[Added] OK, I replicated this. When I powered it up this time, it was in DPL-II mode for CD playback. (After playing a DVD.) I pressed the Stereo button. "Stereo" displayed for a few seconds and then reverted back to DPL-II. I had to do 2 presses of Stereo to get it to "take", and then cycled back around to Stereo. ??

If I set the input to default to DD, and I put a CD in, would it auto to stereo?

Sound is fine. (I didn't expect any big differences from the TA-E9000ES I have.)

Did I say I don't like the remote? Why isn't the button for the tuner up top with the other source buttons? And even to switch to the tuner, you have to hit Aud 1st. (So I set up a macro for Aud, then AM/FM.)

[Added] Why doesn't the POWER button turn it on? That's just plain stoopid.

I do like the pre amp though. A little rough around the edges, but good sound overall.


[This message has been edited by Kevin C Brown (edited September 26, 2002).]

Hi Kevin,

If my 950 is in DPL-II and I want switch it to STEREO then I'll typically press the stereo button twice. Usually that works. But sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes there's no change (still DPL-II). At other times, it switches to 5/7 STEREO, as I recall. I just have to look and see what it did.

[This message has been edited by Will (edited September 26, 2002).]

I too have the irrataion of the unit switching from my selected mode to something else when I pop in a DVD. I know some DVDs have metadata that flags the processor to change modes, but my Sony EP9ES handled this switching much more elegantly. I have found I have to go over to the 950 and punch the button repeatedly to get it into Dobly EX after a DVD has changed it to 2.0 prologic or something. I have to go over to the 950 'cause I use component connections for my projector, and It's a pain to switch over to S-video just to see what mode I'm in.

On my 950 I was able to set it to change formats depending on what source was playing. FM is in DPL-IIM. Cable is in DPL-IIC. When I select DVD and Play a CD, the source shows DVD PCM 44.1 and I have this set to stereo. When I put in a DVD it shows DVD only and I have that set to Dolby Digital. I do not have to change formats manually when switching from a DVD to a CD in my DVD player. You do this by playing a CD in the DVD player and going to the 950's "Input Menu" and selecting "stereo" for DVD PCM 44.1.

Yes, my TA-E9000ES handled source/mode switches a lot better.

DVDs "auto format decode[d]" to DD, linear PCM CDs in the same player AFD'ed to stereo.

I think Scott had a response somewhere, that if the 950 *was* in multichannel mode (i.e., a DVD), and then you switched to a CD, it would *stay* in multichannel mode (i.e., DPL II).

Would be nice to be able to set the default mode for the type *and* format of the source. (DD for DD 5.1, but stereo for LPCM.)


Oh, when is "powered on" not powered on? I have the 950 hooked up to a switched outlet. When I turn on the switched device, the 950 powers back up in standby, not "on". So now I have hit the power on button for the 950 after I turn on my balanced power unit (which powers up my amps). The exact opposite of what it should be: pre/pro first then amps last. Because the 950 comes up in standby, its the amps 1st, the pre/pro last. The TA-E9000ES powers up in the mode it was turned off in.

OK, so it sounds like y'all are seeing the same required "2 button pushes" thing I'm seeing with switching surround modes. (Still haven't had a chance to check the manual on this, but I imagine, not supposed to work that way.)