It’s taken me a lot longer to come to grips with the 950/7100 then I thought it would. I posted a few weeks ago that I’d be seriously listening to my new equipment a few days after it arrived on my doorstep. In anticipation of the arrival of the separates I sold my 1050. This means I couldn’t do a side-by-side nor could I go back to it unless I bought a new one. Well, the first weekend was disappointing. Using the same speakers, sub-woofer cables etc. I found the sound rather congested, lacking in dynamics and a bit harsh. After awhile I turned it off and went to listen to my two channel stereo setup which has none of those problems. Then it dawned on me …break-in …. So back to the home theater I went and turned it on and kept it on for more than a week. Mostly on tuner. What a difference. I’m not sure it’s fully broken-in yet as it seems to sound better every time I turn it on. Over the holiday weekend the HT setup was used a lot. While everyone else watched the screen I marveled at the improved sound. The dynamics were perhaps the most notable difference but also the music during parts of Drumline was great. Nothing like a rim shot out of 5.1 speakers. Also it was very easy to follow the dialog even when there was a lot going on in the movie. I felt the 1050 didn’t do well in these areas. The 1050 seemed rather bland. The family all mentioned the improved sound with the 950/7100 … without being asked …. go figure. The 1050 sound never got a mention either good or bad. Lastly, I decided to listen to several CD’s through the 950/7100. This is an area I thought the 1050 was particularly poor at. I was very surprised at how good the 950/7100 sounded. I went to get more CD’s to try. I never did this with the 1050, it was always one and out.
As to the question of the 950/7100 being worth the extra $1,000 over the 1050, you’ll have to judge that for yourselves. All I can say is that, with time, the separates are delivering in the areas I expected, better sound, a more capable set-up (surround modes, 2nd zone, OSD) etc.
But on the other hand I’m wondering if I would have been better off keeping the 1050 and spending $1,000 on a new cartridge for one of my Linn turntables … ummmm. More to follow.