950 verses Sunfire and B&K

Posted by: ssand

950 verses Sunfire and B&K - 11/30/03 06:27 AM

I hope some of you can help me make the right decision. I am going to be upgrading my system shortly and I'm torn on my buying decision. I presently have the 1050 and love it but the upgrade bug keeps biting me (hard). My question is - do I buy the 950/755 combo or keep saving and go to the Sunfire Grand 3 or B&K Reference 50? I listen to a lot of 2 channel music as well as SACD/DVD Audio. We watch one or two movies a week. Is the Sunfire/B&K worth all the additional money? Am I going to hear a hugh leap in the sound quality to justify $2000 more dollars? It sure would be nice to save the money and buy a great CD player but I don't want to sacrifice a huge tradeoff in sound quality.
Posted by: Raider

Re: 950 verses Sunfire and B&K - 11/30/03 07:41 AM

IMHO - The leap from my HK receiver to the 950/7100 was significant in sound quality and sound stage. While I never have heard the Sunfire/BK I would believe the law of diminishing returns starts to kick in once you go beyond the 950/7100. Why not try the 30 day trail? If you like it keep it, if not you are out only the shipping one way.
Also, save yourself some more money on the DVD player- get the Pioneer DV 563A universal player. It is huge bang for the buck and at $179 ( I got it at best buy for $159) it is almost throw away. Once again BB has a 30 day return policy.
Posted by: DaleB

Re: 950 verses Sunfire and B&K - 11/30/03 08:50 AM

There is no doubt Sunfire, B&K (love the amp I have), etc. are 'nice machinery'. But I think the 950 fulfills the need for most of us.
BTW, recent issue of Stereophile HT raved about the 950.