I am sure there are many of us who are anxiously awaiting to hear this amp first-hand and read the official reviews as well as the feedback from members here. I just learned from Andrea at Axiom that the first run of the new amps has been sold out and that the second run will be shipped in September. I wanted to inquire whether you ordered this amp, what color (black, silver, or champagne) you ordered, and what pre/pro you planned to use with the amp. Thanks in advance for your replies.

John

I ordered it in black, and I'm going to use it with the Integra DTC-9.8.

I ordered it in black and will be using it with a rather old Onkyo TX-DS777.

CV - How do you like your 9.8?

I don't actually have it yet. It's been a somewhat stupid process trying to get it. Our local Integra dealer--the only one--stopped carrying them, so I had to look outside the area. I had emails and calls out to several places. One place in Seattle both emailed AND called me back, but I'd already been talking to someone else who was just slightly faster on the draw. Well, I gave this place my credit card details and thought it was all taken care of, but several days later they contacted me and said that they couldn't verify the card after numerous attempts. I double-checked what I'd sent them, and it was all in order, but apparently something wasn't letting them do it. Anyway, I had to send a money order instead, which I did yesterday, so hopefully they received it today, or will tomorrow, so I can finally get the ball rolling.

I'll let you all know how the 9.8 is when I actually finally get it.

Now I'm just waiting for Axiom to drain the rest of the money out of me.

Yeah, I hate it when places make it difficult to spend my money with them... Axiom has done a good job with me thus far

I like the 4in / 2out HDMI, and I'm interested in seeing how they've implemented the Reon. I was going to get a dedicated VP at some point, but if one of these companies can put it all in one box and get it right then maybe I won't have to.

I don't know if you've had the opportunity to play around with Audyssey yet. I have on an Onkyo TX-SR805 and my results were mixed. Mids and highs sounded really good, but I couldn't get the bass response exactly where I wanted it (too attenuated for my taste). The bad thing is Audyssey was all or nothing on the 805. I couldn't tweak the Audyssey EQ settings at all, much less view them.

I haven't done anything with the Audyssey on my Onkyo. It's just the Audyssey2EQ. I'll have to try it out on the Integra. It will be nice when systems can reliably auto-calibrate themselves, huh? I wonder how many more years before that's a reality.

I should clarify a bit more on my experience with Audyssey, which has been with the XT version. While I had issues with the EQ settings, Audyssey was spot on with both speaker distance and level calibration aside from the subwoofer. It also had problems determining the size of my speakers, but that is easily remedied in the setup menus.

I just like to tweak stuff and end up feeling locked in with on/off "we're going to hide the details from you" features.

Wellllllll, today I got my Integra DTC-9.8 preamp/processor, so I'm really ready for the amplifier. Not much longer! Of course, with my current entertainment stand, there won't be enough room, but I'll make it work somehow. It will be unattractive, but this room is temporary, anyway. It's all temporary. I want a custom-built house already. I wouldn't have even cared about homeowning if not for this hobby.