I tell people, like I told Jamato8 in PM, to get the Edition 9 if one can afford them, but if money is an issue the 18G JL Cryo 780 is a great alternative.
Like I said, the modded 780 don't replace the Edition 9, they compliment them. So the Edition 9 stay, but get used less. My re-cabled RS-2 and HF-1 sound close to the HP-1000, but I can't seem to bring myself to sell those HP-2 either
At one point I considered selling them to buy a Zana Deux, but that's like selling the needle to buy the thread.