[LugBug1]

 

Haha tough call. That is the nature of this illness hobby.. Even when we are the most satisfied or seem to be content, if we see something that is a bargain and we have the wonga then its gonna happen. I've actually been quite happy when I've bought an amp and it hasn't been as good as my favorites. This gives me more peace of mind that what I do own is the best I'm going to get. Problem is, when you get something that is clearly superior to what you already have... Or in your case has a sound that you fall in love with. This happened to me with my new QED and its fantastic hp stage. Luckily it only worked out for one of my headphones. Otherwise I would have sold everything and went on a mission to buy all QED amps out there haha. 
 
Having said all that, its nice to have some variety. Live with a sound for a few weeks then have a change around. I'm still at the stage where all my amps are budget to mid price and so I don't just own 2 or 3 of the best (I've got 12 amps at the last count..) and so I play around with set ups etc. It's fun! 
 
You've got some of the best of the best Moody, if you give up one of them, you'll only look to seek it out again. Coz you'll miss it! 

 

[claybum]

I would give the nod to keeping a receiver that is fully refurbished. Or you could send them both to me and I could decide for you.

 

[moodyrn]

  ^^ There are worse problems to deal with. 

 I think that you and I, and others, enjoy the chase. There is something of a rush that I get from finding of these receivers at a great price and making the road trip to go after it. If they still made these old beauties and you could walk into Walmart and buy one, it just wouldn't be the same. 
 

 
 
 
Very true, but I enjoy the sound and looks of these things more than anything. Like the old saying goes "they just don't build them like that anymore". If I was purely a collector, I probably would keep everything I come across. I remember being in a high end shop in the Miami area a few years ago. This guy sold strictly boutique high end stuff, and I had a blast demoing some of his setups.
 
Then I saw a room by accident that peeked my interest. I asked him, what was in that room. He answered...his private collection. When I walked in, there were wall to wall shelves of nothing but vintage marantz receivers, and most of them will never leave the room he said. He just enjoyed taking time out just to walk in at look at it all. Now that's a true collector for you.

 

 

[moodyrn]

  I would give the nod to keeping a receiver that is fully refurbished. Or you could send them both to me and I could decide for you.

 
Lol, but that's the one thing that makes parting with the 9090db so hard. And the fact I spent a half a day making and installing the custom leds on it. 9090db's are very plentiful and come a dime a dozen. But the flawless condition, and the boutique parts it was rebuilt with don't. I may have the nicest, best sounding 9090db on planet. The fact it beat my previous sx1280 should say something. But the g901 is the g901. And even in stock form, beats my 9090db in the sound department.... but just slightly.

 

[Argybargy]

Very true, but I enjoy the sound and looks of these things more than anything.


Time to have the wife assist you in a blind listening test. That just covers the sound aspect, though. Which one got a higher score in the looks category?

 

[moodyrn]

9.5 for the 9090db and 9 for the g901.
 
The deciding factor maybe not needing 160watts now that I have the 200wpc mac to go with my macs which could sure use all the power they can get. The 9090db is my bedside receiver that's being used exclusively for my w3000. No way would the big "G" ever be used in that role. It would have to be moved down stairs for my cornwalls/he-6 setup. That would leave the fisher as the only viable option for the bedroom rig. But it sounds too good to be limited as just a headphone amp, but boy does those audio technicals sound heavenly with it. So it wouldn't be that big of a lose since the big "g" sounds about 95% as good as the fisher on the cornies.

 

[Skylab]

Personal opinion - keep the restored 9090db. Unrestored units will always be available.

 

[moodyrn]

How can you chose between this


And this lol

 

[moodyrn]

Oh, I posted before I saw your post Sky lol. So it wasn't a direct reply although it may seem that way. But yeah, although the g901 is special, it just don't make much sense to get rid of something that serves perfectly as what it's being currently used for. And something that I won't have to worry about for years to come. I think I'm going to keep the 9090db. Thanks guys. You all have been a great help. 

 

[Silent One]

@ moodyrn
 

 Bon bon vie!

 

[harrinj]

I forgot to say that record store in walla walla has hundreds of these receivers upstairs. they aren't accessible but they have tons along with the maybe 5 tube McIntosh amps. sorry about my little hipster rant on that post though... 

 

[JYabbz]

I have a question regarding hooking up my headphones Q701 to my stereo receiver via my laptop. The particular stereo receiver I have is the Realistic STA-72 12wpc from the 70s or 80s. In the back there are 2 aux ports and I was going to cconnect the RCA cable that termiinates to 3.5mm jack into my laptop and then connect my headphones into the stereo receiver using the 6.3mm adapter. I am wondering if this stereo receiver woud be enough to power the headphones better than my iphone, ipad, or laptop? If there is any more realitive information I have to put down, I will try to do so. Also if there any tips you guys have that would help, would be great. Unfortanely I do not have enouogh funds right now to get an amp as the headphones were bought earlier than I anticipated as I got a good deal on them.

 

[Oregonian]

I have a question regarding hooking up my headphones Q701 to my stereo receiver via my laptop. The particular stereo receiver I have is the Realistic STA-72 12wpc from the 70s or 80s. In the back there are 2 aux ports and I was going to cconnect the RCA cable that termiinates to 3.5mm jack into my laptop and then connect my headphones into the stereo receiver using the 6.3mm adapter. I am wondering if this stereo receiver woud be enough to power the headphones better than my iphone, ipad, or laptop? If there is any more realitive information I have to put down, I will try to do so. Also if there any tips you guys have that would help, would be great. Unfortanely I do not have enouogh funds right now to get an amp as the headphones were bought earlier than I anticipated as I got a good deal on them.

The better way is to get a cheap DAC (like a FiiO E-10), take USB out from your computer into the DAC, then out the DAC to the Realistic amp.  That is EXACTLY what I have at work and it sounds phenomenal.   Cost you about $40 or so used to get this accomplished.  Let me know if you have any questions. 

 

[MattTCG]

^^ good advice.

 

[JYabbz]

The better way is to get a cheap DAC (like a FiiO E-10), take USB out from your computer into the DAC, then out the DAC to the Realistic amp.  That is EXACTLY what I have at work and it sounds phenomenal.   Cost you about $40 or so used to get this accomplished.  Let me know if you have any questions. 

Thanks for the reply, I am planning on getting the E17 hopefully in a couple of months. I just wanted to know if there was a temporary way to listen to the headphones right now using my existing set-up. Or if I would just be better off just using my laptop/portable device in the mean time.

Thanks again for your input.