I could not agree more. To everyone and anyone reading this, I know it sounds cray cray, but it's true. Had someone told me that these cans would become substantially different between an unboxing and a hundred hours in, I'd have told them to get out (or accused them of burn-in placebo). But it really did happen.
I'm not going to get into whether it gets better or not, since that is obviously a matter of personal preference. But I'm pretty confident that if you didn't like it right out of the box (for the reasons previously mentioned in the thread), you're probably going to like them a lot better down the road. If you liked them out of the box, well...
Hmm, I would surmise the same, but I haven't had a chance to experience that. I had a chance to audition the D600 at the SF meet last weekend. But since I don't know how many hours were put on it, and didn't have a chance to gather initials, I can't say just yet.
If I'm to be honest, I've never been a fan of the way it looks in the hand. I think I called it a platypus-like design once and I stand by that. But I also realize that once I put it on, I am largely unaware of how it looks (and could frankly care less).
I enjoy it quite a bit. It's different from my other cans of course, with it's own unique coloration. But I like it. TBH, I liked it a little bit better out of the box, but that's just me. Also, for the love of God, don't try to amp it. Trust me on this one, it sounds worse amped. The D7100 performs at its best without our usual bag of tricks. It's a wonder that it can do what it does without amping.