So, I'll be setting these up, finally, exactly 4 months today since we ordered it.  I have the 'Esoteric Isotek Full System Enhancer Disc,' to accelerate the break-in period. I plan to follow Steve's suggestion on the [5 hrs on/5 hrs off] listening intervals, as part of this settling process.  

I don't know what to expect, frankly.  It's all going to be new for me, including the compounded breaking-in experience on both the DM945's and the Mini, which may not be the most comfortable situation.  I also need to properly blend my sub-woofer in that combo so as not to upset the sound balance.  Lots of speaker positioning trial-and-error may be part of the deal, too.

In the next few days I'll report my first impressions  8-)

Thanks, Lon.  I'm not really worried, just considering the facts. For example, how are my current sourcing and cables going to hold up to more revealing gear.  The good news is, I'm prepared with plenty of well recorded music of my liking to tackle the gear early on  ;)

Hey ski,

I think you're probably right, now that I think about it.  I may as well put the Esoteric Disc at night and 'play' during most of the day   .

BTW, I need to know asap if, when facing the amp, all the different switches are ON towards me or facing away from me?  The amp came with all those switches facing away when looking to the front of the amp.

Thanks for your support!

P.S.  I'm about 90% done with the setting up  :D

Hey Florida Boy,

Thanks!  Indeed, I'm really enjoying it.  Already listened for 3 hours in a row.  Had to stop for errands.  First impressions:

Wow!  Every epitet I had read here, used to describe it, is for real.  Although evidently not broken-in (there are evident traces of constipation in the higher registers), I'm impressed by the midrange transparency and the dynamic/vivid and musical lower registers.  The bass has surprised me as it conveys a tightness that clearly discloses the different tones involved.  I used to hear a mix of unclear bass tones before.

Talking about bass, when I first plugged in my sub-woofer, a horrendous humming came through.  Fortunately, the amp's volume was off.  Puzzled, I then remembered a thread I read here about inverted pre-amp output phases.  Hesitantly, I reversed these, and the humming almost dissapeared.  Then, I used my sub-woofer's de-phaser and tried 180 de-phasing, much better.  Finally, I lowered the set sub-woofer volume, and voilá, great (not unsettling) bass, without any humming.

I'll be waiting for the higher registers to improve.  As a matter of fact, initially these were quite bright and harsh.  But after an hour and a half, or so, the brightness/harshness went gradually away.  Now it just  doesn't perform the higher registers as it would be expected from this amp, but there's no more harshness.  It is simply a bit crude (somewhat undefined) and lacking incisiveness up there yet.

I'm sure this is part of the compounded breaking-in (amp and speakers, power cord too).  The output tube is a JJ 6V6 S, same brand as the rectifiers (EZ-81).  The other tubes came in white boxes with only the spec number written outside.  There may be something printed in the glass but I have not identified them yet.

Volume wise, the max I kept it at was 1:00 o'clock (required to get the normal volume I need with some selections), in spite of the fact that presumably my DAC's output is max 2.25 Vs.  I guess when you need to go that high, the source signal voltage gain is not that high.  For most other music, the volume setting was enough at around 11:30 or so.

Well, so far so good.  Can't wait for that high register to complement the beautiful midrange and mid-lower registers.  I also still expect further improvements in the lower bass.  I'll keep you guys posted.  Now I need to listen to ....  

Hey Rivieraranch,

Yes, I'm all over it!  Amazing stuff.  I hear you're getting your Triode Integrated anytime now?  Let us know how it goes.  Congrats!

I hear you.  I'm working on it.  Earlier, I thought it could be the breaking-in of the speakers and their new capacitors?  Right now I have the speakers tilted back, one inch higher at the front and toed-in, pointing towards my sweetspot.  Mind you, the low and midrange are very good, I just need to focus a little bit the higher registers, either by re-positioning the speakers, room conditioning or by waiting for the speakers to loosen up over time (if it's the case.)

As far as room conditioning, I have a floor carpet and drapers on the back and one side of my listening position.  On the other side there is a naked wall so I may need something there.  There are leather sofas in the room, so I suspect the only source of high-frequency reflection may come from that wall or the ceiling?  Yet, the ceiling is quite far from the presumed high frequency dispersion path, again directed at my sweet spot.

My M-T does have a tone control.  Have not used it yet (I have it off).  I don't think I want to cut higher frequencies, just focus them right.  The sound is not harsh or too bright anymore, just not finished.  

Thanks for the tip, ski.

Donnie,

I have a decent sounding DAC.  Although it could be improved, I feel It should not be the issue here.  It works well in all other frequency ranges. What I find is a non-continuity of the marvels I hear at mid and early high frequencies when music goes to the really high registers, as if something was not working completely on that range.  These differences are somewhat subtle, but I can hear them.

Foobar and my laptop have been optimized/adjusted for months (waiting for the gear), and now I think I know almost any trick about them.  Although the sourcing may still be the problem, I want to eliminate other possible causes before I decide I need to invest in a new DAC.  

Mine is an asynchronous USB/DAC, and does not offer upsampling alternatives, but I've found pre-converting the files to proper specs (into WAV) makes a lot of difference with the DAC:  44K1, & 96K, depending on the original recording and always using the 24-bit word size (from 16 to 24 is just ceros).  

Thanks for your support.

I hear you, Lon.  Do you still use that tone filter with the new source?  Reason I ask is to make sure that would solve this (relatively minor) problem for me before I decide on a new USB/DAC.  

I still think it's to early to tell.  I think I'll wait for the break-in to be over and then re-assess the issue.  In the meantime, I'm really enjoying everything else.