So, who is planning to upgrade to a Pro?

[Confused]

I notice that over 50% of respondents to this poll are in the 'waiting for more information' category. I am assuming that many are thinking in a similar way to me, that is if the SQ hike is significant, then upgrade, if it is only very small, then maybe not. Of course, much of this will be system dependant, in particular speaker dependant. Therefore, an audition is what is required. So how to audition? One way is to persuade you dealer to loan you a Pro for a home demo. This has to be the best way to go, but it is a lot of hassle, and indeed, some dealers will be reluctant to loan out their precious new Pro demo unit to someone who is going to upgrade, rather than be a new buyer. Another alternative is to demo at the dealers. This is what I plan to do. For me, this works well, my dealer has exactly the same speakers as myself (the key point I think), plus I am very familiar with how their demo room sounds, which is actually pretty similar to my own room. So for a direct A/B test this is fine to get a good idea has to how big the pro SQ hike is. With respect to this last point, surely all Devialet dealers will now be actively trying to sell off any part exchanged / Ex demo Expert amps. So it may not be too long before A/B tests at your local friendly dealer become more difficult, simply because they will not have the 'old' expert in stock. I say more difficult rather than impossible, because you could always take you existing Expert with you, but this is obviously a little more hassle than your dealer having both ready in their shop. Just a thought!