Tom...
They are THAT much better - absolutely glorious.
Details ? What sounds different ? Thanks Tom....
Chris
To be quite honest I'm having trouble getting all the words around it. Unfortunately I have to leave on a trip for about 10 days, so won't get much time.
Two things that have happened for sure though- The bass extension seems to go even deeper than before and there is a distinctness around each instrument in the bass that just is not there in the Z1 or the X-DC. More significantly is I've always had some "edge" in the upper mids that I assumed was all of my associated gear (mostly the BEL's) and the Merlins just being ruthlessly revealing. Now ALL of that edge is gone and it is totally smoothed out. I used to wonder before each song whether I'd get Jekyll or Hyde in terms of listening pleasure. Now it is sweet and liquid in a way that doesn't leave all the inner detail off the table too. The music flows much better from loud to soft and back to loud again where called for.
Sorry, it's really kind of hard to explain (I'm obviously not a reviewer), but it's one of the few times for me other than changing speakers, where the sound has been truly transformed (not incrementally) in a big way (for the better).
Way to go John - nice work!