First Impressions of the Yaesu FT-950

Minor issues with delivery but all parties involved came thru-- last delivery of the day but its here! Packing by Yaesu is superb, its truly a lump in the throat moment when I first saw My radio. Wow! Hope I can sell some items to offset the cost!!
I did not redo My shack like I originally intended, but instead the new FT-950 is in the same spot as the Kenwood TS-850 was in. Antenna 2 is hooked to a dummy load so no mistakes by Yours truly! I also powered it with the Astron RS20 even though this radio is rated 2a more draw than the TS-850. CW and RTTY might have to turn power down a bit but I mostly use SSB so should be OK.
Checked all connections a last time and powered up the radio. Using the manual, I adjusted the Microphone gain from the factory set level of zero to about 23 or 10 oclock. Did this into antenna 2 hooked to a dummy load and had "moni" on so I could hear Myself. I followed the manual and kept the ALC level on voice peaks within the ALC range. I knew eventually I needed a QSO to really check this but good for now.
Next I went systematically to every band and tried the ATU to several different antennas. All My HF antenna's are thru External tuners and these have tuner in or "bypass" positions so I can adjust them close. My first thought with the ATU is-- gee its noisy!! My ATU in the Kenwood was much quieter, but if the Yaesu tunes, whatever! The procedure is slightly different than Kenwood but again using the manual, I was able to tune different antennas to satisfy the Radio.
My first on the air contact was on 3.925mhz during the "Piconet"and My signal and quality report was good and as luck would have it, another FT-950 owner who I know from the area suggested We go off frequency and make some adjustments.
He suggested a higher "mic Gain" of about 35 or 11 o'clock and We also adjusted menu items 91-99 which are the parametric equalization parameters. These really depend on Microphone type,users voice and received stations preference. I have no doubt some will not like the sound at their end but for now if I sound as good as the staion I was working with I'll be happy. The Speech Processor was left default, which is good ,because I'll use it for contests and Dx chasing and this will make it easier!
This radio has a C-S button which allows the user to add any menu item as a quick access button. I added the menu item 111 which is power out since I like quick access to this. Something I will miss from the Kenwoods front panel dial, easily allowing Me to turn power up or down.
Overall I'm such a newbie with this radio, every time I use it , I find another feature I like. It easily blanked out some pesky noise that has plagued My station for some time easlily beating My older Radio in both ease of use and the total noise reduction! That I really like!!
73--Tim