Does the 950/7100 solve the Harry P. problem?

Two or three months ago I got my 1050. Now, w/ this promotional upgrade program going.....If I go to the 950/7100 upgrade will this take care of the Harry Potter problems and do all you people in the know think that this combo will not go obsolete in a year? I don't know thing one about stereos. All I know is I want a good sounding system that will last and not be outdated soon. Please, I need help from you audiophile brainiacs!!!! I'm not running any real expensive dvd players or the like. I have the top of the line Fluance speakers & their new sub, and running 5.1.
Thanks for your time, Doug

I'm not one of the audiophile braniacs you mention, but as far as I know there are no Harry Potter-esque dropout problems with the 950/7100 combo. However, you'll spend a lot more upgrading your 1050 than you would adding a 6th speaker (if you have the room).

The 950 supports enough formats now that it should be quite relevant for a few years to come. It won't be bleeding edge (it isn't today) but it should allow you to enjoy the more prominent formats for years to come.

One great thing about the separates approach is that if you do decide to upgrade in 2-3 years, you'll only need to upgrade your pre/pro, the amplifier will remain relevant for even longer.

One word of caution -- if you have poor source components you won't necessarily see a sound improvement over your 1050. In fact, the sound quality could degrade, as the better quality components may expose issues with your front-end that you didn't see before.

The Harry Potter issue on the 1050 is not present on the 950 -- the 1050 uses a proprietary system for handling Dolby EX soundtracks, whereas the 950 includes true Dolby EX.

The 950 should be able to serve you well for quite a time to come. Additionally, if you decided to upgrade in a few years, you could replace the 950 and keep the 7100, as nullptr points out. With an average DVD player, you should continue to use the digital audio output and I would expect an improvement in sound.

------------------
gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review