OK I know this has been discussed and dicussed, but since I've now had both the 950 AND the 1066 in my home, and since my conclusions surprised even me - I thought it was worth reporting on.

I've had the 950 in my setup the longest, and anyone who follows this forum much will know that I've been a big fan of the 950 in digital (DD, DTS, etc) but found the 2 channel performance to be lacking to my taste. Basically I find it thin, unenvolving and just a bit shrill.

So, being a long time Rotel fan, enjoying a warmer presentation, reading good things, etc., I decided to pick up the silver faceplat 1066 for $1300 and a 30 day money back guarantee.

First up, I put it through the paces with 2 channel music. The sound was somewhat warmer than the 950 but quite veiled and lacked the richness I was hoping for. Bottom line if I had to live with 950 or the Rotel for 2 channel, I would easily choose the Rotel - but the improvement wasn't as dramatic as I'd expected or maybe hoped for.

Second up was "listening" to movies. This is where I found the warmth, slight veiling and lost details of the Rotel to hurt its performance vis a vis the 950. This really surprised me, since even the most fanatical of Outlaw fans have reported that there was little to no difference between them for HT. I disagree and found the 950 to close to high end in performance with the Rotel solidly mid-fi (getting on flame suit).

Bottom line, I found the Rotel to be an acceptable performer in both music and HT, although neither offered thrilling performance. And I found the 950 excellent at HT and unaceptable (for my taste) in 2 channel.

And one thing about usability - personally I hate using OSD, and found the fact that you don't need it when using the 950 to be a big plus for me.

Soooo - despite all my expectations (and public musings) I will be returning the Rotel. I figured that if I could find a used 2 channel pre with HT passthrough for around $600, I would have a system that significantly bested the Rotel in both Home Theater and music for another couple hundred bucks. Plus if I wanted to have seperate rooms later for HT and music, the sytem could be more easily split up.

In some ways I hate to write this since I've always been a big fan of the way Rotel does business, value delivered, etc and been suspicious of what I see as possible manipulation of online bulletin boards by Outlaw fans or maybe the Outlaws themselves. But the proof is in the keeping, and the Rotel's goin back. OK everyone, you may now load your flamethrowers.