Outlaw left out a headphone jack because a jack with the audio quality they felt the 950 warranted would have increased the cost too much; they invested the money elsewhere in the unit to achieve the $900 (now reduced to $800) price tag, and an el-cheapo headphone jack would have earned them more grief than no jack at all. As you point out, it was a decision that generated some energetic debate when it was first revealed. In their defense, several competing products also omit a headphone amp (presumably for the same reasons) -- the Rotel RSP-1066 and Parasound AVC-2500 come to mind.

One workaround, of course, is to connect a headphone amp to the tape loop or zone 2 outputs of the 950. This approach adds some cost and complexity for those users who want headphones, but it also means that those users not using headphones aren't sharing the expense.

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