Is there some way to setup the 950 to turn off / go to standby after a certain period of time with no signal(s)? It seems wasteful to have the 950 and 7100 powered on 24/7, even if they're not doing anything; and I would rather not have to turn off the TV and the 950 both when done watching.

I looked through the manual and didn't see anything; I thought at first the sleep function was what I needed, but apparently the sleep function is just a one-time thing?

The sleep function is the closest thing to what you are thinking of, but it is not exactly what you would need. This sort of auto-sensing power on/off control is common on subwoofers and appears on some power amps (including Outlaw's M200 monoblocks), but it has not been implemented on a receiver or processor that I'm aware of. One problem that occurs to me in including a feature like this would probably be determining what counts as "no signal". Do you count an inactive audio input, or inactive audio and video? Do you only monitor the active input, or do you monitor all inputs? It would get pretty tricky in a hurry, be very dependent on how source devices behave, and might not be very widely used.

Rather than simply say "no", however, I can offer an option that might suit your needs well: remote macros. I've been using a pair of macros to turn the TV, cable box, and 950 on and off with a single command ever since I got my 950, and it is something that the rest of the family is very fond of. You can set up a macro on the M1 button (for example) to turn the TV on, switch the 950 to the appropriate input (which will also turn the 950 on), and set the remote to control the appropriate device (TV, CBL, SAT, or whatever). Likewise, you can set up a macro on M2 to turn the TV and 950 off when you're done.

Hmm, yeah I didn't think about using a macro; that sounds like the way to go.

My old Onkyo receiver (65W/chan, didn't even have DD 5.1 decoding; only Dolby Pro Logic) had auto-shutoff/auto-turnon for the TV/aux inputs, which were analog inputs. It worked flawlessly.

I guess in this case the complexity of the 950 works against implementing such a feature? Dunno.

In any case, yeah a macro sounds like just what I need, thanks.

Glad to hear the macro will get you on track, it's been a very convenient trick for me for several years now.

Interesting about your old Onkyo - it's a pretty slick approach to integrating a receiver into a system for basic TV viewing, but not something I've seen included in newer units. A processor like the 950 could certainly include something like that (a trigger assigned to a specific analog input), but the number of possible input configurations would probably limit the number of people who could use it. For example, if you use your TV's internal cable tuner, it's a great match - analog input, single source device to turn on. If your TV is an HDTV with an internal HD tuner, then you'll be connecting with a digital audio cable and the analog may not even be connected. If you have a satellite receiver or cable box, then you've got an extra device to deal with anyway.

I've got a co-worker who had a very traumatic time upgrading from a stereo pre-amp to a Rotel RSP-1068 last year. After it was all settled in, he observed that today's "simple" home theater is a very complex array of equipment, settings, options, and formats. Sometimes even a simple and elegant solution from an older setup can't make the transition. The trick is to try to find new solutions that work as well, and for those of us in the hobby to share those tricks with each other.