Well I have had the 950 in my HT since May 15th and have put it through all of the paces: (please note the "" around some words denote that it is "my" opinion and your mileage may and most likely will very)

1) Hiss - Well like most other 950 owners this is not an issue with "my" unit. I hear no hiss unless "I" put my ear on the tweeter.

2) Brightness/Harshness – “I” do not think it is bright or harsh and feel my Newcastle R945 is actually harsher. I get the feeling that Robert is correct and that the 950 is just very accurate and for this passes the brightness or harshness of the source. I have a lot of different CD’s in my 300 disc changer and “I” can now tell which ones are AAD, ADD and DDD and also how well they are mixed/mastered. “I” hear much more detail in my music and sound tracks.

3) Look/Feel of 950 – “I” feel that the MUTE button on the 950 is the best of all the controls on the front face. “I” like it best as it seems to be recessed more, thus does not move around as much as the rest of the buttons. “I” wish Outlaw would have done this with all of the buttons on the front of the unit. “I” think the volume knob is fine. Like most other 950 owners “I” use the front unit controls very little and in fact have a AMX control system that I loaded ever single IR code from the 950 remote control into and thus can control the 950 from my LCD color touch panel or use the 950 remote (which is almost identical to my R945 remote less the LCD display). Also since “I” watch DVD’s in almost total darkness due to front projection display I do not look at the unit much anyway and really only care mostly about the sound. That being said “I” can see the appeal for others to go with a more expensive, “better looking” unit for showing off their system. “I” do not feel the 950 is ugly by any means, but “I” do feel the 1066 is nicer looking.

In conclusion, the 950 is a great pre/pro for a great price. However I did end up getting a used 1066 for a very, very good price and it should be arriving tomorrow so “I” will get to compare, in “my” home theater the two units side by side. As mentioned by Robert, this is the best way to determine which unit sounds best to “you” in “your” environment. The 1066 does have a few features that I really like, for example, dual sub outputs, and RS232 control for my AMX system or a few of the main ones.

I will post more tomorrow after hooking up the 1066 in my system.

Stay tuned…..


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-Mark
**** Digital Vortex ****
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