I recently posted about having the 1050 in a much larger and more open room, and my dilemma over how to upgrade. I just wanted to say that I totally agree with Gonk that the 1050 is a very capable pre/pro. This receiver served me very well when I was using it with Monitor 5's in a smaller (but still pretty good sized) room. And now it is serving me surprisingly well in a larger, much more open room as a pre/pro. I'm sure that at some point I will go with the 950, but I'm pretty content with how things are sounding for the time being. Whether using it as a receiver, or as a pre/pro, the 1050 is one heck of a little unit.