My 5 year old Sony ES receiver died last night during one of the battle scenes in "We Were Soldiers." Though it may be fixable, my new speakers need more power than the Sony can put out safely at 4 ohms. I'm thinking of a 950 and either the 5 channel or 7 channel Outlaw amp.

I figure it will cost me about $1200 more to go to 7 channel from my current 5 channel set up (new speakers and cost differential on amp). My current surround speakers are only about 3 feet from the rear wall and operate in bipole mode. My theater room is fairly small.

Is there much 7 channel software out there? Does the 950 synthesize 2 extra channels if the DVD is not encoded with them? Do you think the added sound enhancement in my set up would be worth the cost?

Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

MIKE RAUB