about a year and a half ago, i decided to try an A/V receiver. the first receiver ever to be in my rack.

first, was the onk 797. a terrible piece of hardware, IMO. next, the onk 898, which, after the pro-logic adcom pre (a really terrible piece of hardware), sounded pretty good and had many 'features'. i used it as a preamp, as i have 260 watt mono blocks and 12 channels of pro-sound amps. (this is the first advantage of seperates...the amps are forever, if minimal care of them is exercised).

the onk sounded a bit thin to me so i got in line for a 950 and, in the meanwhile (a LONG meanwhile), off i went to compare (outlaw 1050, marantz, H/K, denon).

i also looked at the other pre-pro of that time, the rotel 1066, but i simply did not like the business model of a manufacturer that protects a dealer who tells you that you shouldn't buy the rotel.

much has been said about the triple priced pre-pros superior too (oops) to...er...that's not it...oh, yeah...two channel capabilities. that's not why i bought a pre-pro, so it matters not to me.

i think the 950 is a hall of fame multi-channel pre-pro. movies are great, but multi-channel audio is it's strong point. DTS-CD, SACD, DVD-A. as far as a 'sonic signature' goes, i feel that the 950 is simply CLEAN. the only 'signature' point i personally would make is that of the low end. it's warm, full and smooth.

i'm positive that you'll hear a marked improvement in sound over ANY receiver.

to me...any sonic improvement is priceless. i'm as happy as i can be that i got that without having to choose from $3K pre-pros.

setting up your system to compliment the 950's strong points is important and that takes a bit of tweaking, as is the same for any pre or receiver. this is the place to come to get help in doing that. the 950/(amps) beats ANY receiver. i stand ready to be proven wrong.

i'm interested to hear your conclusions...let us know and good listening!



[This message has been edited by bossobass (edited May 14, 2003).]