The 1070 and 1050 are quite distantly related, John, as you've clearly guessed. The 1070 was developed from the ground up, and they appear to have used the Model 950 (their first surround processor) as a template for much of the design - on screen displays, front panel display, and even some of the basic rear panel layout. About the only direct inheritance from the 1050 to show up in the 1070 is the remote and the amp power rating (although the amp sections themselves appear to be different). The 950 was a nice sonic upgrade from the 1050. I haven't heard many reports of 950/1070 comparisons (many of the 950 owners ended up jumping on the 990 or simply staying put with the 950), but I suspect they used the 950 as a baseline to build up from there as well.