I posted this on the avsforum the other day:

== I had about an hour to play/listen to my 970 yesterday. I was comparing the 970 to my Sony STRA777ES and let me tell you, 970 rocks! I could not believe how clear the dialogs from center channel were. Finally, I know what front stage should sound like.

To be fair, Sony does not have the latest DD processing options, but good old DD processing on 970 sounded better to me.

After reading Doug’s review, maybe I should upgrade to 990. When will this upgrade bug leave me? ==

I would add that if someone is getting into separates for the first time, the 970 is a great value. I listened to it some more yesterday and I just can't believe my ears! I thought Sony 777ES was the best receiver out there for DD 5.1.

Since my wife also likes and CAN hear the difference (she always thought what we had was better then any of our friend... hence I was not allowed to spend on upgrades), we may upgrade to 990