Well I have had the 970 for almost a week now and I love it so far. I have purchased a lot of new equipment lately ( Sony 40" lcd, Sony Blue Ray, which I wish now was an Oppo, 755 amp, and the 970) so my cables were a mess. I had noticed when I first set up the 970 I heard a hiss/hum which went away once I organized all of my cables and seperated the power cables from the speaker cable and interconnects. After replacing the 1050 with the 970/755 combo and new outlaw PCA cables between them I am blown away at the difference in sound. Movies sound 10 steps above, and music has a whole new sound with an amazing sound stage and great imaging. I know the 970 has been out for a few years, but I think I will hold on to it for a while. At least until the new 997 is out for a while and comes down in price.