Ah yes, now that I look again I notice they do mention an 'interconnect bundle' included with the receiver which is fine if you either don't have the cables or you want to upgrade. On the other hand you very likely might get a better deal on the cables elsewhere if you look around.

Personally I'm happy with what I've got and if I need more I'd go to Blue Jeans Cable anyway. I can't say I've ever heard 'better sound' from a different cable myself so I can't see upgrading my current cabling.

Personally if I was ready and wanted the R-972 I'd be calling them first to see if they actually had the product in stock. I hate to wait some unknown number of weeks for it to arrive despite they're statement of 'in stock'.