Painttoad,

With the latest chips a/d d/a, especially for HT use, it's getting harder to disern between processors. 2 channel performance is where you see the big big difference. However, for HT use, I have seen reports where the 950 sounded almost as good as a lexicon MC-1. Remeber the Lex sold for thousands more than the 950, but the difference is that Oulaw used more recent hardware. The receivers are catching up, the issue with most receivers, is the amp stage. Pair one of these receivers with outboard amps, and you almost can't tell a difference for DD DTS use, (2 channel is a whole different ball game). I can't stress enough how important room correction is, and Pioneer's MCCAC is good..