This would have posted sooner hadn't my PC power supply kicked the bucket.

OK.. I got to do the demo head to head. This is a subjective demo as I will relate what I thought I heard and the other 2 people that were there with me heard.
Here was the setup.

1066/950
Sony DVP-S9000ES Via COAX
Proceed AMP5
B&W CDM 7NT Fronts
B&W CDM CNT Center
B&W CDM SNT Rears
Loewe Widescreen TV

We were on limited time, so our test was short, sweet and to the point. 5.1 Surround evaluation and an audio only evaluation of the 1066 at the end. I didn't bother with 7.1 as my system is going to be 5.1 for a while. This is just a listening test, not a feature for feature comparison. Dolby Digital 5.1 ver Dolby Digital 5.1.


Synced both processors to exact same settings. Strange issue #1 with the 950, the center channel setting seemed a bit high comparatively. Not sure why when we ran identical settings. This made the 950 sound a bit bright in the center. Talked to one of the guys on staff at Outlaw today and he said it shouldn't be that way. Not sure if this was a setting problem or a unit problem. I will know more Monday when the guys get back from the show.

We compared the full pod racer scene. Both units sounded quite similar. Differences were distinct, but not what we expected. Although, we had Strange issue #2 pop up with the 950. It seemed to lack front to back detail. Not something anyone of us were expecting. Like when the crashing pod racer went over head. It seemed like the transition was harsh, to harsh to the rear. I am thinking a setting was off but the distance settings were identical to the 1066's, maybe it had to do with the same setting issue as the center channel. BRAINCA: Maybe you can verify that transition with the pod racer scene with your setup. Also the 950 seemed to lack a bit of separation with some of the crowd scenes. You could hear distinctive clapping from individuals with the 1066 where with the 950 they seemed to blend together.

The 1066 was what I expected from Rotel, a solid performer. Nothing stood out to make me say OH MY, just solid sound. The 950's bass stood out ALOT. This was the 950's biggest plus of the demo. Tremendous. You could FEEL the pod racers hitting the ground. That stood apart from the 1066 as we agreed the 1066 didn't have as much bass as the 950.

Now these 950 issues may have been goofed up settings or not. I'll know more Monday.

Conclusion: Assuming the problems we encountered with the 950 were settings then its a toss up. Then you have to feature for feature compare and the 1066's lack of a tuner, might make you want the 950 more and its about 450 dollars less (1/3 less) which makes the 950 on heck of a deal. Now there are some issues with "usability" portion of the 950. You'll have to decide.

On a personal note about the 950: Human interface is important, the buttons and volume knob SUCK on the 950. I understand price points and you need to cut certain things to get to that. I understand why, but I woulda paid 50 bucks more for better knobs and buttons. These are things that you interact with. To me, it may very well make my decision to drop the 950 in favor of the 1066. The 1066 seems a bit more "intuative" as well. Again these are just my observations, take them for what they are worth.

Jeff