I agree with John C 100 percent. I too have NHT (VT-2) speakers, and have had “bright” electronics. I would not characterize the 950 as “harsh”. I also drive a German sports sedan. Many people characterize German cars as “competent engineering accomplishments that are without a soul”. That is what I think that is what the 950 is like. I have an (ancient) Denon 3200 that I have swapped out, and to be honest, the Denon can sometimes produce sound in my system that is astonishing. The 950 does not produce the same results. It is more accurate and extended, but it cannot (in my setting) produce flute and saxophone with the same emotion as the Denon. I think even more curious is that it doesn’t generate the same ambiance and feeling of space that the Denon does on the Fifth Element dvd.

One more thing to consider is the severe limitations of all compressed source material. At the Home Theater Expo, Polk ran an excellent demonstration of SACD, and some DVD audio formats. Their demonstration clearly revealed the differences in the source material and format. It really was a bummer if you were interested in multichannel music formats.