"On my red-dot 950 (probably a defective unit) the hiss was still there in stereo bypass. There was even hiss in the center channel, when the 950 was in stereo bypass, which surprised me."

Will - I also still get hiss in stereo bypass, but it seems to have been reduced from my original unit (I need to listen tonight post 10:00 or 11:00pm, as my house is really quiet by then).

On analog inputs in non-bypass (stereo, PL II-Music) modes, hiss is "louder" than in bypass, but still seems lower than original.

Interesting thing is hiss from surrounds when listening to 2 channel (bypass/or no bypass) seems to have completely disappeared.

Will this comment "There was even hiss in the center channel, when the 950 was in stereo bypass, which surprised me."

My replacement also does this. 2 observations, 1)not volume dependent at all - the hiss from my center is the same at -80 as it is at +10 on all analog sources, and 2) this center channel hiss is lower than from my original, which was volume dependent.

As this suprised you Will, is your expectation that CC would be dead silent when your in a 2 channel/bypass mode? Makes sense, yet as my hiss is not volume dependent, seems like mine would always be there.

All digital inputs, like before, are close to dead silent/never were an issue for me.