Depends on whether you are talking purely home theater, or also music. I've always had separates for my stereo systems and still use my Crown pre-amp for stereo. When I decided to add Home Theater capability, I never considered anything but separates, ended up with the 950 (was very fortunate in my timing, had to wait only about 6 weeks). Being still a relative novice to HT, if the 950 is an "entry-level" unit then I don't think I'm smart enough to operate an "advanced" unit. In terms of ease of use I would put the Adcom more at the entry-level (low quality and obsolete eletrconics just for the record). 950 is entry-level only in the sense that as far as I know, there are no less expensive pre-pros on the market.